Hotels

Airbnb Limits Guest Chores Under New Rules

Does this defend against double-dipping fees or leave small hosts vulnerable to guest kickback?

19 hours ago·Updated 1 hour ago

Airbnb Limits Guest Chores Under New Rules

Story

Above: A stock photo of a person washing dishes. Image credit: Laura Ohlman/Unsplash

The Facts

Airbnb said Tuesday it will limit the chores hosts can require of guests, generally barring requests to strip beds, wash dishes or take trash off site. The rules apply to reservations booked on or after Nov. 20, the company said.
The Guardian
Fox Business
Hosts may still ask guests to leave used dishes in the sink, gather used towels and separate trash and recycling into designated indoor bins. They can also ask that advertised amenities such as air conditioning be turned off at departure.
NBC Bay Area
Airbnb
Conservative Daily News
The platform consolidated its standard house rules into seven categories: maximum overnight guests, quiet hours, events, pets, smoking, commercial photography and locking up at checkout. They are displayed on listings at the time of booking.
Airbnb
NBC Bay Area
New York Post
All rules and requests must appear in designated sections of a listing, and hosts may not introduce additional requirements after a guest books through messages, signs inside the home or in-person instructions, according to the policy.
Fox Business
The New York Times
Exceptions may be granted based on local factors, such as asking guests to use animal-proof trash containers in bear country or to limit shower time during drought restrictions. Requests that are flagged can be appealed by hosts, Airbnb said.
Airbnb
The Guardian
New York Post
Some hosts objected to the changes, and a Change.org petition calling on Airbnb to reverse the policy had about 4,000 signatures as of Thursday morning. One host wrote Tuesday that their property had been removed from the platform as a result of the change.
Conservative Daily News
The New York Times

Sources Split

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RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

Even top Airbnb hosts know that charging a cleaning fee and then handing over a chore list is double-dipping, and guests see right through it. Stripping beds, hauling trash and running laundry saves cleaners almost no time, so the only real result is a soured stay and a worse review. Clear, reasonable expectations set upfront beat a hidden list of demands for consumers.

Airbnb

Upworthy

Narrative B

Reducing real rules to polite suggestions leaves small hosts with no backup when a party wrecks a home that doubles as a residence. Washing a few dishes is the least of it, with the deeper problem being a platform that pockets a 15.5% cut while stripping away host protections. Cleaning fees will climb, and be passed onto the consumer, because someone still has to pay for the extra labor.

The Telegraph