AirBnb is the online platform that ostensibly connects private property owners with travelers looking for a cheap or interesting place to stay during their sojourns, be it bedroom or bungalow or baroque castle. Since its inception in 2009, AirBnb has cornered the market on short-term rentals by siphoning off guests from traditional hotel-stays, and in the process, has probably contributed to the feral rental environment plaguing major cities across the globe.
But neither of those things is why you should get your popcorn buckets out. In the last day, AirBnb has put the brakes on a long-time contentious practice beloved by hosts and hated by guests: doing chores. The new policy prohibits hosts from making guests complete a checkout list that includes basic household chores like laundering the bedsheets or washing the dishes, and it is set to going into effect on November 20, 2026. Hosts will still be allowed to encourage guests clean up, but cannot demand it.
r/airbnb_hosts, which as it says on the tin, is a subreddit for hosts. Many of its users are not thrilled with this new frontier in hospitality. Threads of consternation abound; here is a selection for your perusal:
Wait. We can't ask guests to do their dishes anymore?
New policies suck for hosts, bemoans one host who owns property in the Caribbean. Now that they cannot have their "no non registered guests" rule, they won't be able to prevent women from being stalked.
There are currently multiple threads about changing to a different platform entirely:
On the thread Band Together the OOP complains, "house rules are removed... we can no longer ask guests to clean their dishes, they can just dump a week of dirty dishes in the sink." In response to one commenter pointing out that it's unlikely that a "post-Airbnb platform" would get much traction, OOP says that you "gotta start somewhere" when it comes to a "big evil corporation." And this spawns a conversation about Marxism although no one has yet identified it as such: "So you want to own the means of production?"
In the thread of Alternative Platforms for "delicate" homes? this OOP says they own "multiple properties" and a few of those are historic. Without being able to set and enforce strict rules, "I fear I will not be able to protect these homes in the way that they need to be protected."
Can we arrange a mass exodus? has the OOP crying maltreatment: "The reality is, Airbnb is now 100% a platform for guests, with zero considerations for hosts."
Speaking of delicate treatment, what about hosts with disabilities or medical concerns? What about historic houses?
In the locked thread with 154 upvotes Cannot ask guests to only flush toilet paper OOP gets more support than many other posters and seems emboldened enough to think about the great, all-American sport known as I'm gonna sue somebody: "A class action suit waiting to happen. If anyone knows class action attorneys, I think the time is ripe."
Among the various conversations about the situation, one thread calls the new rule a big problem. Why? This change "restricts hosts' ability to establish individualised, enforceable rules." This bad according to the OOP because "For disabled hosts, that distinction can have serious consequences. Medically necessary safety precautions are not simply preferences."
One poster thinks nothing will change because guests are not usually disgusting. The problems happen when cleaning is required:
Hot take: I don’t think the dishes rule change will affect guest behavior much. "If you’re a good host and have provided your guests with a nice and comfortable stay, I promise you they’re not going to want to leave your place trashed. But when it’s listed as a required chore that’s part of the stay contract, which can then be weaponized if not done to the host’s expectations, it makes the vibe of the stay much worse. People don’t usually like to be given a list of chores they have to do “or else”—it’s infantilizing."
Many of these threads and conversations are on-going. Enjoy the meltdowns responsibly and do not piss in the popcorn.
