New Airbnb rules

Same in some French ski resorts. Not only do you have to leave the place spotlessly clean (basically as you found it, floors mopped, surfaces wiped, carpets vacuumed), but they even charge you a "Linen hire pack" at the start where you go to the office to pick up your bedding and towels and have to return it to them at the end, to reclaim your deposit.

Do you or have you ever had young children? I've always chosen self catering when possible as it's difficult and expensive to eat every meal out with young children. It's so much easier to self cater with young kids. A few times over the years I've booked a hotel, and regretted it.

It was the normalisation a 10am checkout what did it for me. During Covid times it was to allow for extra thorough cleaning. Then it just became standard. Setting my alarm to get up, have breakfast, shower, tidy and be out by 10am. No thank you.

The problem with this is that you get unreasonable people on both sides occasionally.

Sometimes SC accommodation owners (not just Airbnb) make unreasonable levels of demands about jobs and usage restrictions.

Sometimes guests leave places in a complete state (I don't own a holiday rental for the avoidance of doubt, I just hear the stories).

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that people bag up rubbish and don't leave dirty dishes. The problem is that not all guests will do that as standard.

In an ideal world hosts wouldn't need to ask and guests wouldn't need to be told.

It’s still shaking out isn’t it?

I do know it’s much easier now to just stick the money in a bank/stocks than do either of those things now, especially as house prices aren’t shooting up anymore.

Good i hate rushing round on the last morning stripping beds, really ends the holiday on a sour note.

You are comparing apples and oranges there. Of course a cottage in the lakes is a different offering to a hotel. A basement studio flat in central Edinburgh also isn’t going to offer you all those things. I’m not sure what your point is?

When I book SC, I'd much rather be dealing with an agent than the owner. I'm sure they're not all the same, but they often don't treat it as a business and can be precious about minor things that should just be treated as a cost of running the business IMO.

The market dictates all of this. Poor long term investment in tourist accommodation in very touristy areas adds to the problem.

I think it was a 'small yellow mark' with a felt tip that did it. The sheets with felt tip marks cannot be used again if it won't come out.

I don't charge for bed linen but I've lost 3 whole sets this year. It's pretty annoying and usually preventable.

it’s even worse if you stay in a campsite mobile home in France. They send someone out to inspect your cleaning the day you leave and there’s a nervous moment or three when they tell you to have another go with the cleaning cloths on the bbq! They’re not just looking for clean, they’re looking for spotless so they hand over to the next people with absolutely nothing to do.
You can pay an extortionate cleaning fee, which might be less stressful!

I presume this is to end the 'double dipping' that hosts were increasingly doing where they charge a chunky cleaning fee, and expect you to do most of the cleaning too.

I do think expecting guests to wash up or start the dishwasher should be allowed, though. I can't imagine leaving dirty dishes for someone else to deal with.

I've stayed in hundreds of Airbnb properties from treehouses to shepherds huts to converted railway carriages.

I'd never stay in a hotel instead. I choose places carefully and am always thrilled by the quirkiness. I like to be able to cook when I like, have a kitchen full of snacks, board games and books and so on. If the weather is terrible and we want a couple of hours before going out, we can watch a film or play a game and so on. Much better than perching on a hotel bed all in the same room. It suits us perfectly. I can never understand why people don't get the appeal for some families. I understand why some people prefer hotels, why do so many other people not understand the draw of a holiday cottage? These threads are always full of people saying they can't understand why your choose it over a Premier Inn.

Last one we stayed in was a farmhouse out in the Peak District with sheep and cows as the only neighbours and a v friendly cat. I don't think Premier Inn offer breakfast in a garden overlooking rolling hills. It was also £40 a night cheaper than the nearest Premier Inn.

I always tidy around on the last day. It takes 20 minutes and isn't stressful at all.

I think this happens in very specific circumstances in very specific areas. I know it is deemed to be a problem in some very “naice” areas of Edinburgh for example, but that has always been an issue for residents, prior to AirBnB, short term holiday lets still existed in residential areas. Previously residents had an issue with these properties being student lets, now it is very difficult to find student accommodation (and yet still people complain about student resi being built).

Why can’t someone who owns property, make a profit (even if they are rich)? What next? Non-profit construction companies and mortgage providers? The housing shortage and inflation in the housing market in the U.K. is an economic structure problem, decades old, and has nothing to do with AirBnB.

I think it's far more that for airbnb you can charge for a week what you would charge for a month as a long-term let, often more. So even if you have it empty for some of the time (which is getting less and less as the tourist season lengthens) you are making vastly more money.

The rules, but as I say, I've never used AirBnB, so I don't know what the reality is, it's all based on perception. My perception is that in AirBnBs there are lots of pitfalls that moght cost you money.

When I stay in a holiday home, I leave the place as my home would be when it's due it's weekly clean. We'll have put the bins out if instructions we're left, tidied up after ourselves and dealt with any spills, but I'm not doing any actual cleaning or stripping the beds.

I like a hotel but the lack of seating in room annoys me. I could get around this by having a suite- can't afford it though

I think u should wash up ur own stuff. The host should be organising cleaning not tidying. I

I want to sleep in the same room as my husband on a holiday! Not be divided between the kids for supervision purposes!

And I don't do housework on a holiday either, just because it's an Airbnb!

Some Airbnb hosts have ridiculous chore lists so I think it’s to combat that. Leaving the place tidy? Fine. Stripping beds is mad to me - but I’ve never been asked to do this and I’ve stayed in a few airbnbs across the world. My experience is the big lists of rules etc are usually in the uk.

we tried to book a house for 12 people for a hen do - ages 40-50 and not raucous. Times of the house were no noise after 7.30pm or before 9am… while we’re not a noisy bunch, 12 people are never going to be quiet. We booked a hotel and that was so much less stressful. I’ve booked a villa in Croatia. Rules are have a lovely time.

I'm honestly interested in what you see as the difference between Air BnB and other self catering accommodation.

I advertise on multiple website, eg booking. com, as well as taking direct bookings. It's interesting that there is a perception that Air BnB is different in some way.

I much prefer staying in a holiday cottage to staying in a hotel. In a hotel, unless you have a suite of rooms, which is very unusual, all you have is a bedroom and a bathroom. So you're cooped up in one room for the whole time when you're on the premises. Nowhere to sit except on a bed. Nowhere to eat takeaways etc except sitting on a bed. No means of preparing anything other than an instant coffee or a pot noodle, because all you have is a small kettle and a couple of mugs.

I’ve done both with PI, and it’s been absolutely fine. For me the idea of a faceless host, here’s the code for the key, trawling about to find the right door and having absolutely no recourse at the time if the accommodation is poor, is far more risky. I could go to reception and have any issue resolved, change rooms, or even hotels immediately. Imagine wasting the first few days (or even the entire stay) trying to get hold of a host when it turns out the place you rented is a hovel. Not for me, thanks.

Good!

We stay in a five star hotel relatively regularly in Wales. They allow dogs in rooms and the restaurant, I think it an extra £25 per night.