Airbnb host bemoans new rules limiting guest cleaning, claims it takes 4 hours to do the extra work: 'Does it feel good knowing you made another human being's day worse?'

Ally Perry • Writer and Editor

Oct 28, 2026 12:30 PM EDT

Should a guest also have to double up as a maid?

If there is one thing that you learn from cleaning up after strangers in any capacity, it is that people can be nasty. Everybody has wildly different tolerances for dirt, which are often a lot higher if they know that they can leave a mess that they don't have to deal with themselves. Anyone who has worked that side of the hospitality industry probably has a horror story or two.

This is just one reason that it is a courtesy for anyone who is a guest somewhere to tidy up a little before they leave. It is not like they need to leave the place as they found it, but leaving used towels all in one place and making sure any trash is in the garbage can are small gestures that can go a long way.

Unfortunately, the state of the vacation rental industry today has taken this etiquette and turned it into something that basically gives guests another job when they are meant to be on holiday. Airbnb hosts have become notorious for giving their guests an obscenely long list of domestic tasks to complete before they check out, purely because they want to make their job easier. On top of that, many of them have the audacity to charge a cleaning fee to everyone who stays at their property. It is no wonder that many travelers are turning back to hotels as a more convenient way of staying away from home.

*_{A woman cleans a table with flowers and knick-knacks on it while wearing yellow gloves. Not actual story subjects.}*

The issue of Airbnb hosts and their cleaning demands had become so pressing that last week, the platform changed its guidelines, specifically stating that hosts could not ask their guests to complete any tasks that would usually be completed by a cleaner after November 20.

This update was not received kindly by many who used the platform to rent out their properties, with one property manager putting out an impassioned rant about what this meant for her. Claiming that the extra time it would take to clean would cost the cleaner hours that they could use towards a medical appointment or their baby's birthday party, she also thought that these new rules would mean cutting costs in the service they provide.

It is fair to say that most potential guests were not moved by this complaint, and felt like hosts needed to take their job more seriously. The hospitality industry is always going to be hard work, and cleaning up what others leave behind is a part of that.

We cannot be serious

Whidbey Island Seamaids Follow 1d → My thoughts about Airbnb changes: One hour. An hour she doesn't get paid for. An hour she misses her baby's birthday party. An hour she can't make it to her medical appointment. All because someone didn't want to take their trash to the bin or put a dish in the dishwasher. My managers-including myself-are paid a flat rate. When a guest leaves a sink full of rotting dishes and a bathroom trash can overflowing, that job doesn't take the time it was supposed to.

beltline geli @strawberrygeli Like first of all, maybe you should not have a flat rate pricing model and then blame the customer for that fact

Time management is a valuable skill anywhere, not just hospitality.

JulietisLurking @JulietsLurking So it takes me 30 seconds but it takes her 4 hours? Probably should be fired.

Märk Ådæms @markjamesadams I have never been so pro-hotel before

They couldn't cope with the downsides.

Ben White ✔ @ape_detective "I am the victim of the profession I chose for myself." It's actually very common for people to seek attention that way.

of Simora @SeitterSimora What about the guest who has to spend their last day cleaning (and still paying for it) That missed last breakfast, last walk to the beach. All because I have to a mop a floor before 10 am.

They wanted to blur the lines between guest and employee.

Negroni Enthusiast @alexva2920 The entitlement of the hosts is insane. No matter what you tell yourselves: realize you are in the HOTEL BUSINESS. None of us care. We aren't your friends. If you can't make it work, we will stay at another hotel. We don't owe you sh. Good luck with your mortgage.

Alicka @alickasebova Who TF schedules their baby's birthday party or a medical appointment when they are working? Or expects an hourly wage for being self-employed. Take it up with your boss, it's a problem.

It's not like most hosts investment in high-end fixtures.

xannie potts @biblicalslut every airbnb I've ever stayed in had the college dorm target bed in a bag set which costs like $40 (i know this bc I bought one....for college. same tags inside and all) and they're like "no more nice linens!!!" bl the ones in my own home are nicer

plastic goose cart @plsticgluemoose What an inconvenience to enter the hospitality industry and have to maintain properties in exchange for money

The guest shouldn't be the more efficient cleaner.

YES... HA HA HA YES! Wendy Fox Weber @tvjedi Why does it take the guest 30 seconds and the cleaner 1-4 hours?

endora bulls @collectdust as someone who was a hotel housekeeper, this is pretty much why i question airbnbs bc you truly do not understand the types of mess people can make and how you can't assume most anything is clean unless you cleaned it their complaints show they haven't been really cleaning

They are judging the people who pay to use their facilities too harshly.

Brad Stephenson @Shuttlecock It really is wild how many Airbnb hosts think of their paying customers as family members they're letting crash on their couch out of the goodness of their heart.

lacey @stateoflace13 Imfaooooo i will never feel bad for these people who bought up homes for the sole purpose of airbnbing them so people who would actually live in them in couldn't

It's not a hands-off job.

@clvtno Landlords when they have to actually earn their money instead of just thinking of a bigger number every 6-12 months: Have you ever been hated or discriminated against?

Vanandre.png @Vanlenciacf You want me to pay a huge paying fee but also trust that the person before ke knows how to use a dish washer and also wash dishes myself while paying a CLEANING FEE? How do you know the previous guest actually put soap in the dish washer are you people crazy

Some people just aren't cut out to host.

Dylan @dmc_dmcc It's so funny how many people don't understand if you don't like serving your customers properly, you just shouldn't be in that line of business It's that simple Y'all have been getting away with highway robbery, be grateful you even got that time versus complaining now.

All Hallow's Eve şar @EveyJacob It's always so fascinating how quickly people will minimize household chores for YOU and blow them out of proportion for themselves. Pick one, is it so minimal that it takes just a few seconds, or so much work that it would be absurd to ask a guest to handle it?

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