Airbnb has introduced a new ‘happy rule’ for guests who are tired of spending the final hour of their vacation stripping beds and scrubbing pans about to get a break. Many hosts are not happy about it. The company shared three examples: stripping the bed, taking trash offsite, or washing and putting away dishes. The new rules, however, have angered Airbnb hosts with some threatening a booking blackout on November 20, the day the policy takes effect. As per a Fortune report, hosts are planning to close their calendars on the day. While others have threatened to leave the platform, remove kitchen access, and raise prices.An organisation Change.org petition urging Airbnb to reverse the restriction. It has over 10,000 signatures. “Seems those Millennial loonies at Airbnb have [completely] lost the plot,” one host wrote on Reddit. “It seems they are taking ‘Stay like at home’ a bit too far.”
Here’s what Airbnb said on its help page
Under a new “reasonable house rules and requests” policy announced October 20, Airbnb said that hosts can no longer ask guests to “complete tasks that require significant effort or time, or would typically be performed by a cleaner.” Here’s what the company said:Be reasonable. For example, hosts are generally not allowed to:Ask guests to complete tasks that require significant effort or time, or would typically be performed by a cleaner, including stripping the bed, taking trash offsite, or washing and putting away dishes.Restrict access to any feature that’s advertised as part of the listing. Any fees for an advertised part of the listing must be included in the price shown to guests at the time of booking. Hosts may include information about fees for optional add-ons, like breakfast service, in their requests.Impose fines or other penalties on guests. AirCover provides protection for hosts in the rare event that their place or belongings are damaged by a guest during an Airbnb stay. If there is a risk a community association (such as an HOA or building security) or local government might impose a fine, hosts can provide notice to guests in the designated section of their listing.
What Airbnb guests say on the new cleaning rule
Airbnb guests have welcomed the rule. “If I don’t have to clean dishes in a budget hotel with a kitchen suite, then an Airbnb…I shouldn’t have to clean either,” one guest wrote on Reddit.“Hosts brought this upon themselves,” another said. “They charge high cleaning fees and still expect guests to do all the major cleaning. Customers complained, and now hosts are acting like they’re the victims.”