Some hosts are threatening to strike, while others are plotting ways around Airbnb’s new restrictions. Guests, meanwhile, are celebrating.

AIRBNB HOSTS ARE melting down over a new policy banning them from making guests complete tasks that “would typically be performed by a cleaner,” like “stripping the bed, taking trash offsite, or washing and putting away dishes.”

The change, which applies to all bookings made on or after November 20, quickly sparked outrage after it was announced in an email to Airbnb hosts on Wednesday. Many began fuming online about losing the right to make their guests clean up after themselves.

“As hosts, we have a responsibility to protect our investments, our homes, and, in many cases, our personal living spaces,” one person wrote in Airbnb’s official forum for hosts. “The problem is that Airbnb increasingly expects hosts to accept the risks while limiting our ability to protect ourselves.”

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[–] 19 points 2 days ago (4 children)

What's the problem? Hosts can still charge cleaning fees but they can't force guests to do chores.

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  • [–] 28 points 2 days ago (3 children)

    Yeah, but they were doing both.

    Now they can't have a cake and eat it too.

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  • [–] 17 points 2 days ago (2 children)

    Exactly. If the hosts were able to both make guests clean up after themselves and charge a cleaning fee then the cleaning fee was just a money grab.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    I rented an airbnb, my one and only time, where the host had an insane list of chores. For context: This was during the pandemic and it was me and my two best friends who just wanted to get out of NYC for the night to get some fresh air. I cooked at home and packed dinner, so we didn't use the kitchen. We didn't drink. We had a quiet movie night, enjoyed the trees and each others company and then went to sleep.

    The next morning, I personally wiped the counters, wiped the fridge, took out the trash, stripped the beds, refluffed the couch, swept the fireplace.. the works. I literally woke up 2 hours early to get all this cleaning done. They had a cleaning fee on top of all these chores, which I felt was odd, but it was a new experience for me so I went with it. I am big on rules and respect so i sincerely cleaned to the best of my ability.

    After I posted a positive review of their home, they put up a review of me within seconds claiming I trashed the place. They were vying for an additional charge for me leaving the place messy. They said their cleaning lady called to complain about how I trashed the house. I messaged asking what they were talking about, absolutely confused,, and they gave me a list of how I trashed their house.

    1. There were crumbs on the counter. I know I wiped it, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe i missed something.
    2. They said one of the blankets was a little damp. After asking the other girls, I think my friend briefly sat on the bed after she took a shower. I had stripped the bed so this was a blanket in the hamper they were complaining about that should have been going to be washed. I didn't notice anything damp when I stripped her bed, but we were trying to rationalize the complaint while we were all talking about it after.
    3. The back of one of the couches had a smudge on it. It was allegedly charcoal from the fireplace. I didn't see a smudge, it was just me and two girls and none of us touched the back of the couch. I don't know where this came from. You can't see the back of the couch in any of the photos I took, and I can't 100% guarantee nothing happened but none of us had any reason to touch the back of the couch and I was the only one to sweep the fireplace (which was full of ash from the previous people but it was on their 'house rules' to leave it clean and I was worried we'd be charged so I swept it)

    They hosts wanted to charge me a $500 additional cleaning fee for the "trashed" house. I had after pictures of the condition i left it in and nothing came of it, so I think Airbnb said they didn't have a case, but I never used airbnb again.

    It cost more than a hotel would have in the area. Such a scam.

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