Airbnb announced that for bookings from Nov. 20, guests won’t be needed to complete chores before their departure. This comes after Airbnb received complaints from guests about having to do chores during their limited stay period.
After a guest books a reservation, if the host changes or adds additional requirements, they could receive a warning or reduced visibility on the platform.
“House rules help guests understand what hosts expect, but we’ve heard from our community that they can be confusing, onerous and hard to manage,” the company said in a press release.
“No one should have to put the towels in the washer and start it,” Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said in a May interview with The New York Times. He added that putting trash in a bin is fine, but guests should not have to take the garbage out.
Hosts can still ask guests to leave used dishes in the sink, gather used towels and sort trash into indoor bins.
Under the new policy, hosts can choose from seven standard house rules and can add their own reasonable requests. Airbnb will flag requests that do not follow the policy and provide hosts the opportunity to appeal.
Some of the standard rules that hosts could continue to exercise include: maximum overnight guests, quiet hours, commercial photography, smoking and pets.
The rules will also appear more prominently on listings and in reservation reminders.
The policy also prevents hosts from charging guests their own fines. Separate contracts are allowed only in certain cases, such as when a law or homeowners association requires them.
Some hosts have resisted this policy. A petition has been created by Airbnb hosts in which they are pushing to keep self-catering responsibilities. As of Oct. 27, it has been signed by about 22,000 people.
The petition argues that washing dishes is not equivalent to a professional level of cleaning.
“There is a clear distinction between preparing a property for the next guest and clearing up the consequences of the previous guest’s everyday activities,” the petition said.
One host, Alec Orenstein, agreed with the new policy and spoke about how when on vacation, guests should not be bothered with doing chores. He mentioned that for the properties he manages, he would “never dream of having my guests do something like that.”
Some Baruch students welcomed the change.
“I think Airbnb adding that policy is a good idea,” Deanna Duran, a sophomore marketing major, told The Ticker. “If you’re a host, that means you have to ensure the house is clean for your future guests. It should not be past guests’ job to do your work for you.”
She said renters want to relax and enjoy their vacation, not do chores at the end of it.
“I understand throwing trash out, but expecting them to do your laundry or clean the house is out of line,” she said.
The new rules apply only to reservations made on or after Nov. 20, so guests with earlier bookings may still be asked to strip beds or wash dishes before they leave.
