airbnb cleaning

AirBnB has done the magic - we are all charwomen now.

The instructions are to lessen the burden of the owner who may be doing the cleaning themselves. I would not leave dirty dishes and I would straighten up items and make sure all the trash was disposed of and refrigerator was empty, but there is no way I am cleaning toilets, and sinks or vacuum if I am charged a fee.

These are called “departure chores” and I believe the upfront disclosure is a new requirement. Used to be (and still is in some other vacation rentals) that you would not know those expectations until you had committed, paid, and taken residency.

The list you were given is insane. Like others have mentioned, regardless of requirements, we straighten up and start the dishwasher. We remove perishable food that is left and we will take out recycling and trash if the places to deposit them are clear.

One time In Switzerland we were required to take recycling away or risk a 25CHF fine. The recycling center was half a mile away and we were on foot, so at 6:30 am, necessitated by the need to catch our transportation, we had to hotfoot it a mile roundtrip to recycle. At least it wasn’t raining. We are big walkers, but adding that chore to departure was a huge disservice when we paid over 200 CHF per night plus a cleaning fee.

Cleaning the dishes and taking out the trash is pretty typical at an Air BnB.

Being asked to clean the toilet, vacuum, and dust is not reasonable in my opinion.

It's not quite the norm, but it is fairly common. I've taken to asking AirBnB hosts for their rules/instructions before booking.

If I were you I'd cancel and book something else, just on principle.

(One rule I do find reasonable is asking that the dishes be left clean.)

there is no way I am cleaning toilets, and sinks or vacuum if I am charged a fee.

💯

That is really excessive considering you are being charged a cleaning fee!
I always wash all my dishes, empty the garbage and recycling and take it out if the bins are near the apartment, or double bag it and leave it in the kitchen if not.
I strip the bed and put sheets and used towels in a neat pile on the bathroom floor.
You want to be tidy and a good guest, but……
I’m not vacuuming , sweeping or cleaning toilets!
Once in a Denmark rental I was in, you were supposed to take garbage out through another door in the kitchen , down an unlit very steep stairwell to an outdoor area two floors down.
I did not.
Too dangerous with bad knees.

I would cancel this apartment and find another one.

If those are the requirements, then that is what you should do. If you don't want to clean during your holiday, there are a bunch of hotels in Åre.

Just a couple weeks ago Airbnb's CEO made a big deal about curtailing exactly these kind of ridiculous cleaning instructions. First, check your Airbnb cancellation policy for the Sweden property, and if you can, cancel and find something else. If it isn't cancel-able, I would try reaching out to Airbnb customer service, noting that these "rules" were not disclosed prior to booking, which they would be now under Airbnb's new policy. See if they will let you cancel and book something else. It is a long shot and customer service might just be an AI bot these days, but I'd give it a try. The cleaning list is thoroughly unreasonable and absurd. See what you can do to get out of it...

thanks all for the lovely comments and advise.
I m very hesitant to cancel at this point as I m traveling pretty soon and
. i will see if i can convey this message to airbnb helpdesk. The most shoking thing is that those instructions are not shared in the listing. U do get them after u book the airbnb!!!

Unfortunately that I why I choose not to stay in most AirBnBs.Our family does on vacation and the last time we had to strip the beds, vacuum alll the floors, clean bathrooms and kitchens.

Sorry, but I'll take a hotel where someone else can clean for me.

This owner is ridiculous. Clearly he is more trouble than he's worth. You'd probably need divine intervention if you accidentally broke something. If I wanted to dust and vacuum, I'd stay home. Whether you're paying for cleaning or not, find a new apartment.

Good luck with customer service. If your cancellation policy doesn't allow a refund, you may be stuck. The only hope (in my view) is that Airbnb is trying to curtail exactly this, and made a big deal out of it a couple weeks ago with a new rollout. Maybe that will help and you'll get lucky. Fingers crossed for you. Please keep us updated...

The most shoking thing is that those instructions are not shared in the listing. U do get them after u book the airbnb!!!

Legally, you should not be liable, and I would definitely mention something about this in the review. I would never do the kind of cleaning that the host expects you to do, especially after paying a cleaning fee, but quite frankly, even if there was no fee, I would never vacuum or clean the toilet.

Yes, I can see making sure the place is clean and washing dishes and so on, but vacuuming? Toilet cleaning? No. I don't care what the requirements say - you should not follow them.

One thing you might do is contact the Airbnb owner and point out that there must be some mistake because you are paying a cleaning fee yet are asked to clean. That leaves the onus on them to come up with a good reason why they are charging you the fee but expecting you to clean.

I agree with Mardee’s suggestion to contact the owner. You should not be paying for cleaning and also be expected to do the cleaning. I would want an explanation in writing.

If that information wasn't available when you booked the place, you should be able to cancel the booking without any problem.

I don't disagree that needing to clean the toilet and dusting is not reasonable, but that's like a 20 minute or less task. To dust, well if you are only there for a few days, I doubt there is dust, so you can skip that one. Unless the owner didn't choose to dust prior to you arriving. And vacuuming, unless you are bringing in dirt, I'd skip that one too. Basically, I'd just make sure it looks good and move on with my day. If you are close to your travel dates, it might be a pain to find other arrangements and they may be more expensive. But that is up to you.

My first Airbnb rental was my last. I will never rent through them again. There were many things wrong with the apartment, the owners went on vacation and their contact person was unreachable.

We also experienced a similar situation with a VRBO rental that required cleaning but we didn’t know that until we got there and found the list of cleaning chores on the counter. It was obvious that the previous clients had not cleaned. We did our best before we left, but we made sure to jumble up the stuff that should've been changed between renters like bedding and bath rugs, so that the next folks should've gotten a clean place.

In both cases the places had deferred maintenance that needed doing, some of which my husband actually did. In both cases the listings lied about what was available and working in the apartments. And in both cases, their main interest seemed to be to turn over the rental the same day we left for maximum income.

I'll gladly take care of the place while we're there and pay a cleaning fee for deep cleaning after we leave, but to be charged a fee and be expected to clean as well is a deal-breaker for me.

Neither VRBO nor Airbnb will ever get any more business from me. I use only Booking.com to look for apartment rentals. I know that owners may list their places on multiple platforms, so I check those to see if there is any new or different information I can use, especially different pictures. Sometimes that includes ways to contact the owners directly. Sometimes I do that and sometimes book through Booking.com.

It would be nice if the listing sources would vet their owners so that we could trust their listings, but I'm highly skeptical that will ever happen.

If you cannot cancel, and you get no satisfactory help from AirBnB, i’d stay there (only because you say you may not have time to cancel and find another) and after doing basics already mentioned (dishes, empty refrigerator, take out garbage, put things back as you found them) i would take detailed photos of everything and leave.

What can the owner do if you don’t vacuum or clean toilets? If there is something, like charging you more, i would fight it and have photos to back you up.

You should always take photos when leaving a rental in my opinion, just in case.

I always leave a rental or friend’s apartment cleaner than i found it, but that’s just me.

What can the owner do if you don’t vacuum or clean toilets?

The owner can leave a bad review for the renter, making it sometimes difficult to find another Airbnb to accept them. I hate that and think that it should be monitored MUCH more carefully by Airbnb. I once rented an Airbnb at Christmas time a few blocks from my daughter's house. I was going to cook some items to take, which is why I wanted a place with a kitchen. Unfortunately the oven wasn't working correctly and it took a couple of phone calls and a visit from the owner to get it fixed.

In his review, he said I was "high maintenance" - I guess because I didn't accept the broken oven as is.

Ah, you’re right Mardee. But can’t you in turn give them a bad review, saying he said you were high maintenance because you asked them to fix the broken oven?

I got: “ A very stiff people”, from an Airbnb host(ess) this April in Sicily.
The shower overflowed before you could even get yourself wet, one of the two toilet seats was hanging off by one bolt, there was no hot water the first day, and one night no water at all!.
She also didn’t tell us that the water in that town was salty and better to buy bottled water till we tried to make tea the next day and realised.
Also, an elevator in the listing that looked as if it hadn’t been working in years.
It’s still on the listing.
I sent 3 or 4 polite messages to her about the problems.
She responded to one by saying she had a fever.
Huh?
I did contact Airbnb after I got home, and they were very responsive and said they would contact her.
They also refunded me a small amount.
I also was honest in my review.
All my other reviews are very good from previous hosts, so I’m not worried about being called a “stiff people”!
OP: there are many booking platforms if you want to cancel.
I like booking .com and have had good luck with them.

I like Booking.com very much too.

Ah, you’re right Mardee. But can’t you in turn give them a bad review, saying he said you were high maintenance because you asked them to fix the broken oven?

Susan, not really. You can give them a bad review, but you can’t see what their review says until you write your own review and publish it. And vice versa.

u know what is the issue Mardee, if the owner leaves
a negative review, u cannot defend ur self and reply to that !

I have a one word solution for future trips - HOTEL.

u know what is the issue Mardee, if the owner leaves
a negative review, u cannot defend ur self and reply to that !

Yes, I mentioned that above and I hate that method of leaving reviews! That said, you can still leave a polite review stating what the place was like and pointing out that you were asked to do a LOT of cleaning (and specify what) even though you paid a cleaning fee. I would also point out in the review that you did not receive notification that you were expected to do this cleaning until you had already booked it. At least then if you don't clean it to the owner's satisfaction, you have at least negated any potential bad reviews with your own comments. Even if you don't expect a bad review, I would still leave something that discusses this issue to help future renters there.

FWIW, something like that would probably not be considered a black mark against you, especially if you leave it neat and clean. But I really would strongly suggest that you message the owner and point out that you are paying a cleaning fee, so you do not feel like you need to do anything more than make sure the trash is taken out, the dishes are washed and it is left neat and tidy.

Excellent advice Mardee.

SJ's list of what he/she does is the standard required tasks for beach rentals we've done in the US. Those tasks are not oppressive or time-consuming but these other requirements are ridiculous. I don't go on vacation so I can clean someone else's house, after paying to stay there.

hello

i reached out to airbnb and this is their reply to my issue...

====

There is no need to follow this request at all, because you already pay for the cleaning fee, this is an advice for the future, if you got any negative reviews you can appeal them, and an investigation will stop by Airbnb, and after that it will be removed, don't worry at all

Well, that's good news! I'm glad that was their response, and I hope you have a lovely trip!

thanks so much

Certainly not, Something similar happen to me. However, thank to a friend I got a cleaning company company involved. If you come against similar host behaviour I suggest you call a cleaning company otherwise you won't be to enjoy your trip

Cancel the booking and report the listing to Airbnb as inaccurate.

I’ve stayed At numerous AirBnBs. We clean up dishes and sometimes take trash out… that’s it. I’ve never heard of dusting or vacuuming or cleaning toilets.

This listing is not at all typical of what I’ve experienced. I wouldn’t judge the platform by such a listing, just like I wouldn’t judge ALL hotels if I stayed at a bad one. That’s asinine.

this is an old thread - from June, just reawakened.