Host requests for Airbnb places.

[madaboutpurple]

I saw some information on the net that Airbnb hosts are not allowed to ask guests to do the jobs that they often ask to be done anymore. My point of view has always been I am on holiday, the place will be getting a cleaner in before the next guests arrive so I will do a few things but I am not there due to being a paying guest to do some of the demands owners ask.

I absolutely agree re the cleanliness of dishes - as standard, I think hosts should ensure everything is run through the dishwasher before the next guests arrive.

It’s a property rental. You are cooking for yourself so you clean up after yourself. Are you thinking of the kind of B&B where someone stays in a spare bedroom in someone else’s home? That would be a different situation. I believe that’s how AirB&B started out but most of it now is just short term property rental, and that’s what people are talking about on this thread .

I don’t understand the laundry comment. Do you get a service wash in your hotel then? I always like it when there’s wash and dry facilities in a holiday let as it means you don’t have so much to do when you get home. You can always save it up if you prefer though.

I have never used Airbnb, mostly because of what I hear about guests being charged a cleaning fee and also having to clean. Why on earth does anyone go along with this? What a farce. Cleaning should be included in the hefty prices charged by greedy owners. Would much rather use a hotel or non-Airbnb let.

I don’t understand your comment about the decor really as the good thing about platforms like AirB&B and Vrbo mean that you get a good look at the decor and furniture before you go so you can bear that in mind when booking. People have always let out properties full of old furniture and decor from 30 years ago but in the past you didn’t know until you got there. We’ve stayed in some awful places in the 90s / early 2000s. What kind of prices are you paying for these sort of places?

I have an AirBnb and don’t ask guests to do anything- about 50% strip the bed and take the bins out which I’m always very grateful for. When I stay anywhere s/c I strip the beds, take the rubbish out, make sure everything is back where it was, wipe the surfaces and hoover if there is one there. As a guest I like to leave everything tidy. As a host, it’s part of the job to clean up but I definitely judge how grubby the guests are when I’m scrubbing shit off the walls, snot off the walls and bath, and marvelling at how people cba to wash up their own dishes 😂

I saw some information on the net that Airbnb hosts are not allowed to ask guests to do the jobs that they often ask to be done anymore

Like what exactly OP? Can you post the link that you read?

We are pretty neat and tidy in holiday accommodation (have sometimes had compliments from a host arriving to do checkout!) We don’t have pets, take shoes off and generally give surfaces a wipe after most meals. Might hoover living areas once or twice during the stay, especially if they have a Henry or Hetty! We take the rubbish out, if that’s requested.

However I think it’s fine to leave the dishwasher running from breakfast things. How else are you meant to do it in this day and age? We generally make the beds and leave everything straight and tidy.

Stripping beds is a step too far in my view (although we do it if asked), as there is always something depressing about a stripped bed and to me the process pretty much destroys the sense of hospitality, which is surely what you are paying for after all?

There are a lot of places to stay and ultimately it’s all about how a place makes you feel, whether that’s a tiny hostel, a cottage or one of the finest hotels in the world. Piss a guest off with extra chores right before they depart and you will never really recover that goodwill again.

Those are some quite tight new rules from AirBnB and I think they are right to rebalance things, as it had got a bit out of hand.

I am put off AB&B's due to seeing 'you must clean the property before you leave' Just no, I am on my holidays, I'm happy to put the dishwasher on before I leave but cleaning including putting rubbish out and stripping beds is the job of the cleaning team I have paid for in the cost of the rental.

Glad to see these new rules comimg in.

You've never stayed in one so why on earth are you commenting?

I must be very fortunate, having stayed in over 30 properties here, on the continent and in the USA and never been asked to do more than sort recycling, maybe take rubbish to outside bins and leave towels in the bathroom. Stripping the beds used to be a common request but not seen it for a good few years now.

I like to leave the place as I find it to look at so I do run and empty the dishwasher or plan to have breakfast en route so just wash coffee things, but I don't find it onerous at all. Having a whole place rather than just a hotel room makes a bit of wiping well worth it.

I definitely can't relate to places being dirty or poorly decorated either, but I always look for 4.8 ratings and read recent reviews carefully. As for cleaning fees, I couldn't care less and just look at final price and see if it seems right for the property and location, and that I can afford it. How it breaks down is no concern of mine and I don't know why people get so het up about it, but I feel a lot are basing it on hearsay or one bad experience they had 10 years ago.

I would not do anything more than I would expect to do in a hotel. All terms and conditions when you book online have to be visible no more than one click away. I know this because I sell online and have to follow the law. Anything not stipulated at the time of booking cannot be legally requested. So those crappy little laminated cards with requests for "extras" can safely be ignored.

We usually stay in apartments or cottages because I find hotels a bit claustrophobic. I use Booking rather than AirBnB as I don’t get a critique afterwards.

The ‘rules’ and deposits seem to be location specific. Apartments in London have had large deposits and the expectation that the place is left largely as found. I think they have had problems with people partying etc. Not a problem for us because we are tidy anyway and usually eat out. Crete, Riga, South Africa were much more relaxed.

I view it similar to a hotel. I’m happy to wash the pots and put the towels in the bath but feel the bedding and bins shouldn’t be my responsibility

I agree. It isn’t the guest’s issue that there is a shirt turn around time.

I’d wash and leave drying any dishes used that morning and make sure any waste was in bins/bags. We do enough cleaning and tidying at home, don’t want to do it on holiday.

I have a large holiday let (sleeps 12) and generally get multigenerational families staying. I just ask that the dishwasher is set off and keys left in the key safe.

Tbh I am often shocked (and very appreciative) of the way it is frequently left, sometimes I can hardly tell anyone has stayed.

Yes, this is what the last couple of Airbnbs we have stayed in have asked. It makes sense as you have to be out quite early and some dishwasher cycles are quite long.
We do what we are asked to do but I do feel that stripping beds crept in during Covid and hosts kept this rule afterwards.

I think washing up and wiping down the sides is reasonable. I'll even do a quick sweep. But no fucking way in hell am I stripping beds.

It differs because there are staff in a hotel or restaurant whose job it is to wash up and clean. Airbnb properties are mostly self-catering and while guests are not expected to leave the place clean and spotless there is an expectation that they don't leave it full of rubbish, don't leave dirty dishes piled up if there is a dishwasher available and if they do happen to spill some wine or juice, drop a bowl of cornflakes or squirt some ketchup on to the table they at the very least wipe it up. Guests are expected to treat the property as if it were their own home.

I used to have a holiday rental that slept 4 and at first I provided 12 of everything - cups, plates, glasses, cutlery etc. - only to find that on Saturdays I'd be confronted with piles of dirty plates, glasses and cups despite there being a dishwasher and tablets provided. Every item was used. Sometimes a week's worth of pizza boxes and drinks cans would be found strewn around the living room and kitchen, and often in the bedrooms. Rubbish bins would be overflowing and leaking onto the floor. I very quickly took away half of the kitchen items, provided additional kitchen rolls, wipes and rubbish bags, and made a point of showing people where the big bins were (directly outside the door - they had to walk past them every time they left the building to go anywhere).

My cleaners could turn the apartment around in two hours if it was left reasonably tidy, but on occasion it could take over four hours if the guests had left it in a disgusting, filthy condition. The incoming guests have the expectation that things will be immaculate and this can take time. Twice a bed was broken, I learned to have a spare mattress available having found a soaking wet, soiled mattress more than once (I was always suspicious if guests had left earlier than planned) as well as a broken door and doorframe, a smashed coffee table, locked cupboards broken into, a couple of lost TV remote controls, unwashed crockery put back in the cupboard, a flooded kitchen because someone had forcefully disconnected the dishwasher outlet pipe ... in the end we decided that it simply wasn't worth it.

AirBnB used to be so cool, but as usual a few unreasonable people spoiled it (on both the owner and renter sides)
We were once charged for sand on the external doormat of a beach front home.
Another place wanted to charge my friend for using too many of the logs provided for the fireplace.
And the cleaning thing is just ridiculous. If you want me to clean the place I will, but if that's the rule then I'm not paying for a separate cleaning fee. If I'm paying the cleaning fee, then the cleaners can clean it and turn around or whatever is not my problem. I would never leave anywhere in grim state, but if I've been there for a week it will be lived in in a normal way and the fee I've paid (on top of the actual accommodation fee!!) is to cover that.
I'll pop my used towels in the bath and set the dishwasher off/rinse my coffee mug if I think of it, but I'm not sweeping, scrubbing, polishing, or emptying anything!

That's just my view and why me and AirBnB don't get along!

As a guest, I simply could not leave dirty dishes hanging around. It just goes against my nature.

The funniest one we had was we arrived and found we were expected to feed the cat - it lived outside apparently when the owner was away but came into the house at every opportunity and slept on the beds, not a problem as we love cats but anytime we opened a window or the patio door we had other local cats trying to get in which was rather more challenging! I do always strip beds unless asked not to, clean surfaces ,do dishwasher etc but sadly since COVID sometimes the check out times have become super early ( and often late check in) so I sometimes avoid those sort of air bnb’s as it’s too stressful.

I would not do any of this, that for you to sort out and the turn around time is not my problem.

This is where Airbnb hosts can use the opportunity to leave reviews about guests. The two-way review is intended to encourage better behaviour all round.

Well not any more.

Oh wow. How does someone break a bed? All that stuff is crazy.