New Airbnb rules

Owner here.
I. do not charge a cleaning fee or expect the place to be left spotless, I clean to my high standard (have all 5 star reviews about this) and wouldn't trust someone to meet my standard.

Sometimes people strip the bed, sometimes not.
Sometimes a mug or glass left clean on the drainer, mostly not.

I am aware that some Airbnb owners just try to grab more money with extras. Some guests take the piss on electric, washing and hot water, it's just how it is.

And yes, sometimes it seems to be very expensive, but it is a business, needs to make profit and as a business I will charge the going rate (usually suggested by Airbnb based on other local offerings).

Not all hosts are the same!

I had 7 holiday lets in the Canary Islands (now retired). Advertised on various platforms as well as direct booking. The only thing we asked guests to do was to take away their rubbish. We specifically also asked that they NOT strip the beds as it was much easier to see if there were any marks to be dealt with before laundry was carried out. We never charged a cleaning fee and had check-out at 11 and check-in at 2 for some apartments and 3 for others.

However, these were small 1 bedroom properties and a sail boat that could be cleaned very quickly by two people.

We were mostly lucky with our guests leaving the properties in good order but as with every host we had the occasional guests who left a mess - a sink full of dishes, every pot used and left with dried up & burnt on food, badly stained bedding and towels, smoking inside, fridge full of half eaten mystery food etc. It all takes time to remediate.

I can totally understand the difficulties that arise with time management for larger properties with higher guest numbers where every dish and pan in the property is left dirty and guests are constantly pushing for early check-in/late check-out.

I always read the rules before booking, I wouldn't stay in one that requires stripping beds but I do dishes after myself or put a dishwasher on.
I didn't book a few because the rules were ridiculous, you pretty much had to clean everything on top of paying cleaning fee.

The issue is that not all hosts are transparent, and have rule guest books appearing in their property.

airbnb is overstepping the mark. its an advertising portal not an agent or the owner of the property. this just encourages owners to iintroduce rules once you arrive rather than beiing completely aware of them upfront and then choosing not to book.

this is not going to benefit guests at all. It certainly doesnt benefit owners either.

There is a huge amount of backlash about this and other rules on property owners forums and many are just delisting.

Yep. I'd rather stay in a Travelodge (which is normally a step down from a Premier Inn) than an AirBnB. It pisses me off when I'm on Booking.com and 70% of the listings are just AirBnBs on a different site.

I do appreciate that if you're spending time in your accommodation you might want a seating area but we don't tend to use the room for anything but changing and sleeping.

Doing washing up is not a cleaning task! I'm saying that as a guest, not a host.

I'd be annoyed as a guest having to pay a higher price because the poor cleaner has had to spend an hour doing dishes, and possibly doing the actual cleaning work to a lower standard.

And I'd worry that hosts being left with every pota and pan filthy would provide less to minimise the issue.

Filling the dishwasher and setting it off as you go is a reasonable compromise where there is one.

I’ve always had hotel rooms with fridges, unless cheaper end. I mean it’s each to their own but to me it’s not a holiday if I’m expected to clean and tidy, especially if the hosts then have the neck to charge me a cleaning fee!

On a recent holiday to the US, we just bought cups of tea from the diner on the corner. You can get a coffee machine for your room but nothing to make tea with. If I’m in a Premier Inn or similar I just buy some proper milk (can’t abide the sachets) or buy cordial that I can have with hot water.

Well, I don't clean in the way that you'd expect a paid cleaner to, just wipe down chopping boards/surfaces etc after use, wash up etc. It's not that onerous for me.
I explained earlier that I like Airbnbs not just for the fridge (that was an abridged version of my earlier comment) but for the fact that you have a whole place rather than being confined to one room. If it's bad weather, or if you just want or need to stay in for some reason, we find it much more relaxing to have a living room or a kitchen/diner than to spend the day in our one room; and in hotels you often have to sit on the bed, or there'll be (IME) one small chair designed for looks not for actually sitting in.
We stayed in one Airbnb where the power went out for a couple of days and we couldn't even make tea. There was a lovely cafe across the street where we'd eat and have tea and coffee, but I really missed the simple things of being able to get up in the morning and shuffle into the kitchen in PJs to make coffee, then stand on the balcony with it, and take tea to bed at night.

Thankfully I never read it🤣
If they don't tell me what the rules are BEFORE I book they can F OFF.
I also read reviews and if I see something there that was not mentioned in the ad, I don't book.

Never had any issues, but I use Airbnb very sporadically.

An hour!!!! You think it takes an hour? It takes 3 hours to clean my one bed holiday cottage.

I don't ask guests to do anything at all. Everyone cleans their dishes apart from one person out of 700 sets of guests. It's just good manners.But I would never ask.

What do you mean by "expected to clean and tidy". We just keep it clean and tidy as we go along which, surely, is what most people do?

We have an Airbnb and we don’t ask guests to anything apart from empty the bins.
Our cleaner does the cleaning and washing.

We've been staying in holiday cottages for years and have always emptied the bins, run the dishwasher and generally tidied after us before we leave. We don't strip the beds unless requested but always put all the towels in the bath and tea towels etc in the sink. I don't understand why anyone would even need to be asked to do this, it's just basic respect surely?
I do find MN is generally odd about SC though - some seem to regard is is inferior to hotels, with laying a breakfast table seen as unimaginable hardship while on holiday. Give me a whole house over a cramped family room anyday!

Hallelujah!! Somebody I totally agree with!

I don’t know how to feel about this. I always leave hotel rooms in some sort of order and I do the same with air bnbs. I wouldn’t dream of leaving them in a real state. I typically make sure the washing up is done and usually will leave the towels by the washing machine. I’ll also run a vacuum around or sweep the floors.

I've never been asked to strip a bed but cumbersome bin rules are quite common in Europe, having to take numerous types of rubbish and recycling to different off-site bins. I guess they do that so in case the cleaners don't come straight away (or if you leave earlier than they thought), the bins don't smell too bad. I still don't think it should be the guests' responsibility - or maybe they should have a "no frills" category where the guest is expected to do those things.

I disagree with this view. When I worked as a cleaner in a hotel, it was our job to take dirty cups, plates etc from the rooms and put them in the dishwasher in the kitchen, and then replace with clean where needed. Who else is going to do it?!

Having said that though, I also always put stuff in the dishwasher and turn it on before leaving, I dont hang around to empty it though.

I've stayed in 2 over the years. I will clean as I go but I dont want to be charged for cleaning and be given a long list of cleaning to complete. I will happily bag up rubbish and wipe down kitchen surfaces and tidy up. I have noticed an increase in listings where you are expected to do lots of cleaning plus pay a cleaning fee. For me that tips the balance of a stay not being worth the extra space so then I have just gone for 2 hotels rooms. The reason I have used an Airbnb previously has been a desire to have more space, having a living area is useful on a stay with young children who are in bed by 8pm, that being said we have only ever done short stays.

Some people do however leave airbnbs in an appaling state and owners should be allowed to review them to reflect this.

I have no problem leaving any place I stay as I find it - I won’t, however start stripping beds and putting loads of laundry on.

This thread reminds me a bit of this column by Giles Coren.

“No children, dodgy hot water. Enjoy your stay!”

www.thetimes.com/article/641de720-0f55-11ed-93cf-b011fa7fe86b?shareToken=8a90e2a7d68687d899a5bf6d9c38911c

My biggest worry with this is how much the cleaning fees will go up. I’ve never even considered not doing the dishes at a self-catering place (cottage or Airbnb), and we generally leave places as we find them. I haven’t been asked to strip the beds in an Airbnb since Covid times.

Giles Coren is just a provocateur. And a snob.

Possibly, but due to the area many properties aren't big enough to allow that kind of structure. I also think the area promotes more self catering let's as they put more back into the local economy 🤷Plus as they are being used as businesses the council gets more business rate income?!

There is an element of truth in it though.