Air B n B guests no longer need to clean up after themselves

[lonelylou09]

Wondering what everyone's thoughts are on the upcoming changes to Air BnB bookings where owners will no longer be able to ask guests to strip beds, remove rubbish or even wash up after themselves.
I'm a cleaner and I'm worried this will mean I can no longer do changeovers properly.
I currently do a 5 bed 3 bathroom that sleeps 10 and it takes me the whole check out time (5 hours) to turn the property over. That's with guests having to strip beds, remove rubbish to correct outside bins and at the very least load up the dishwasher and put it on.
If I have to add this on to It could easily add on an hour which means check out or in times would have to be adjusted and people already moan or turn up 2 or 3 hours early or leave an hour late.
So I'm guessing I'm asking what peoples thoughts are if you use air B and b. Do you do these things if asked and would continue too if you can't be asked to? Or do you think this isn't your place to do it? Does it make a difference if there is a cleaning fee charged separately?
My view is it's not a hotel ..its self catering and you should leave it as you found it. I always put a lot of effort into trying to ensure when the guests arrive it feels like no one was there before then and it's theirs for the week.
If I stay anywhere...even a hotel I'll strip the bed and set the bins ready to make it easier for the cleaner.
But although most guests are great you do get some that you just wonder what Thier own home is like.

On occasion when its not done I still wouldnt leave negative review. I have only ever had to leave a negative once and that was due to furniture being trashed.

We do this now too. If we are paying for 4 beds, then I want 4 beds. DS then has a choice of bed, which is important to him.

I always leave air BnB places like I would expect to find them, wouldn’t dream of leaving a big mess or washing up however I pay enough for the accommodation (don’t choose cheap places which is our choice) however draw the line at stripping beds.

Most of the time when I stay in an Airbnb it's in the US, although I have stayed in some in the UK as well. I don't understand many of the points that previous posters have raised. Almost always the only things asked of guests when they depart are to put any dirty dishes in the dishwasher and start it running, take the rubbish and recycling out, and either leave the used towels where they are or put them in the washing machine and start it running. And of course to empty out the fridge, which is fair enough. None of these things take more than a few minutes. It's always nice when the check out time is 11am, but even when it's 10am you only need to budget an extra 15-20 minutes on top of packing etc. before you leave.

I have never been asked to sweep, vacuum, dust, clean bathrooms, or strip beds. In fact most places would rather you don't strip the beds although they sometimes ask you not to make the beds that have been slept in so that they can see which ones need to be changed.

If you feel like you need to wipe down kitchen counters, clean bathrooms or hoover, that's on you. It's not Airbnb's fault!

How is any of this in any way a hardship?

Would this change your mind then? Now hosts aren't allowed to ask.

We sometimes end up staying in places that have more beds than people on the booking. I have never been anywhere where they haven't made up all the beds anyway.

I don’t understand the not stripping beds because it hides stains- what difference does it make? The stains are either there or not, whether or not you’ve stripped them is irrelevant

on the other hand- to people saying they can’t understand as it’s normal to run the dishwasher etc- you should see the way some people leave their hotel or air BnB!

one thing I do think is a bit odd though is emptying bins, didn’t realise this was an air BnB thing. I never empty bins

fussy holiday let owners isn’t just an air BnB thing- to be fair you get the laminated sign loons on all platforms.

Again - I would really like to know who considers putting a bin bag in a wheelie bin and washing up their own dishes “cleaning”? I feel this is the crux of the issue. I do consider stripping beds cleaning-adjacent and don’t want my guests doing that. The other 2 tasks are surely not cleaning? Especially when you have elected to stay in self-catering accommodation.

personally I believe cleaning is hoovering, washing bed linen, mopping, cleaning surfaces, dusting, cleaning out fireplaces, cleaning toilets with bleach etc?

if guests strip beds they can hide small stains which could be pre-treated and removed before washing.

Yes of course. And with a check that they had read them but abiding by them is different 😁

Exactly! I have never been asked to clean in any self catering place I've rented, and I've stayed in a lot of them!

Me too. I may run a friends place as self catering but I’ve also stayed in many - as I suspect have most people on this thread. I don’t know many people irl who think it’s reasonable to leave a sink full of dirty dishes when they leave.

Yes this!! Tbh comparable with the deals you can find on hotels now or other companies which aren't air BnB not used it for years... I remember back in the day when it was literally staying in someone spare room and actually meeting people. Years ago we did it in Bulgaria and it was really nice this lady cooked us a supper told us about living there, like a cultural exchange. Wouldn't really do that now with kids etc but was great when in 20s.

The bin thing is a bit at cross purposes I think .As PP mentioned there are different "levels" of taking bins out.

However broadly yes I think taking the bins out is a cleaning thing. In a hotel it's a thing the cleaner does, not a thing the guest does. Similarly I'm doing my housework today and going round the house emptying the bins is one of the jobs on my list.

The last Airbnb we stayed at we had to take bin bags down to the main entrance to the flats between 6am and 7.30am and we were told they absolutely could not be left out the night before, or left in the flat, or disposed of in street bins on the last day. We were leaving before 6am so it was a bit of an issue. It would have been much more reasonable to be allowed to leave the rubbish in the flat.

Not my problem, that is the owner's problem.
I am clean and tidy, BUT this is a holiday/ a break and also why I never use Airbnb... leave by 10 am, can't arrive till 4 pm, stupidly high cleaning costs; this is the bullshit legacy of Covid, which was 6 years ago.
If you can't hire enough staff to keep the property clean, the property that makes you money then maybe rethink owning a holiday let.
I don't want to be stripping beds etc on my last few hours.

Again, I feel sad about the need to homogenise and professionalise everything. There used to be space for luxury self catering with staff included, cute cottages that were more homespun and everything in between. They were priced accordingly and people could read reviews and house manuals to set expectations.

now it seems everyone expects hotel treatment. I want to take a dog and not feel too precious about my surroundings on holiday. I want a relationship with the host. I want to treat the property like a home from home - and yes, that includes doing my washing up.

maybe don’t book self catering if this offends you rather than being so binary - just an idea.

When I check out of a hotel I leave the room tidy and anything discarded in or beside the bin if it will not fit. I would not do any more than this in an air B&B because its not my place to do someone elses job. I am on holiday not a cleaning job. Some of the things guests are asked to do are illegal under present legislation since all terms have to be visible no more than one click away at time of booking. So you can safely ignore those icky little laminated notes asking you to do extras. If your cleaner asks for more its a tax deductible business expense so pass it back to the tax man.

I see lots of people comparing Airbnbs to hotels. I don't really understand, as they're inherently different, surely? As in 2 different services, so why are they being compared?

When I go away to a city, I know I look forward to a breakfast buffet and having some form of concierge in the building when we get back late, so I book a hotel. It wouldn't occur to me to book an Airbnb and then complain there wasn't any breakfast etc, "because there is in a hotel".

Same with different platforms - there's a difference between an Airbnb property owned by Deb and John who rent it out themselves and set their own rules, and a holiday let company that manages 10+ properties all under the same name with the same cleaners and same rules, etc.

Surely if you don't like the check-in/check-out times, having to take rubbish out, doing your dishes or trust the cleanliness, then what you're looking for is a hotel managed by a big company with staff by the bucket load, and not Deb and Johns 3 bedroom that their cousin lets and cleans. Or am I missing something?

The question I was answering was whether emptying the bins was a cleaning job or not. I don't need or expect a self catering stay to work the same as a hotel stay, and I think guests should do our own washing up, but to me disposing of all our rubbish falls more into cleaning than not.

How do you feel about icky laminated notes asking you not to flush anything other than toilet paper etc? Is that fair if the plumbing system can’t handle it?

I ask because for example in my Victorian property we have had people flushing nappies and wet wipes causing horrendous blockages that caused chaos. I’m no longer allowed to make this a house rule.

we are in danger of legislating traditional self catering out of existence which I think would be a crying shame as I have loved and used them for decades. I check reviews and house rules and if they don’t suit me I don’t book.

Loading/running a dishwasher is fine as is leaving furniture how you found it. Taking rubbish out to nearby bins on the property also fine. But, anything more than that is unreasonable including stripping beds.

If that eats into profit margins and means you have to charge more, so be it.

Like you said previously, I think it entirely depends on the property and the location of the bins. I'd consider it a cleaner's responsibility if the bin was miles away, if I had to sort it into different categories like in some European countries, if there was a static bin at the end of the lane that is permanently there (i.e you're not bound to collection days) etc. But if I was staying in a house and the bin became full, I just don't see at all why anyone wouldn't put it outside the door for collection, as otherwise you just have a full (and probably smelly) bin bag in the kitchen.

I think there's a reasonable distinction between asking guests not to flush wet wipes or nappies, which is basic consideration for the property, and expecting them to carry out cleaning tasks before leaving. As I understand it, Airbnb's new rules don't prohibit reasonable instructions about using the property, so I'm not sure it's accurate to say you can no longer make this a house rule. The important thing is that it's communicated before booking. It's also worth pointing out that these are Airbnb's own policies, not legislation. I don't think protecting guests from unreasonable demands necessarily threatens traditional self-catering.

They do unfortunately. I have appealed to support and am only allowed to have it as a “reasonable request” which means if they do block it I have no recourse to complain.

Yes we might book. We did. Once. What a nightmare and we paid a cleaning fee as well. We might give it a go.