Is it really a holiday if you’re being asked to take out the rubbish, mow the lawn and do the laundry? Oh, and on top of that, still having to pay a hefty cleaning fee? Travellers are kicking up a stink on social media over Airbnb hosts asking more and more of guests during their stay, despite guests already having to pay cleaning and service fees when booking.
“Pretty much everyone [on TikTok] agrees that the prices and fees for Airbnb have gotten completely out of hand,” says TikToker @Melworeit in a video. “The only people disagreeing and calling me lazy are the people that own Airbnbs.”
In another clip, since deleted but reported by Business Insider, @Melwore it explained she decided against booking an Airbnb because it charged a $125USD cleaning fee, but still asked guests to take out the rubbish, remove bed linens, run the dishwasher and do a load of laundry.
@melworeit Reply to @zesty.bit ♬ original sound – Mel | Sustainable Style
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One Airbnb guest posted on Reddit back in July asking if it was normal for a host to tell the guest to mow the lawn themselves.
They explained they’d been staying at an Airbnb for a couple weeks and had asked about the lawn situation. The response they got was that the host doesn’t organise for the lawn to be mowed for stays over a couple weeks, but that there was a mower on-site they were welcome to use.
“Seems like a strange response given the premium being paid for staying here (to me, at least), but if that’s standard then I’ll roll with it,” the user wrote. “I just don’t want to be penalised/charged/poorly reviewed for ‘neglecting’ the lawn if I don’t do it.”
TikToker @TravelwithPat also posted a video on the backlash against Airbnb with a screenshot of a receipt on the booking platform that showed a cleaning fee, service fee and occupancy taxes and fees added on after the nightly fee.
“What on Earth happened to Airbnb?” he says. “The fees don’t even make this worth it anymore.”
He says that compared to what you’re charged for a hotel room, with Airbnb, you’re paying a fortune.
@travelwithpat Hotels with resort fees are just as bad #travel #tiktoktravel ♬ Oh No – Kreepa
“Airbnb used to be great, but there is something that they just need to change. Take out the cleaning fees, take out the service fees. Make them included with the regular price. Airbnb was supposed to be one of the solutions for overpriced hotel bookings, but now hotel bookings are the solution for overpriced Airbnbs.”
While hosts can choose their own cleaning fees, Airbnb provides recommendations so the amount is kept reasonable and suggests hosts consider not charging cleaning fees at all. An Airbnb rep told Business Insider 45% of global Airbnb lists don’t charge a cleaning fee and that for those that do, the fee is on average less than 10% of the total reservation cost.
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