A getaway is an escape from the everyday, yet some Airbnb customers are still left with common chores when they leave. Now, the company is making changes to their house rules to alleviate required cleanup.
"Typically, it's strip the beds, take the linens off, make sure the dishwasher is full and running," said Heather Schoegler, an Airbnb customer.
Airbnb is now blocking hosts from requiring a laundry list of extraneous exit instructions, especially for guests who are already paying a cleaning service fee.
"I thought that was really tough for the Airbnb owners. It puts them in a tougher spot," Schoegler said. "I have never minded doing those tasks before I leave, and it's the respectful thing to do, so I will probably still do it."
Inder Singh, an Airbnb Superhost, has minimal requests of his guests, which include keeping dirty laundry in a basket, and leaving dishes in the sink.
"I think the problem arises as every host is different and expectations of guests are different," Singh said. "If you are paying a cleaning service fee, you are not supposed to be stripping the beds, washing the dishes, or taking the trash out."
The work is left to Singh's cleaning services crew. He believes this gives guests a better experience, saying a better stay means better reviews and better business.
"Some hosts do the cleaning by themselves, they do not hire cleaning services, so what they want the guest to be doing is stripping the bed, washing the dishes, taking the trash out, basically having them do cleaning services work, so it's less work for them," said Singh. "For hosts who already have their cleaning services taken care of, it doesn't affect them as much, but there are hosts who do the cleaning themselves and asking guests to do a lot of things, now that burden comes onto them."
The new rules may push those DIY hosts to start hiring cleaning services, which could see more properties asking for fees.
"There might be some increased costs for guests as an unintended consequence to this push," said Katie Johnson, an attorney and host. "I just stayed at one in October, and they wanted us to strip the beds; they wanted us to start the wash with towels and do all the dishes. They had a very long list, so I think those are the ones that are really being targeted."
