Airbnb is telling hosts to ease up on checkout chores, and some are furious. There's a petition to reverse the policy, calls to pull listings in protest, and heated Reddit debates over whether guests should have to wash dishes before leaving (yes, even after paying a cleaning fee).
But not all hosts are on the same side. While some argue that Airbnb is taking away their control over their properties, others have a message for their fellow hosts: This is the hospitality business. Let people enjoy their vacation.
The new policy being debated over — which applies to reservations booked on or after Nov. 20 — generally prohibits hosts from asking guests to complete time-consuming tasks or work typically handled by a cleaner. That includes stripping beds, taking trash off-site, and washing and putting away dishes. It also requires house rules and requests to be disclosed in the designated listing section before booking.
For travelers tired of paying a cleaning fee and still getting a checkout chore list, that might sound like good news. In host Reddit threads, however, the dirty dishes have become a much bigger debate about what guests owe the people renting them a place to stay.
Some hosts want Airbnb to reverse course
A Change.org petition (with over 11,000 signatures) is asking Airbnb to reconsider its restrictions on washing up. Its argument? Renting a place with a kitchen comes with some responsibility for what happens in that kitchen.
"These are not professional cleaning duties," the petition reads. "They are ordinary aspects of living responsibly in somebody else’s property."
The organizers say they support restrictions on excessive demands, including laundering linens and deep-cleaning kitchens. But they argue that washing dishes is different, and warn that additional cleaning expenses could eventually mean higher prices for guests.
Some hosts are calling for a strike. According to WIRED, one person in a Facebook group for hosts proposed collectively unlisting properties for a day or two. "Airbnb built its empire on OUR properties. It’s time we reminded them who actually holds the power," they wrote. For Ryan Robbins, a host in Searsport, Maine, the change has prompted questions about whether to keep using Airbnb. Robbins, told NEWS CENTER Maine that though he already cleans his rental himself and typically only asks guests to wash their dishes, the rule-change "doesn't allow us to manage our properties the way we should be able to."
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On Airbnb's own community forum, a host argued that the company was limiting hosts' ability to protect their properties. "We are not running hotels. We are sharing our properties," they wrote.
Similar frustrations have surfaced on Reddit, where one host's complaint about the policy opened with: "This might be a new low for what is already one of the worst companies in the world." The poster said cleaners in their region typically don’t include dishwashing in their service, and argued that manually washing dishes accumulated over a week could make it difficult to get a property ready between reservations.
One post goes as far as asking fellow hosts, "can we not just band together and build our own post-airbnb platform?"
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Other hosts think the outrage is the problem
The backlash has also prompted hosts to explain why they welcome the change.
In one Reddit thread in r/airbnb_hosts, the poster described being frustrated by a stay that combined a cleaning fee with instructions to strip beds, start laundry, and navigate a parking garage to dispose of garbage. At their own rental, they said, they prefer to handle tasks such as removing sheets themselves so they can check for damage. Another commenter said their cleaners specifically ask guests to leave beds intact for the same reason.
Several hosts said they already offered an easy checkout, and now it won't distinguish their listings. "My only (selfish) complaint is that now I feel like my listing won't be special by not requiring a single thing upon checkout," one commenter wrote.
In another post, a user who described their rentals as "no chores stays" urged others to rethink their expectations. "We run a business," they wrote. "Also, we are in the hospitality business. Hotels don’t ask their guests to do these things, and neither should we."
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Other commenters argued that considerate guests tend to tidy up anyway. Making everyone follow a chore list, they suggested, risks frustrating the very people who were already going to leave the place in good shape.
Guests still have responsibilities
Some of the discussion goes beyond dishes. In the supplied threads, hosts also raised concerns about how the redesigned rules section accommodates local regulations, fire precautions, and restrictions tied to their properties.
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Airbnb does provide a designated section for local rules, including homeowners association policies and government requirements that could result in fines. Those concerns shouldn't be confused with a blanket ban on setting expectations for guests.
And the cleaning changes don't give travelers permission to trash a rental. Airbnb's ground rules for guests still prohibit leaving a property in a condition that requires excessive or deep cleaning, with moldy dishes and soiled carpets among its examples. Hosts can also leave cleanliness ratings and reviews.
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"Most guests just clean up because it's normal human behaviour, not because you told them to," one Reddit commenter wrote. "The ones who don't won't change regardless of what the rules say."