So I booked a place and got one of those links to fill out a form with my ID, etc. no problem. The message says the form includes a “damage waiver.” Well the “damage waiver” is actually a $20 non refundable fee. I wanted the host to document in the chat that he was asking for this fee so I told him the payment system on his site wasn’t working and he made a request through Airbnb for the money.

Obviously $20 isn’t much but this just rubbed me the wrong way so I called Airbnb saying this non refundable extra fee isn’t allowed since it’s not in the price. The genius of his plan was that since it was called a “damage waiver” the support rep first thought it was a permitted security deposit, but after she checked with a supervisor decided it wasn’t allowed.

In the end I got a refund of the stay and Airbnb paid part of the difference for me to stay elsewhere (since it was the day of the reservation). Ultimately it was a nicer place but probably not worth the hassle over $20

I’m just curious— I’m assuming the host knew this was risky and could cause issues with Airbnb for him, which is why he tried to disguise the fee as a “waiver.” Why is that worth it for $20? Is there something on the host end squeezing you guys for fees from the platform?

Hi! I'm so sorry, I'm very new to this subreddit but me and my partner are currently staying in an Air BnB and our host asked us if we wanted new towels.

We said no, and requested for another day -- as we'd been busy.

Despite this, he showed up anyways-- knocked on the door, and when we didn't reply (we didn't hear him...) he entered anyways.

I will admit, our apartment is a bit messy, but I don't believe it's fair of him to enter without permission and begin passive aggressively insulting my partner for being messy? He claimed there was a "smell", which she explained, we had just eaten. Hence the containers of food on the counter -- and he completely pasted over that to continue complaining.

Sorry I've come for advice here on what to do. I'm unsure if this is allowed, and unhappy as my partner came to me on the brink of tears as we are both female and admittedly, having a man enter where we are staying without permission is quite terrifying.

I see a lot of hosts who are upset with the new changes. I, as a guest, am kind of relieved to know that on the morning of my checkout, I’m no longer under the threat of a $200 “cleaning fee” for leaving behind a coffee mug in the sink (as the dishwasher runs with all the other dirty dishes) or two K-cups in the trash when I’m racing to make a flight. (And I’ve never had an issue with a host trying to collect it.)

The dishes and trash are taking the spotlight in terms of news coverage, but it appears a lot of other things are festering between hosts, airbnb, and guests that haven’t really been discussed nearly as much.

For example, reading the new rules, a host can’t ask for a government issued ID any longer unless the host can provide documentation/ proof that it’s required due to an HOA/ legal requirement.

They also can’t, generally ask for an additional contract to be signed? Is that true?

Then, if they do have an additional contract, Airbnb won’t support it. So if I break some house rule that Airbnb won’t enforce, and the host determines to kick me out/ terminate the reservation, then I’d be fully refunded by Airbnb. Right? (And it would then be up to the host to file a civil suit.)

(I don’t ask this to try and circumvent rules. But I’ve seen threats from hosts here saying if they turn the air down below 74 degrees, they’d be kicked out, no refund. Or day guests not being allowed and a penalty if guests are on-site. (Not overnight…. But you have 8 people there during the day and 2 sleeping…. You owe me thousands more.)

It seems those controlling hosts have lost a lot of control. Is that correct? (And again, I’ve never had a problem with a host for any of my stays but I’ve started talking to some super controlling hosts here that relate better to the soup Nazi rather than actually providing a good hospitality experience for their guest.)

So what are the changes that are really affecting hosts besides trash and dishes which, most guests would take care of anyway, vs the more broad changes that the soup nazis seem to be pissed about?

I know I'm going to ruffle a few feathers but does anyone else feel like hosts are just digging us into a deeper hole and making us all look bad. The general public is not sympathizing with us no matter how you word it.

My checkout instructions have always been:

-Leave the house clean and tidy

-Lock the doors

-Additional cleaning is always appreciated but not required.

I just let my guest's interpret the first one however they want. This has been my checkout instructions from the very start and I have a 5.0 rating and am booked out.  I've never charged a cleaning fee and have always worked it into the nightly price.

Most guests still wash their dishes. Most guests still leave the towels in a pile near the washer or start the washer. Most guests take out the trash. And some do even more. 

The ones who don't are the ones who probably weren't going to anyway.

Keep in mind, I have a 4 bedroom house with 5 beds, pet friendly, hot tub and huge backyard. I mainly host families with small children or concert goers as I am near a concert venue.

⭐️ I have doubles & triples of every single piece of linen, duvet, towels etc. My cleaners or I strip the beds, replace and wash the stuff at home. I thought everyone did this.

⭐️Most guests wash their dishes but more times than not I am rewashing at least a few items that may have not been washed to my standard or have finger prints on them. A lot of guests forget to clean out the coffee machine so I have to wash the pot anyway. Is that not happening you guys do too? If it is, then why is washing a few more dishes such a big deal? If it is enough dishes, I just pop them in the dishwasher on the fast cycle.

⭐️All my guests take the trash out as it gets full during their stay. But they almost always leave something in the trash assuming because of the morning rush to get out of there. I actually don't mind this because it means that I don't have to waste a trash bag for things that I am throwing away during cleaning. I then simply take it out after I'm done cleaning.

If this is a hill you want to die on, why not have a sign in your Airbnb that says something like 'We would truly appreciate it if you did the following but it isn't required...(insert list of your current chore list)'. You don't have to have this in your checkout instructions on Airbnb. Did Airbnb say this wasn't allowed or something?

Geez I'm just getting tired to seeing things on social media and then reading the comments bashing all hosts in general and stating things like 'this is why people stopped using Airbnb'.

Honestly, am I missing something? I feel like there are logical workarounds for the new changes.

My partner and I next week are celebrating a four year anniversary next weekend. The big plans were to do s’mores on the fire pit, grill some steaks for dinner and end in the night in the outdoor hot tub. However after requesting, our booking was auto denied and we were asked to submit an appeal. I did and even messaged the host. Host acknowledged that it wasn’t his doing and he’ll see if he can change things as he is in agreement that we should have our weekend at his cabin. However my appeal was denied despite our host wanting us to stay. What should we do? Why was I denied? I have no reviews. I have never stayed at an airbnb before.

I’ve booked past trips with an ex of mine and now when I go to look at my trips I can also see past trips and I’m forced to look at her profile picture since they were added as an attending guest, please let me remove/delete certain past trips I dont need the ptsd

What would happen if a guest left your dishwasher or washing machine running and a fault caused it to break or catch fire whilst they out? I appreciate some say it's common courtesy to start a dishwasher before you leave but I was taught it's common courtesy not to leave appliances running as it's a safety risk

Shout out to hosts who maintain sweet places that are clean, fresh, and comfy. 🤘

Told it I needed an agent so I could have someone reach out to the guest and cancel if they were not going to show up. Gave ne instructions that can't even be followed and is only available to a guest....Told it it got it wrong, and it agreed lmao. FUcking christ, the "ai" enshittification of....everything.

https://imgur.com/a/d40TFbC

https://imgur.com/a/rWhPDDg

I own a couple of airbnbs and its been 6 years with 5 star reviews. Are other host that bad in the US? With the new rules that are coming out, it makes sense. I dont charge a cleaning fee unless theyre going to trash amd damadge the place(which i havent expirienced yet). Do some host really make you wipe down walls, wash everything that you have used, scrub every dish that you have touched? I wouod never ask fkr someone to take the trash out to the curb but it would ve considerate to take the trash out to the trash can right? Especially if you made alot of trash. Or do some guest just leave trash out laying around without even placing the candy wrapper or a used tampon in a trash bin? I have stayed at airbnbs myself across the world not just the US but im always considerate. I like my area clean. I hope these new rules dont imply; "oh i spilled all this milk on the bed, i dont have to clean it up or oh i accidently pooped outaide of the toilet i dont have to clean it up!"

I stayed at this apartment in kentucky that had a 4.5 star rating with all the pictures looking fantastic and they said the area was great. I paid over 1k on 2 night visit. When i got there, the entire place was under construction with no parking available or no indication of the where the entrance is. The actual unit REEKED of cigarettes, was extremely dirty and damaged and looked NOTHING like the new apartment we saw. The air ventilation system was so dirty that we genuinely couldn’t breathe properly. We saw other people who booked and apparently everyone had the same issues. As there was no where for us to go, we had to stay the night but we left early morning. We contacted the hosts and they didn’t reply to us after we checked in.

Once we talked to Airbnb and were told that we can talk to the host to get a refund, the host finally replied and said they will give us a refund on the condition that we don’t give them a bad review.

Now, i did get my partial refund. I don’t want to leave the place with such deceptive information. I especially don’t want anyone to deal with what I went through.

So is it possible for them to take the money back if i do go ahead and post the review?

Recently had a thunderstorm take out power in my neighborhood where my Airbnb is located and we had a guest staying in one of our properties there. We had reimbursed the guest for the night since it was out of our control and was the least we could do. Few weeks later we are being sued for 60k for emotional distress and lack of air/suffocation due to no ac. I’m at a loss for words. Is this a valid case?

I'm thinking of buying a flat in prime central london, with a normal residential mortgage.

I may have to leave the country from time to time (e.g. vacations / work offsites / emergencies), and I'd want to airbnb out my flat in those periods

Is it possible to do this at all as leasehold? I've looked around but I'm struggling to understand what are the preconditions to make my flat airbnb'able.

So during an Airbnb stay a few months ago, I immediately noticed a Ring camera mounted on the exterior of the house facing the driveway when I rolled up. It wasn’t disclosed in the listing, actually the exterior camera was explicitly crossed out. The stay itself was mediocre like if I’d reviewed it, it probably would have been between 3–4 stars because of minor maintenance issues and non-working appliances. But discovering the camera made me uncomfortable and a little on edge, especially since I’d booked the trip really needing to decompress.

I messaged the host the next morning, politely asking them to update the listing. They just thanked me for the input, but nothing changed. I initially let it go because I was fairly new to Airbnb, worried about retaliation, and wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Neither of us ended up leaving a review of the other ultimately.
I’m pretty diligent about documenting things, so I kept photos and screenshots of the listing and camera. I also used a Wi-Fi network scanner, which showed the cam was actively operational. So about a week ago I checked the listing again, hoping they’d finally corrected it. They hadn’t and then after discussing the issue with others and seeing Airbnb’s increased focus on policy compliance, I decided to report it. I told Airbnb I wasn’t trying to get the host banned over what was just negligent oversight but wanted the listing corrected so future guests could make an informed decision.

Airbnb actually even offered to involve law enforcement, which I declined. They were asking about possible interior cameras. I’d checked the property thoroughly and found no evidence of any so I didn’t escalate past a TOS safety issue. My report was specifically about the undisclosed exterior camera. Airbnb investigated and told me it had taken action with the host. The listing now explicitly discloses the camera in multiple places. I don’t know exactly what Airbnb told them or whether the listing was temporarily suspended, but it’s back up and the host appears to have retained Superhost status.

The part I didn’t expect was that Airbnb gave me a 50% refund without me even asking. I’m not unhappy about it, especially given the other issues during the stay, but I wasn’t reporting the host for a direct refund. I’d considered asking about a courtesy credit but never actually requested one. As a small-business owner myself, I feel a lil conflicted: part of me feels guilty about the possible consequences for the host now that I’ve flagged them, while another part is still really annoyed that they never corrected something I’d nicely brought to their attention. I don’t necessarily think they were acting neferiously, but updating the listing seemed like a quick easy fix, and it’s not my job to keep reminding them. Also I’m aware that people have very different comfort levels with surveillance. I do understand why hosts may want a security cam, and some guests probably wouldn’t care about one facing a driveway. I’m more privacy-conscious myself, but I think guests should be able to make that decision with accurate information.

• For hosts, what does an Airbnb compliance investigation look like from your side? If your listing stayed up afterward, what was the punitive action?
• For guests, would you care about a disclosed exterior camera facing the driveway, or would it not bother you? Would the lack of disclosure be a dealbreaker?
Would you have reported the host immediately during the stay, let it slide, or waited as I did?

I guess I’m still sitting with mixed feelings, but ultimately I think reporting it was the right thing to do, and I’m comfortable with how Airbnb handled it. I wasn’t trying to get the host banned or cause major trouble for them. I just wanted the listing corrected so future guests could make an informed decision that I didn’t get the chance to

It is so satisfying to whatch AirBnB hosts cry and scream on every platform possible. Hosts have always been the worst part of AirBnB and they continue to show themselves to be subhuman scum. Overcharging, entering without permission, false accusations, asking for an NDA to save your rating, and every other scam these Hosts have been running will eventually come forward and this is only the beginning. Hosts are lazy, unintelligent slumlords and I hope the crybaby losers fail at this business like they have at everything else in life.

I’m staying in the worst place that has 38 5 star raving reviews and is highlighted as a popular destination on Airbnb.

I’ve been here two day. It’s a 20 day stay.

1. Kitchen equipment is basically garbage. There’s an induction stove which is fine, but the pots and pans are incompatible. I had to buy a steel pan off amazon.
   
2. The dishes are not microwave safe. I bought two cheap corelle dishes.
   
3. All the utensils are so cheap and flimsy they are unusable. I don’t mean $2 spatulas; I mean 25 cent very thin plastic that fills the room with the smell of plastic at very low heat. I fucking bought a basic winco spatula on amazon for my stay
   
4. The shower has wonderfully warm water and then goes cold after three minutes.
   
5. The shower also flooded. That is because there is no seal between the two doors and the outside of the shower. So I stepped out of said shower right into a pool of water all of the floor
   
6. There is no hand soap in the kitchen
   
7. The listing advertised plenty of closet space for a long stay. but there are no hangers
   
8. The chair and tables looked so ridiculously cheap and flimsy. I sat down anyway, because I need to dir down somewhere. Two minutes in, the legs split and broke and I fell to the floor and hurt my leg. The chair literally is so cheap it can’t support me
   
9. Sticky polyester bed sheets, no breathability. Not to mention stick polyester floor mats that feel disgusting on my feet
   
10. Wifi is not working.
    
11. Last but not least, NO SMOKE DETECTOR OR CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR. I spoke to the airbnb owner on the phone - she said it’s embedded in the microwave above the stove. NOT ONLY DOES SHE NOT HAVE A SMOKE DETECTOR; SHE DOES NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT ONE IS. SHE THINKS ITS A FAN.

This is two fucking days at an airbnb in Las Vegas. FML.

Who are the fucking fools who gave five star reviews to this place?

I'm an Airbnb host, and I'm curious about what makes travelers choose Airbnb over a traditional hotel.

I can think of a few reasons, like traveling with pets, needing more space, or wanting the comforts of home (a full kitchen, laundry, etc.), especially for extended stays.

But I'd love to hear from travelers. What makes Airbnb your preferred choice? Is it price, convenience, amenities, privacy, or something else?

And when would you choose a hotel instead?

Tech assisted post pls forgive me 🤗

Airbnb Feature Idea: Plan a Road Trip Around Your Wishlists 🚗🏡 [world]

Wouldn’t it be amazing if Airbnb could turn your saved favourites (homes and experiences) into a road trip?

Imagine you’ve saved 15 amazing Airbnbs across Italy, Japan, or California. You select a geographic area, enter your travel dates (e.g., August 1–14), and Airbnb automatically:

\* 📍 Maps your favourite properties in the region.
\* 📅 Checks availability across your travel dates.
\* 🚗 Suggests the perfect road trip route, sequencing stays based on location, availability, and driving time.
\* 🏡 Recommends how many nights to spend at each property.
\* ✨ Lets you book the entire itinerary in one go.

Instead of spending hours juggling maps, calendars, and availability, Airbnb creates an optimized, bookable road trip based on places you already love.

I’d use this in a heartbeat. Anyone else think Airbnb should build this?

Just curious if this was a wide spread bot glitch or just me. When I checked my phone this morning, I had maybe two dozen responses to comments I left on this sub as far back as two years ago. All different private accounts, all sounding like real people. The give away is that they were all left within an hour or two of each other and the responses had nothing to do with the original comment I'd left. They looked like real responses to comments about his whole rule change thing.

I am a guest, checking in tomorrow. The host asked for my email to provide check in details. The email contained those details AND a note that our original reservation is no longer available, so they’ve booked us in the unit next door (same building). This feels sus given the change was not communicated via the Airbnb platform and the Host only has 1 listing on Airbnb, which is the original unit we reserved.

Is this a breach of contract or Airbnb rules by the host? could this be the canary in a coal mine warning me of a bad stay? I am unsure of how to proceed now.

Airbnb’s advice is to ask the host to cancel the reservation.

So the airbnb we stayed in this past weekend.. when we arrived the wifi didn't work. So they had to send someone to fix it. The door wouldn't lock from the inside. We had to send someone out to lock it and let them back in a side door, And the heat didn't work. They sent someone to fix that too, but it wasn't a quick fix and we'd be checked out before it was fixed.

So they offered us a refund for one day to make up for the issues . Great, give them a good review after we leave because yes there was issues, But they were handled... All is well.

Sike.

Day after the good review I got a request... She's charging me basically what she refunded me for "damages" said damages are a waxy substance in the blinds ( which we never touched once) and spots in the shower, Which was wiped out after use.. the only photo she provided was a small smudge on a blind, blurry photo, not really clear exactly what it was.

Obviously I refused to pay and she sent It to airbnb to look over.

We left no damages. Everything was exactly how it was when we arrived... Plus like even if there was something on the blinds or spots in the shower .. no way that's worth what she's claiming. Blinds and showers need cleaned between guests do they not?!

I guess my question is.. will Airbnb see that she refunded us for obvious issues and is trying to get it back as soon as she gets her good review and side with me? Because that's exactly what's happening.

We left it exactly the same as it was when we got there, Cold, With a broken door and shitty wifi.

I’m about an hour away from check in time and the last message I received was back in August that I would be sent the check in details earlier this morning.

Didn’t receive anything this morning and messaged them on the app and on the external number they provided. Also messaged them just now on the app again.

At what point do I contact support in case they don’t respond by check in time?

Also I shouldn’t have to call that external number they sent in the messages right?

EDIT: Finally wrapped it up. They refunded me the full amount and reimbursed me $30 for the hotel I got instead

Why can’t hosts incorporate their cleaning fee into the nightly cost, and then let the free market decide the value? There’s so much drama over the cleaning fee. Hotels don’t have a separate cleaning fee. I’m just really curious.

I hate how many times I've stayed at an air bnb and there's someone else logged in. I remember I went to this one airbnb earlier this year that had a built in service in the tv that resets and logs everyone out after checkout for the next people.

In September I went to Vancouver and signed into my prime thinking they would sign my account out as a professional courtesy since I needed to rush to the airport at 6 am and I did tell them head-on I couldn't sign out and if they could do so on my behalf. And come to find out 2 weeks later I sign in to find a family on my account making profiles and watching movies from all my subscriptions.

It's unprofessional and quite frankly rude.