You pay for cleaning and you still have to do it? Airbnb is finally changing its rules

Many travelers using the Airbnb platform complained that despite high cleaning fees, property owners expected them to perform additional activities before leaving their rental. Taking out the garbage, taking off the bedding, sometimes even washing it, or washing the dishes were often included in the regulations.

As of November 20, Airbnb is officially banning guest responsibilities that require "significant effort or time or that are typically performed by a housekeeper."

This means that hosts will no longer be able to require this or face an additional fee.

Seven iron rules. That's all the host can ask for

There will be seven standard rules for properties rented through Airbnb, which include:

check-in and check-out times,

maximum number of guests,

no smoking,

permission for animals to stay,

designated hours of silence,

rules regarding commercial film and photographic recordings.

Additional requests must be "reasonable" and consistent with the new global policy, reads a statement from the Airbnb platform sent to media outlets including the BBC and Euronews.

Visible and easily accessible rules for everyone

The new regulations are available in several places - on the announcement page, in the travel tab and in booking reminders. Thanks to this, guests have full insight into the rules before making a reservation, which helps avoid unpleasant surprises.

Any host requests that do not meet the criteria for the new policy will be flagged by the platform. Owners will be obliged to remove them or may appeal if they consider that the request is justified due to local conditions, e.g. the need to dispose of waste in special containers protected against wild animals.

The cleaning fee is to cover standard cleaning of the apartment between subsequent guest stays. However, hosts cannot charge them additional costs for failing to complete a task included in the check-out check-out list.