Soon, Airbnb property owners will find it much harder to demand excessive cleanup tasks from guests, such as washing dishes, taking out the trash, or organizing bed sheets.
Hosts will also be prohibited from arbitrarily imposing fines under the guise of violating house rules.
According to CNN and BBC, Airbnb has updated its regulations to prevent hosts from demanding tasks that require “significant effort or time, or are tasks typically performed by cleaning personnel.”
Representative examples of banned practices cited by Airbnb include washing dishes and sorting tableware, carrying trash outside the accommodation, and stripping bed sheets.
Consequently, the practice of demanding cleaning-level order from guests before checkout is expected to be largely restricted.
Property owners can still set seven basic rules, such as maximum occupancy or quiet hours, and specify additional requests.
However, tasks that fall under general cleaning duties can no longer be imposed as mandatory for guests.
The accommodation fine system is also being prohibited.
Hosts will no longer be allowed to arbitrarily determine and demand fines from guests on the grounds of violating lodging rules.
The new regulations will apply to all reservations made after November 20.
Airbnb explained that it revamped the system due to ongoing feedback that varying rules across properties caused confusion and burden for guests.
Previously, some users complained that they paid separate cleaning fees yet were still asked to perform significant cleanup before checking out.
Recently in the United States, controversy erupted when a video spread showing a Georgia Airbnb owner criticizing a guest for not putting the TV remote back in its place.
Among users, the policy revision has been met with largely welcoming reactions.
A Minnesota influencer shared that she was once asked to do at least an hour of cleaning before checking out of an Airbnb, stating she didn’t want to do such work during a vacation.
On the other hand, some counterarguments among accommodation operators suggest that basic tidying is a matter of courtesy for guests.
A superhost operating an Airbnb in Rome, Italy, argued that even when staying in a hotel, people clean up after themselves and throw away trash, framing it as a matter of courtesy rather than an obligation.
