Airbnb host check out demands - AIBU to ignore

I would never strip a bed unless asked to (I did during covid as asked too & didn’t during covid when asked not to as no one was in after us for a few weeks, so they were going to just leave it).

empty the bins. That’s just basic common sense. As is washing up after breakfast. If there’s a dish washer I’ll often fill it, turn it on and leave.

it’s clean. They can empty it.

Please don’t remake the beds. This is a pet hate of mine. As a host, you can’t tell if the beds been slept in and also, it takes longer to strip the bed. Just strip beds and leave sheets in the bed. Bins out. Complain about the heating or he won’t fix it.

so you're making a loss on each rental? why do it? genuinely curious

We rent a caravan out on Airbnb. And all of the cleaning companies available to us ask that guests do this otherwise they charge extra. We charge £25 for a clean on Airbnb but it actually costs £55 (no one books if you charge £55), when you condsider our site fee's, energy bills and general maintenance we make zero profit but often have to pay extra to the cleaners bacause of additional work left for them despite mentioning these requirements in the advert. I personally don't like asking this of guests but am left with no choice.

You should ask for a refund regarding the heating. I would have offered this outright if this were my guests.

I think I’d deal with both things separately. I always strip the beds, empty the bins & make sure everything is clean & tidy in any rental - it takes 5 minutes - & makes me feel like everything will definitely be clean for the next people (unlikely to put dirty sheets back on 😂)
Regarding the broken heating - I’d expect some money back - Airbnb are pretty good at mediating in disputes. Did you let them know their instructions didn’t work though? That might be a sticking point!

I'd consider all of those reasonable requests. Hoovering and mopping and cleaning all the surfaces would be a bit much but stripping beds and taking out bins is pretty standard.

I came across a rental "cottage" in Mevagissey yesterday. It sleeps 10 and costs £2800 a week at peak times. The cleaning fee is £180.

I won't be going there, but if I did, and I was spending that much, I wouldn't be doing anymore than leaving it tidy. I definitely wouldn't be stripping beds or emptying bins!

That's understandable. Sometimes there are good reasons to ask that guests do their own recycling. Usually party houses will have much more than the average family holiday let.

Depends if there is a cleaning fee or not. At the last place we stayed I emptied all the bins and gave the kitchen (we only ever had breakfast there, so did no actual cooking) a quick wipe down and made sure the rooms were tidy. I didn't strip the beds and it wasn't stated anywhere that I had to. I'd leave a place tidy always but in your case if they expected you to do that level of cleaning then they are cf for taking a cleaning deposit and I would be stating that in my review. Yanbu.

If the cleaning fee is hefty, I would agree.

If it is fairly nominal, stripping beds and emptying bins doesn’t sound awful - although I don’t know how complicated the bin situation down the lane is.

I do think some of the Air BnB rules on cleaning can be terrible. There was one thread where all rubbish had to be taken away from the site (presumably the owners hadn’t paid to get the bins emptied) and the dishwasher had to have been emptied and put away (and all cutlery / crockery washed and dried). That’s really hard to do if you have to check out early.

Never been asked to strip beds, but the one place we stay annually (about 20 of us), you empty the bins and take your recycling with you, always a lot of bottles. It’s on the edge of a tiny village, so we have to take it to the nearest bigger village.

Why would you fold dirty towels and place them neatly in the bath or shower? 😆

I think it's a bloody cheek to charge a cleaning fee and then require guests to strip beds and empty bins.

I have a little lodge I let out and about 1 in 30 people strips the bed. It annoys me as we have under blankets and protectors and they ALWAYS mash everything up and make it harder, no easier!

I simply don't believe that. If I was staying with friends I'd ask them if they wanted me to strip the beds (and I remake the bed for my mum as she finds it a chore) but I don't believe for a minute that 100% of your friends, colleagues, relatives and acquaintances strip beds everywhere you go. It is not remotely normal to do so in a hotel or B&B. It has only become normal in AirBnBs because some owners are massively cheeky and think they should command high rents while they do very little at all.

I leave hotel rooms tidy for the cleaner, but I don't strip the beds when I leave.

Its the principle of the thing, I can't imagine letting something like this go

Did you know the heating was off before you left? How did you know to bring hot water bottles? Also, why make and fold a bed nicely? No one surely would be using those sheets so pointless making the bed?

It's been pretty chilly in some parts of the UK in the last couple of weeks.

Please make the request. At the very least the slumlord deserves to have the hassle.

It's normal for most when in hotels, guest houses, B&B etc.
It is different to staying in someone's actual home and depended on relationship. I don't want my guests to strip beds, I will do it. Mum still strips it as do I in hers.
But bed linen is for me simply part of paid service. That includes putting it on and stripping it. Unless it's some super budget self catering where it's clear it's budget because you should do these things. Tbf I can't comment on my friends because I don't check their rooms before leaving and never thought to discuss bedding on holidays bar "nice sheets, aren't they!".

Quite frankly, if people don't want to do, or pay to have done (that what cleaning fees and bumps in prices are for) basics of that hospitality business, maybe they shouldn't be in it.

dunno it's probably habit I have to make the bed.

no-one I travel with or work with do it. I see the prices they are charging its not cheap. they can afford to pay for cleaning. most of the time you are a leaving at the crack of dawn to get a plane etc don't have time to strip the bed. bed is made some time not perfect however has been a few occasions rare times that have left it unmade.

I can fully understand not stripping the bed, but surely making the bed is making the cleaner’s life harder?

No, you’ve been brought up to think it’s ok to behave like this. Every single friend/relative/business partner/colleague I’ve ever travelled with or stayed with has always stripped beds they’ve slept in so it’s normal for me, it’s just not normal for you.