Airbnb host check out demands - AIBU to ignore

Making the bed is a complete waste of time.

I would always strip beds and leave the bedding by the washing machine in a rental. I'd also always empty the bins and sweep the floor. This is just common courtesy.

It’s pointless making the bed when they are just going to change it.

I always empty the bins and strip the beds. Making the beds just makes things harder for the cleaners and leaving shite in the bins is just rude. Most of the time you're passing the bins when you're leaving so it just seems lazy.

I wipe down benches, run the dishwasher, and put any thing I've moved back where I found it. Never had a negative review.

I think a cold place is horrible and I'm not surprised you're all ill and fed up. Having said that, I find with airbnb if you get a good review from a host, or several, its a lot easier to book the places you want thereafter. If you leave a negative review and don't do the things they're asking, they could turn around and say you flouted house rules, left it filthy etc. Then next time you want an airbnb the host might hesitate to agree to the booking. I'm just looking at it in terms of short term loss / long term gain here. You do whatever you like, ultimately, but just keep a mind to the consequences.

Sorry you have had a negative experience. There isn't always a hefty cleaning fee though. This is a setting the host can choose or not. I'm a host and don't have a cleaning fee.

I don't require beds to be stripped and I don't do it as a guest either. It barely saves any time really.

I will not strip beds. I will empty a bin and leave things tidy.
One owner expected us to take the full bin bag away with us! This didn't happen..

I always leave any place I stay in clean and tidy. I’ll wipe surfaces and put the dishwasher on. However, it wouldn’t occur to me to empty the kitchen bin or strip the bed particularly if I’m paying a cleaning charge (which is the norm now). Air bnb owners on this thread have put me off using the platform going forward. Hotels from now I think.

I stayed in one last year..the cleaning list was hilarious! I'm not cleaning an entire air BNB to pristine standards when I'm on holiday paying a premium.

I'm tidy, I wipe everything down but no I will not be sweeping and mopping all floors and cleaning a bathroom or fridge before departure.
I'll drag the sheets into a pile on the bed. that's it.

When I can't check in until 1.00pm and have to be out at 10am..they can clean it.

Airbnb is no different to the myriad of cottage agencies we used before it was invented

Did the cottages add a separate cleaning fee to the costs though? They didn't when I used to hire them, but admittedly that was a long time ago

For me this is what makes the difference, even though I'd usually empty bins and strip beds anyway - it's not so much the cleaning I'd object to, but being charged for it and being expected to do it myself

I quite like it when you have to strip the beds. It means that you kind of know that there will be clean sheets when you arrive rather than sheets that the cleaner thought looked clean enough without needing to bother changing.

It takes just as much energy to remake the beds as it does strip them. If you are going to be all ‘I’ve paid enough’ about it. Just get out the bed and leave it.

I rent a lot of cottages.

Bed stripping is not.

I always empty bins. I stripped beds this time because we were asked . Left duvet covers on though...

Despite leaving place clean, the owner is now trying to claim we flooded her en suite..

I would recommend anyone cleaning avers doesn't stay in a Dutch caravan. They come and inspect your cleaning. If it isn't good enough, they stand there, supervising, until it is spotless... it is quite the most terrifying experience.

I always try and leave any self catering cottage as I found it.
Brief list: Clean kitchen surfaces, empty and wipe out the fridge, tidy up, empty all bins, might run hoover round quickly if we have stayed a long time or if floors are sandy or muddy but I wouldn't wash a floor though. Similarly I'd only wipe hair and dust etc out of the bath and basin, not scrub it unless it was filthy. I'd strip the beds if asked, but not if not. But I'd def make the bed roughly so the place looked superficially tidy.

Airbnb is no different to the myriad of cottage agencies we used before it was invented. Self catering is not a serviced hotel and never has been. If you want someone to tidy up after you, book a hotel.

Sounds Pretty standard so yes you’d be unreasonable to ignore - the heating is a separate issue.
although fwiw I always ask guests to leave bedding on so I can stain remove if necessary without having to wade through dirty bedding to see if it’s stained

I would leave the review knocking off a couple of stars off and explaining why factually.

Bin emptying and bed stripping are standard in holiday properties. I wouldn’t know about air bnb as I’ve never thought it necessary to book that way.

The heating thing is annoying but does occasionally happen. I’d flag it up and ask for money off the rental. Can you report this to Air BnB themselves or is it that far off regular renting agencies?

@Jungfraujoch to play devil's advocate who does the bed stripping in a hotel? The same person that does the cleaning. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask guests to strip beds and put the dishwasher on but equally if the place is clean and tidy I don't think it's unreasonable for people to assume it's OK not to strip beds etc. Depending on the Air BNB price point and what's in the listing either assumption could be reasonable.

I hate being cold, but I hardly ever heat my bedroom. 12C just for sleeping is fine if the blankets are warm enough. That's if you have a warm living room to spend time in, of course. I expect a hotel bedroom to be warm because I'll be living there too.

I also agree that taking the bins out is pretty standard. Whether it should be is a different matter, but I suppose the cleaner/host may not be coming straight away and it would fester otherwise.

I also agree you should be told their expectations in the listing, some Air BNBs charge as much as or more than a hotel and if I'm paying that then expected to be doing 1001 jobs I would not be impressed.

If there's a cleaning fee then I definitely wouldn't do all that, just strip the beds and get the sheets in the washing basket/washing machine and make sure it is left clean. Sounds like you've done what was reasonable. But definitely do at least contact Air BNB to let them know about the heating issue, not nice if a property isn't as described and someone vulnerable ends up freezing cold in there.

I don't like to imagine.

Just been on a walking holiday. We mopped up boot marks, swept the floor (I always do this), cleaned the table and the counters as we went along. When we left, we also cleaned out the log burner we'd been using and wiped inside the fridge. Towels were piled up in the bath, as we'd do in a hotel. All rubbish bagged and put in the outside bins.

Our mess. We made it, we cleaned it up and ensured the place was left in a decent state. That's basic manners.

Bed-stripping was not a requirement and it would not have occurred to me to do so. That's a housekeeping task.

I've stayed in loads of airbnbs as well. I load the dishwasher and put it on so that it's done when the cleaners get there.

I make the bed as I'm a grown man.

Everything else is, as far as I'm concerned, part of the cleaning fee I'm paying for. I just ignore all other requests and never got a negative.

I’m a Airbnb host. Stripping beds and emptying bins is not cleaning! I don’t expect my guests to strip the beds but most do. I do expect them to bag up rubbish from kitchen and bathroom bins and place in dustbin outside. Agree with other posters that the heating is a different issue. Why didn’t you push them on their non response for more heaters? It’s unacceptable they ignored you.