Interesting news article about competition between Airbnb & hotels starting to shift towards hotels. Push-back against Airbnb for remote hosts, “chore lists,” cleaning fees, and closing price gap between Airbnb/hotels.
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I swear I read this story two years ago and 5 years ago and again 8 years ago. Airbnb is so big now that there’s no shortage of rentals that are like mine: hosted by me, no chore lists or cleaning fees and still cheaper than a hotel.
I’m glad of this though,
I’ve seen this trend for sure.
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“Yeah, I stopped using airbnbs because the hosts want me to clean up after myself. No way! They told me to treat the airbnb like it was my home!”
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“Yeah, I stopped using airbnbs because the hosts want me to clean up after myself.
As a host it doesn’t matter to me if (for example) the kitchen floor looks spotless when the paying guest leaves or it’s spattered with spilled milk – either way, when they leave I’m still going to be down on my knees with a bucket of soapy water spending exactly the same time cleaning.
I draw a distinction between situations where guests who create extra work (or repair costs) for us, and those who simply leave the place messier or dirtier that I (as an almost-pathological neat freak) would do while travelling. The neat ones are more “my kind of people,” but – as a host – I’m always careful to avoid imposing “my kind of people” on guests, unless the deviation from “my kind…” leads them to create extra work or costs for me.
For example – it’s been many years since I engaged in the delights of deliberately “getting buzzed” by drinking more than one beer at a sitting. I don’t judge my guests who still enjoy getting a buzz on, but I would judge harshly guests who drink and then get loud/belligerent or who create extra work for me by puking and not 100% cleaning that up.
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I have no chore list for guests. But 90% of guests leave their room and bathroom very clean and tidy and many bring down their bag of garbage and recycling and put it in the appropriate places or ask where they should put it.
Unfortunately, many guests and the media seem to have some erroneous idea that all Airbnbs want guests to do what should be the hosts’ housekeeping chores.
Wonder when the media is going to put out a story about all the hosts who don’t expect their guests to complete a list of chores before checking out. I’m not holding my breath.
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Agreed!
202020202020
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Recently, Western Australia we’ve had to register. Air says it will not list us if we don’t, though we registered ours promptly to avoid the govt $250 joining fee. I hope the register eventually culls the ones that aren’t home hosts.
Because of Ockers comment about that I’ve added the following:
I am talking about whole houses that are being used to make lots of money via short term rental, like airbnb, rather than long term rental , putting them out of the range of people who need somewhere to live. Its blown out of proportion to the point people are becoming homeless. It seems to be a world wide phenomena.
I STR a studio in my house, where i live, as Airbnb originally started. Guests often tell me my fees are very reasonable
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Lozette, That is cruel to all the families who enjoy renting holiday houses when the people who own them are not using them. Please be more charitable in your comments.
Pot. Kettle. Please keep things nice. Thank you.
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I think you misunderstand me.Im not talking about people who can happily leave their home to holiday in someone else’s place.
I am talking about whole houses that are being used to make lots of money via short term rental, like airbnb, rather than long term rental , putting them out of the range of people who need somewhere to live. Its blown out of proportion to the point people are becoming homeless. It seems to be a world wide phenomena.
I STR a studio in my house, where i live, as Airbnb originally started.
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My guests too. They can see that I care about my place and so they do too.
They generally get to meet me too , so it becomes personal for both parties.
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Thats why reviews are important.
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Actually, people who rent entire homes short-term do not make much more than long-term rentals. In fact we would prefer a long term tenant. Everything comes down to supply and demand. If there are many airbnb rentals then there are not enough hotels to accommodate high peek seasons. Entire homes are sometimes listed temporarily, because some owners plan to move back in the future, or live in the area seasonally. I had my home listed when I left the country a few times. Then i moved to a new house and rented my house to tenants who needed a temporary place while their homes were being repaired after storm damage. Some people who are homeless and have jobs stay at airbnb just take a shower and do their laundry, then they camp out because they can’t efford long-term rentals or have been evicted in the past.
While it wasn’t my intention when i started this conversation. It now sounds like we’re now writing about people who aren’t us- ie those who cant live where they want, or how they want. Having to book somewhere to snatch cleanliness and comfort doesn’t sound like long term fun, but who am I to say. I don’t walk in their shoes.
I think we need to close this ‘stoey’.
Im sorry i triggered it
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I feel like a few bad hosts who are too cheap to hire cleaning crew have really tarnished the rep. Now too many guests have predetermined bias against the platform. Yikes.
Has nothing to do with “hiring cleaning crew”. Many of us clean our Airbnbs ourselves.
It’s about what hosts realize to be part of the host’s responsibility, regardless of whether they have hired cleaners or do their own cleaning, as opposed to expecting paying guests to do anything more than tidy up their personal messes (put the garbage in the appropriate receptacles and wash your dirty dishes)
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I have no idea what you mean, can you explain? So many hosts here clean their rentals themselves in order to maintain quality control.
The phrase ‘cleaning crew’ belies the Airbnb ethos, surely?
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It’s actually exactly the opposite.
Bad remote hosts that do not manage their own property and have a cleaning crew do all the work.
Properties cleaned by a cleaning crew most often not as clean as a property cleaned by the host.
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When hosts do their own cleaning they do so with an obsessive thoroughness that borders on mental illness – and it is rare that hired cleaners approach their work with such zeal.
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I agree, as regards cleaning. Especially if there is more than one cleaner working on the rental and can get things done so much quicker.
Of concern though is the remote hosts (or completely hands-off hosts) who expect that the cleaning people will fully prepare the rental for guests.
I had a neighbour who did that - he lasted about a month on Airbnb. He thought that STR was to simply advertise the rental, get a cleaner in after every stay, sit back and collect the money…
On the few occasions I’ve used a third party to prepare the apartments they have a full list of what to do and it’s much, much, much more than cleaning.
And as a pretty frequent guest in STRs, I find that it’s almost always easy to see the difference as soon as I arrive.
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