Airbnb Host Giving Guests 'Chores List' on Top of $165 Cleaning Fee Slammed

A host on Airbnb, the home rental platform, has been criticized for leaving guests an extensive "chores list," including loading the laundry machine, after charging a separate cleaning fee.

Brandon, a 32-year-old graduate student based in Houston, Texas, who preferred only to share his first name, told Newsweek that he, his wife and two kids as well as some friends were booked for a two-night stay at an Airbnb accommodation in San Antonio, Texas from October 13 to 15.

The booking, which was made in late September, included a cleaning fee of $165, according to a screenshot of the booking receipt for the stay that was shared with Newsweek.

Brandon said they "rented the Airbnb because the total cost for a house with three bedrooms was cheaper than three hotel rooms."

He was "particularly irritated by the cleaning fee and having a chores list," a picture of which he shared in a viral post on Reddit under the username fmbrandon. The post, titled "Airbnb is getting out of hand," showed an image of a bulletpoint list of "checkout instructions."

A spokesperson for Airbnb told Newsweek: "We want guests to have the best possible experience on Airbnb, which is why we ask hosts to ensure checkout instructions are visible to guests prior to booking. We regularly share guidance with hosts on this topic, and repeated low ratings may lead to removal."

The latest Reddit post comes as lower cleaning fees was found to be the "top suggestion" in a survey done in May asking the Airbnb community about improvements they'd like to see, which received around 3,300 responses, Airbnb reported in late September.

According to the home rental platform, this year over 260,000 listings either lowered or removed their cleaning fees between January 1 and August 31, while nearly three million listings currently don't charge a cleaning fee.

Earlier this year, Airbnb introduced transparent checkout instructions that are displayed on the listing page before guests make a booking. Guests can provide feedback on checkout instructions and listings with repeated low ratings from unreasonable chores may be removed from Airbnb, according to the company.

The company's website notes that some common tasks listed in checkout instructions might include gathering used towels, throwing away garbage and turning off switches.

"Remember that guests expect an easy checkout without any cleaning tasks. But they shouldn't leave your place in a state that requires excessive or deep cleaning," the website says.

The image shared in the Reddit post, which Brandon said was taken on October 15, shows a list of various checkout instructions, including "Start a load of all white towels (use bleach)" and "strip all white linens from beds and leave them on the bedroom floor."

In a caption shared with the Reddit post, Brandon wrote: "I'm surprised they didn't want us to stick around to dry the towels and remake the beds."

He told Newsweek: "Part of my irritation also stemmed from the fact that the house was not really well-maintained. It was advertised as having a pool table and a foosball table, but almost all of the pool cue sticks were broken and so were a couple of the figures at the foosball table. I also spent two nights sleeping on a very uncomfortable mattress."

According to Airbnb, the guest did not inform the company about any issues at the time and left a positive review.

Brandon said he's not sure what feedback his wife, who booked the stay, might have left. However, "the hosts left us a review stating that they were happy to have us back anytime despite the fact that we did not complete the list—we did not put away dishes or run the washing machine."

'This Is Why I Only Stay in Hotels'

Several users on Reddit sided with the original poster.

Law3W said: "I do zero chores if there is a cleaning fee."

User emgyres wrote: "Aaaaaand this is why I only stay in hotels."

JustALizzyLife wrote: "I used to love Air BnB; could stay with the family cheaper than a hotel and have a full kitchen. Now, with all the fees it's ridiculous. We're back to staying at hotels and eating out."

User vancouvermanover said: "Literally the reason I don't use Airbnb anymore. Used to be a nice alternative option to traditional hotels etc, then they just got greedy. Why even have a cleaning fee if you are doing all the work lol."

User pwrof3 noted: "I think you mean 'airbnb hosts' are getting out of hand..."

Koonga wrote: "tbf [to be fair] most of the airbnbs i've stayed in haven't had these kinds of instructions, but that's kind of the issue with airbnb––you never really know what kind of host you're walking in on."

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