Airbnb guests will soon be off the hook for stripping beds, washing dishes and hauling out the trash at checkout, under a new policy the company announced this week, the Associated Press reported.
Starting Nov. 20, hosts can only make “reasonable” checkout requests. They can still ask guests to put dishes in the sink, gather used towels and sort trash and recycling, but generally can’t require chores a professional cleaner would handle.
Checkout tasks have been a frequent complaint, especially when guests also pay a cleaning fee. Airbnb said exceptions may apply in some cases, such as requiring trash to go in animal-proof bins in bear country.
Hosts must also list every house rule in a designated section of the listing before guests book. They can no longer add new requirements by message, through signs in the home or elsewhere in the listing.
“Remember to think like a guest,” the company tells hosts in a video about the change.
Sources: Associated Press via KTAR News. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Evelyn Simak / CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
