r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • 8h ago

Society New Airbnb rules ban hosts from making guests wash dishes, do laundry & other checkout chores

https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/new-airbnb-rules-ban-hosts-from-making-guests-wash-dishes-do-laundry-other-checkout-chores-3420832/
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u/crxsso_dssreer 8h ago

Very interesting, but literally pointless...

Airbnb is the very definition of enshittification, so much that many are now considering hotels again rather than going back to all the nonsense one can potentially go through when using Airbnb... dont get me started on all those crappy fees the hosts can pull out of their ass because someone left some "dirt" in the toilets or shits like that... it has become insane...

Airbnb might still look cheaper than hotels, but not for long...

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u/spoilerdudegetrekt 8h ago edited 7h ago

Airbnb might still look cheaper than hotels, but not for long...

For my wife and I on a long weekend, a hotel is cheaper.

I've only found airbnb to be cheaper for larger groups staying for several days.

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u/OvulatingScrotum 5h ago

My family booked a room in Montreal few months ago. The host “accidentally” double booked. We got the money back, but it’s not like that’s gonna allow us to stay somewhere.

We luckily found a nice hotel for comparable price. If double booking happened, then hotel would be much likely to offer another room or whatever.

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u/QuickQuirk 3h ago

switched back to mostly hotels a couple years ago, apart from remote locations without them.

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u/matmoeb 7h ago

I vacation as a family of 5. Vacation rentals usually end up being about the same price as 2 hotel room, and we get more space to relax, a place to cook a meal or two, a place to park the rental car for free (hotels rarely have those anymore), laundry machines, and a hot tub. Seems like a pretty good deal to me.

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u/kdoxy 6h ago

If I’m taking my wife some place you better believe I’m booking a place that won’t ask either of us to clean a damn thing.

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u/riyehn 8h ago

Way past "considering" hotels over here - it's been my default option for a few years now. I don't even consider AirBnB anymore when planning a trip, unless the hotel options are crummy or I'm specifically looking to book a whole house.

The price advantage of AirBnBs is all but gone already. In most larger cities these days, you can get decent budget hotel room for the same cost as a similar quality AirBnB, and way less hassle. The only AirBnBs that are still cheaper than hotels are things like dingy basement suites - units that are so cramped and depressing that budget motel rooms of comparable shittiness don't even exist.

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u/AFK_Tornado 8h ago

In the early days it was so nice. Hosts mostly lived in the same home and usually made you a nice breakfast (remember, what BnB stands for?!). It was a social experience, not just a way to avoid a hotel.

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u/Altruistic_Brick1730 7h ago

That sounds horrible. Last thing I want to do is live and have to interact with a stranger.

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u/AFK_Tornado 7h ago edited 7h ago

That was the Bed and Breakfast experience. You stay in one of the rooms and enjoy the common areas of a large well-appointed home, breakfast in the dining room at 7:30.

Early Airbnb was a bed and breakfast experience, scaled down to a small home, crossed with couchsurfing and hostel vibes. The "air" was as in "air mattress." So literally an air bed, and breakfast. It was social. It wasn't meant to be a vacation home rental for the family. That was the purview of VRBO and the like.

So it might not sound fun to you, but it was great for cheap solo or couple travel. Meet a local, pick their brain about the area over breakfast, have a landing pad during your stay.

I loved that.

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u/Altruistic_Brick1730 7h ago

I get it, it's just not for me. I avoid b&b's just because of that. Though we did do one in Italy, and the old Italian woman who didn't speak a word of English - and of course we didn't speak Italian - was fantastic and made a lot of food.

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u/crawlen 6h ago

I have had a few of those experiences and always enjoyed them! Just recently I stayed at a really unique Airbnb in SF (star trek house if you know of it) and while we didn't get served breakfast, the host was super nice and chatted with us and helped us park. He even hosed off my dusty car lol. I loved the whole thing!

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u/Impatient_Onion 5h ago

I haven't seen an airbnb cheaper than a hotel in the same area in almost a decade.

I feel like this isn't talked about enough but I feel like hotels haven't raised their prices much in many years; you can still get a run of the mill Comfort Inn for like $70-150 a night, same as in 2005 lol.

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u/SeaTie 4h ago

The rentals are declining hard, too.

I feel like in the beginning of the fad property owners were really excited and leaned hard into the 'Instagram-y-ness' of it all and decorated the homes, made them comfortable, made them fun.

...but as time went on they lost interest in the upkeep and so all those cute, cozy little extras just deteriorated and rather than fix the issues they just raised the price of the rent.

The last one we went to...the nice leather couch in the picture was all torn to shreds. The cozy blankets everywhere were gone. The nice coffee table in the middle of the room was totally gone (where the hell am I supposed to put my coffee).

Even little basic things like the light bulbs...they didn't even bother to replace them with warm light. So we clicked on the lights and it was like being in an office building with fluorescent bulbs. Not worth the price, not worth the fees.

The only reason we stayed there is because it was up in the woods where there aren't any actual hotels.

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u/Klutzy-Football-205 8h ago

Genuinely curious..but have you actually been charged for a dirty toilet??

I stay at different hotels (mainly Hilton or Wyndam) on a monthly basis and have NEVER had any additional fees after check out. Not even after an unfortunate female accident on the linens.

I even once left in a rush after a pet got injured and took a bag that I thought was mine but was their hair-dryer. I called as soon as I noticed and offered to pay or ship it to them and they told me not to worry about it. No charge ever hit my card.