Airbnb bans making guests do dishes and take out the trash (theverge.com)

I understand that there can be exceptional circumstances. However, I've stayed in more hotels by a factor of at least 25, and this has never happened once. In fact, any minor inconvenience at a hotel is usually remedied promptly, and user reviews generally feel accurate.

Airbnb wouldn't share any information about why the host was allowed to cancel (I understand there may be privacy concerns, but I'm left wondering if they simply found a better paying private offer, given it was for the holiday season and booked well in advance). In one case I found an alternative in the same building, so there was no widespread issue.

Those two are enough to put me off Airbnb forever. I just don't want the additional stress of wondering whether I'll receive a last minute cancellation, even if they're exceedingly rare.

Who is creating the perception of what the product is? Airbnb. Who is making decisions that piss off both groups? Airbnb. But they're also squeezed by the unrealistic expectations of both sides.

I don't see a good way out of this, and the comment section isn't encouraging. People are either "hosts" or "guests" and they only care about the side they relate to.

What do you think would have been my experience at Airbnb?

The vacation rental companies offer very consistent cleaning services and local contacts for any issues with the house, and were relatively cheap because they were typically able to fill these houses with weeklong rentals all summer.

With Airbnb and VRBO, sometimes they are just a marketplace for the exact same rental companies that already existed, under the same terms and conditions, but a higher nightly price, and sometimes they are far less professional operations, and it's not easy to tell which is which when you are initially paying.

Last summer we rented a house directly through a vacation rental company that was also listed on VRBO for a third of the nightly price it was listed on VRBO for. We're dreading the day when the only option left is VRBO.

Call me lazy but I’ve always wondered why I need to take out the trash when a cleaning crew was coming in 10 minutes after I checked out.

I don't know if they really exist anymore, but I did stay in an honest-to-God B&B, long ago. I cannot remember where it was or why I was staying there. But I do recall that it was a rustic, quaint, actual residential house, that had many bedrooms converted into guest rooms. And my room was well-decorated (nothing like a Motel 6) and it had a very nice featherbed with flowered comforter, and all sorts of comforts just like home.

And of course, the key to a real B&B is the breakfast. When I awoke in the morning (I only stayed one night!) the hosts were downstairs, serving a delicious homemade buffet breakfast spread. It was a fantastic time.

The hosts were very personable and kind, and I felt very welcome there. It was, of course, regulated just like any hotel in the hospitality industry, so it went without saying that these hosts carried insurance and had a lot of rules to follow, letting strangers into their "home" which was obviously, 100% a business at that point.

Yeah, I don't know if there are any bona fide Bed & Breakfast hotels left in this world. AirBNB has certainly ruined the traditional terminology for that sector.

Granted, Airbnb has taken on the hotel industry, and so I'm not surprised that their rules have evolved.

1. Just like all the add-on charges with air travel like having a checked bag or choosing a seat, a lot of negative experiences come from consumers making decisions solely based on price. This creates an incentive to leave things out to have a lower sticker price. Hotels with non-optional "resort" fees, cruises, and car rental all operate on this model.

The specific issue with Airbnb is the supposed lower cost comes for hiding costs like cleaning. Cleaning is expensive when you start talking about an apartment let alone a house. This is built in to the hotel price (minus tips, which are minor). Also, hotels avoid having the potential for a lot of cleaning (eg a full kitchen).

You might stay in an Airbnb and never use the kitchen, existing totally on eating out. Or you might cook a full Thanksgiving dinner for 20 people and use every dish and appliance in there. How are you meant to handle this when the cleaning cost could be $100 or $1000?

2. Airbnb like oh so many "tech" companies profits by pushing the negative externalities of their business onto people who didn't consent. The most notable negative externality is running an illegal hotel in a residential neighborhood. Hotels have staff, fire codes, licensing and inspections. Some random house does not.

Another is that the house owner never has to suffer from disruptive behavior from guests who may never return. I really think more places should restrict Airbnb to ADUs only when the owner is on-site.

Also, the evidence that Airbnb has driven up rents is undeniable at this point with more than a decade of evidence.

At the same time, hosts clearly profit off of unreasonable charges, like charging $300-500 to "clean" a studio apartment that might only take an hour. It's a bit like landlords stealing security deposits. It's particularly egregious when you're given a random list of tasks you must do, such as stripping sheets and starting wash cycles, etc.

Intermediation businesses are generally bad. The only way to increase profits at a certain point is by cutting costs and raising prices. The other parties want to avoid the middleman charges and go direct. It's why all these businesses like finding cleaners, tutors, etc all only go so far because people go off-platform.

For me personally I only ever use Airbnb's now for big trips with at least 3-4 bedrooms needed. These types of Airbnbs usually have more professional management in any case. But otherwise I think Airbnb just offers a poor value:

1. For a long time Airbnbs skirted hotel taxes and other fees. Those days are long gone, so I often find Airbnbs to be just as expensive or more than hotels when you factor in cleaning and other fees.

2. Like this article points out, quality control and rules can be all over the map, and people are sick of it. With a hotel you usually know what you're getting, with an Airbnb it's always a crapshoot.

3. A huge benefit with a hotel is that if something goes wrong you can almost always be moved to another room, sometimes a different hotel. With Airbnb, while they may help you rebook it's much more fraught and you don't know what the next place will be.

So for me I use hotels for most stays now, though I am curious about house swapping for longer overseas trips. I have friends that have raved about it so it just seems like a better option.

I try to leave airbnb in exact same condition as it was upon our arrival (obviously I am not washing sheets). After reading comments here I feel weird or is this difference between Americans and Europeans? Do HN readers like to live like pigs to stay in mess and leave mess after themselves?

edit: I checked my airbnb receipts and I see everywhere only Airbnb service fee, there is no extra cleaning fee on any of them, if they charged extra money for some cleaning fee maybe my approach would be different

Airbnb offered more space and also a kitchen so I can save money cooking, and in big cities it was amazing. It still is in vacation spots when renting a whole house. But it's very very risky. Fact - hosts can get negative reviews censored by Airbnb support, as in sentences deleted or the whole review removed. If you don't believe me: first go to all your old reviews and see what remains. Second look at the bizarre grammatical structure of sentences on reviews. Little essays turn into fragments.

Also check the Airbnb subreddit. First notice how hosts tell each other how to get reviews removed. Second look how they view guests - as entitled garbage.

That to me is the bigger scam, the reviews thing. I'll happily take out the trash, just don't lie to me by removing half of the opinion spectrum. Oh and also I'm sick of having construction next door in almost every Airbnb I've stayed at the last two or three years. What gives?

I welcome this move to ban host rules that detract from the experience.