r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • 7h 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/exithiside 5h ago

I don’t know if I’m even okay with a cleaning fee. IMO the price of them having to turnover should be included in their pricing. Cleaning fees should only apply if you made a crazy mess or damaged something, similar to a hotel fee setup.

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u/OrindaSarnia 3h ago

I think the original idea behind a cleaning fee was that the cleaning only happens once per visit, so if it costs $100 a night, plus a $100 cleaning fee then the first night is $200...  but if you stay for 6 nights then it's $700 for 6 nights.

If you raise the nightly rate to cover cleaning then it's $200/night and a 6 night stay is $1,200...

So having it as a separate fee was supposed to make it so the nightly rate could be less, while still covering the cost of cleaning regardless if the length of stay.

If someone was willing to pay $200 for one night, they could!

But it doesn't make sense to have higher cleaning fees plus a chores list...  and AirBnB needed to show the whole cost when showing listings, and not show a place costing $100 for a one night visit, only to click on it and realize it was going to be $200.  (I believe their interface has adapted to show the full price these days.)

Anyway, people started charging huge cleaning fees and not using it as a way to keep nightly rates lower, so now it's all a mess.

Hotels always had the fee baked in because "back in my day" hotel cleaners came into every room, every day, made the beds, replaced fresh towels, picked up trash, so there was a labor cost every day and the room cost more every day to account for that labor.  AirBnB's were supposed to be different because you don't have daily maid service.

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u/soofs 1h ago

What do you mean "back in my day" for hotel cleaning? Every single hotel I've ever stayed at (and have multiple family members that work in hotels) have room attendants that will clean every single day if you don't have a do not disturb sign up. Granted, some hotels have some special things like do X if you want Y, but never seen a hotel that doesn't guarantee a room cleaning for every day.

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u/OrindaSarnia 15m ago

Most hotels that I have stayed in, in the US, recently, don't replace towels daily unless you do some specific thing, like leave your towels on the floor (but who wants to have a bathroom floor covered in towels?  Or remember to pull them off the towel bars before you leave the room in the morning?)

They will still do a light cleaning, but I have had them leave the trash can with stuff in it, etc.  It seems like the days where they do a full cleaning, tuck my kids' stuffed animals into the newly made bed, etc, just doesn't happen as much.

Some places still do it, some have highly truncated daily cleanings unless you specifically ask for a full service.

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u/VanGoghNotVanGo 5h ago

For what Airbnb was supposed to be it makes sense: Someone renting out their own home or vacation home every now and then. It makes sense for them to not have a work flow for cleaning a charge a little extra if they have to. 

Or you can save some money by cleaning yourself. 

Of course, frequently that isn't the reality anymore, but it made sense initially