Airbnb query over costs

[LetusandLoveit]

Never used Airbnb before although have got as far as registering and chatting with an owner a while back.

Can anyone tell me about the added costs- the booking fee and cleaning fees.

Are these set by Airbnb or the owner and is there any way around them?

I'm looking at a house for just a few nights, but the booking and cleaning fee are close to the cost per night (almost £100.)

Are owners allowed to change these fees or is it possible to book with them directly at a lower cost?

The cleaning fee is set by the owner

No way around these. Some owners do advertise properties on other websites so you can look elsewhere but suspect the fees would be similar.

That sounds about right. I think the Airbnb booking fee is 14%, and cleaning is expensive. Depending on the size of the property it will take at least three hours for most, much more for a large property. If the nightly cost is around £120 then for three nights the booking fee would be roughly £51 and I'd expect the cleaning fee to be at least £60 and probably £75.

The cleaning fee is set by the owner and Airbnb only makes money by charging its fee. Airbnb is usually better for longer stays for this reason as the cleaning fee is usually £x whether one night or seven.

I use Booking.com loads. No extra fees and I only ever book ones that you don't need to pay upfront. Have used for hotels, villas and houses.

Cleaning fee is optional and set/decided upon by the owner.

As a host I think that's what the stay fee is for and cleaning fee is cheeky. I would, in turn, never book somewhere that has one of these. My feeling is also that they will then expect you to empty bins and strip beds.....while charging a cleaning fee!!!

The booking fee is Airbnb fee (non negotiable) and the host also pays something like 3%. Whereas with Booking.com the host pays more like 23%.

Either way the fee is in there. I've been an Airbnb host for 8 years and have found them to be generally quite good customer service wise but hosts can be unreasonable in the stories I have heard. I know if someone cancels I can (and do if there's a chance of me rebooking the slot) ask Airbnb to refund them. Airbnb will never refund their fee though, just mine to the guest. And I've have been thanked by Airbnb cancelling guests precisely zero times for the several I have refunded!

I think it's probably the Ryanair of booking sites: all grand until something goes wrong and then youre on your own! Supposed to be cheap and cheerful but not always.

Thanks for the tips.
I did find other houses in the same street on Booking.com but not the one I was interested in.

We are in our 60s, have used self catering for 40 years and usually (boast) leave a house so clean you'd not know we'd been there! So there won't be any wild parties. And with all other places we've booked, the rental cost is inclusive.

I was looking for a short stay near family but TBH it would be cheaper using a 4* hotel for 3 nights.

AIRBNB used to be great. Then it went shit.

Ok - but if the cleaning fee was included, it would be £170 a night not £150 or whatever. I quite like it being separated.

And no matter how tidy you leave a cottage, there may still be a cleaning service that comes round, strips the beds, runs or empties the dishwasher etc. The service won’t charge the owner less if you have already done the bins.

I two t use Airbnb due to their insistence you upload a photo, twice last year (Italy) I had bookings cancel on me because I didn't have a photo on my profile, why do my looks matter one iota unless they are being discriminatory! They knew my name, my nationality and passport number, I don't want my photo listed for privacy.

Air bnb can be brilliant, to work out the cost I always go to the page as if I'm booking and then I know the full cost. It would never occur to me that this was negotiable. It's take it or leave it. Not up to you to decide what costs are needed

We "usually (boast) leave a house so clean you'd not know we'd been there"

But they still have to clean it, change beds, hoover etc. You might leave it tidy but it still needs to be cleaned.

Cottage agencies just include the these fees upfront and are usually a lot less flexible about booking for short stays than Airbnbs are. Flexibility to book a weird combination of dates is the main reason I like them.

Why? I've probably stayed in 30 or more Airbnbs over the last however many years and the couple of not-so-good experiences I have had are when I haven't read the description carefully enough, or when I've compromised on the Airbnb because of a need to be in a very specific location (Eg walking holiday, and little choice).

Well, Airbnb used to have lower fees in order to dominate the market, and they are now putting those fees up in order to actually make money. Is that what you mean by great to shit?

I have of course looked at the costs.
A while ago I was on the verge of booking somewhere, had a few questions which I asked the wonder, and they offered me a discount as it would have been a late-ish booking.

I also wondered (as I've seen this too) that some owners let out property independently (which some do) - they have their own website but also use agencies. This means they can sometimes offer the property at a lower cost as there is no agency taking commission.

I have no idea if Airbnb have an exclusive contract with an owner.

I understand that @CheerioDarling
It wasn't suggesting that there would be no cleaning.
But I meant that sometimes properties are left in a terrible state after group bookings/ families, so the fee has to cover all of that.

I fully get that beds need to be changed and bathrooms cleaned. I've been renting hols places for 45 years.

The fee is a set percentage.

Cleaning fee depends on the owners costs, we are able to clean ours ourselves, this makes it a bit cheaper. Even a basic clean if it place is left tidy etc is a good four hours, if we were paying that would be around £80 (they would be quicker) as we would need to use a company/cleaner who could do any changeover day and at a set time.

When it has been left in a mess, I find it only takes maybe 15-20 more minutes really.

We include our cleaning fee in the cost, this also means were able to offer cleaning etc during a long stay.

I always find Premier Inn or Travel lodges competitive for price and usually have attached restaurant too.

It depends what you want, though. If it’s somewhere to sleep for a night, totally agree. If it’s a base to explore and come back and hang out as a family to cook or read or play games, then no.

Airbnb owner here.

Cleaning fees have risen hugely because of energy prices and cost of living. It's a set fee regardless of how long you stay. It therefore is less cost effective for short breaks. Hotels don't do this as they have on site staff to clean. Plus a single room is much quicker than a whole property.

Ours is set at £80 and that goes direct to the cleaner - we don't profit from it.

You can't get around them on Airbnb - they are set by the owner.

People advertising rooms, then double booking and offering a sofa without a reduced rate
People advertising rooms that do not match the listing and if you stay, saying that you could have just left [when you get there late and have nowhere else to stay] and then not offering a reduced rate or refund
People advertising rooms that they do not have, and keeping your money which takes weeks to get back with no recourse
People cancelling your room at late notice and keeping your money which takes weeks to get back, and when you do they don't return it all
People advertising rooms that are dangerous/have unfinished work/electrics/stairs/non working facilities/no internet/no parking when all the things were actually needed and used as a filter to book the venue in the first place.

All the above are why I don't AIRBNB any more.

All pretty shit. Nothing to do with increased fees.

I don't recognise this at all! I have stayed in 30 Airbnbs since 2017 (just counted) and only two have been below par places I really wouldn't return to.

I've had just as many disappointing experiences in hotels or agency cottages over the years.

Looks for superhosts or scores of 4.9 or higher and you won't go wrong.

Agree with @CheerioDarling - though I have only ever booked full places, not rooms

Depending on how "sneaky" you want to be, you can send an enquiry on air bnb to the owner, asking if they have a social media account or another way to discuss the property. I occasionally do this with my holiday let and then take the booking direct (I book at the same price but the guest doesn't pay the 15% booking fee and I don't pay the host fee they take before they pay me)
Air bnb are pretty hot on this so you can't be too blatant!! It is frowned upon, because they make no money if they don't take the money from bookings but it does happen....
I also use booking.com but my rates are higher to cover the cleaning costs and the commission they care me (circa 20%). The cost of living has pushed all our prices up (mainly due to gas and electric but also there's new fire regs that have cost us money and guests now expect, and we provide, amenities like tea, a variety of coffee options, bread, milk, cereal, cleaning supplies, toilet roll, kitchen roll, condiments, paid for TV options etc and these have all gone up and are bought in fresh for each booking)