Wall Street Journal Article - "Welcome to Your Airbnb, Don't Forget to Wash the Linens"

[The Colorado Kid]

WSJ Weekend edition Sat/Sun 9/17-18/2022
Interesting read on how some Airbnb guests are booking hotels now that some Airbnb properties are requiring a list of chores prior to checkout. Guests are complying because they don't want their Airbnb guest rating to suffer. Next time though, many are opting for hotels. Thought this is a plus for TUGgers renting thru any channel...even Airbnb since to my understanding...Timeshare guests don't have any housekeeping requirements.

 

[pedro47]

If we are renting a home from Airbnb. We are not going to do a long list of chores as stated in the above article. That is a fact.

 

[ScoopKona]

If we are renting a home from Airbnb. We are not going to do a long list of chores as stated in the above article. That is a fact.

The reason hosts are doing this is that renters are grousing about cleaning fees. When I open my AirBnBs, I'm going to keep the most recent cleaning bill on the refrigerator. It costs what it costs. SOMEONE has to clean the room -- either the guest, the landlord, or a cleaning crew. I'm going with "cleaning crew" and then adding that to the price. No different than having a cleaning crew on the payroll at a hotel.

 

[TravelTime]

This is crazy. When I leave a vacation property I do not want to do anything. The resort/hotel is paying a cleaning crew and it is built into the hotel rate or timeshare MFs. I would be okay paying the Airbnb cleaning fee but not cleaning myself.

I have a housekeeper at home and I really do not need to do anything in my home. So I certainly do not want to be cleaning on vacation. I really liked that Ritz Carlton St Thomas provided twice daily cleaning and they even did my dishes. Frankly, I think tacking on a cleaning fee is tacky. Why don’t they build cleaning into the nightly rate. Airbnb should really make a policy about this and get rid of separate cleaning fees.

 

[TravelTime]

The reason hosts are doing this is that renters are grousing about cleaning fees. When I open my AirBnBs, I'm going to keep the most recent cleaning bill on the refrigerator. It costs what it costs. SOMEONE has to clean the room -- either the guest, the landlord, or a cleaning crew. I'm going with "cleaning crew" and then adding that to the price. No different than having a cleaning crew on the payroll at a hotel.

Why not build the cleaning fee into the nightly rate? That is what hotels and timeshares do.

 

[ScoopKona]

Why not build the cleaning fee into the nightly rate? That is what hotels and timeshares do.

Because AirBnB takes a bite out of the nightly rate but NOT the cleaning fee. I would have to up the fee to account for the AirBnB bite, thus making the place even more expensive.

 

[TravelTime]

Because AirBnB takes a bite out of the nightly rate but NOT the cleaning fee. I would have to up the fee to account for the AirBnB bite, thus making the place even more expensive.

Oh okay. Makes sense now. Airbnb sounds like a pain to deal with for renters. Most of the rentals are not even that great unless they are in a prime location directly on the beach or really close to a ski resort. That is pretty much the only places we stay. Marriott serves those needs for us and I prefer resorts over someone’s condo or house.

 

[ScoopKona]

Oh okay. Makes sense now. Airbnb sounds like a pain to deal with for renters. Most of the rentals are not even that great unless they are in a prime location directly on the beach or really close to a ski resort. That is pretty much the only places we stay. Marriott serves those needs for us and I prefer resorts over someone’s condo or house.

They're even more of a pain to deal with for landlords. I watch an AirBnb host site. Wow are renters a royal pain. There are so many things I have to do to keep the scammers, Karens and maniacs from exploiting me.

AirBnB is a necessary evil. Marriott doesn't have anything in the places I want to go. I'm done with tourist-traps and the selfie-stick hordes, all following someone waving a little tourist flag. There are no timeshares in these places I now visit. And I want to have a kitchen when I travel -- because I truly enjoy buying and cooking local foods wherever I happen to go.

I'm probably a few years away from selling my timeshare -- I've done what I want to do with it.

 

[TravelTime]

They're even more of a pain to deal with for landlords. I watch an AirBnb host site. Wow are renters a royal pain. There are so many things I have to do to keep the scammers, Karens and maniacs from exploiting me.

AirBnB is a necessary evil. Marriott doesn't have anything in the places I want to go. I'm done with tourist-traps and the selfie-stick hordes, all following someone waving a little tourist flag. There are no timeshares in these places I now visit. And I want to have a kitchen when I travel -- because I truly enjoy buying and cooking local foods wherever I happen to go.

I'm probably a few years away from selling my timeshare -- I've done what I want to do with it.

What kinds of places do you go? In Europe and the Pacific Islands, there are no timeshares so we stay in hotels there. We are going to Miami next week and I do not like the MVC locations so we are staying at the Ritz Key Biscayne and the Ritz Coconut Grove. We staying on points and the certificates so we are just paying the resort fee and parking. I guess resort fees are like cleaning fees. LOL

We spend so much on groceries when we travel anyway plus we still go to restaurants so I am not sure staying in a place with a kitchen saves us money. When we were in Oahu and St Thomas, we spent at least $1000 in groceries at each place but probably going out on those days would have cost more. I do prefer cooking mainly to be healthy.

 

[TravelTime]

They're even more of a pain to deal with for landlords. I watch an AirBnb host site. Wow are renters a royal pain. There are so many things I have to do to keep the scammers, Karens and maniacs from exploiting me.

AirBnB is a necessary evil. Marriott doesn't have anything in the places I want to go. I'm done with tourist-traps and the selfie-stick hordes, all following someone waving a little tourist flag. There are no timeshares in these places I now visit. And I want to have a kitchen when I travel -- because I truly enjoy buying and cooking local foods wherever I happen to go.

I'm probably a few years away from selling my timeshare -- I've done what I want to do with it.

My friend just bought a small house a few blocks from a lake in Minnesota. She is spending about $150,000 rebuilding and furnishing it. The house only cost $150,000 so she is spending as much on the remodel as on the cost of the home. It is very small, probably the size of a small 2BR timeshare. About 900 sf plus the garage which she is turning into a play room of some sort. The garage will not have heat so not sure how usable it will be in Minnesota most of the year.

I am wondering about the scammer, Karens and maniacs. She said she is not worried about that because she can do reviews of the guests. Do they set up multiple Airbnb accounts so the reviews do not matter? How do the scam? Or are these types just a pain to deal with?

 

[ScoopKona]

What kinds of places do you go?

Small towns in Europe on rail lines, so I don't have to drive. Places never mentioned in any Rick Steves guides. (Don't get me wrong, Rick's travel information is first rate. But he's single-handedly ruining all the best places. I remember when the Cinque Terre was a sleepy backwater which nobody visited.)

My last trip to Europe, pre-pandemic, was 100% AirBnB. Three weeks in three little towns which almost nobody has ever heard of. And that's just how I like it. I just make sure I have place 100% to myself. Often, I have to lie for the landlord and claim to be "the cousin from America." Fine with me. I don't care. People should be able to do what they want with their property. And since I speak several languages, I can pass myself off as "the long lost cousin" easier than most.

As for cooking on vacation, I do so because I want to. I only go out to eat if the restaurant is a destination in itself. I will build an entire trip around a single visit to a restaurant -- El Bulli or the Fat Duck, for instance. I will also go to a restaurant which is famous for a particular dish -- paella or Peking duck. And then I'll make the same dish while I'm there so I can add it to my culinary bag of tricks. I don't travel like most people travel. And AirBnb is one of the few ways I can travel how I want to.

As for AirBnB renters -- they will simply create a new account when they receive enough bad reviews. (Landlords are tied to their address. They're stuck.) The typical scams are claiming the place is a pigsty or that something in the listing is false to get a full/partial refund. Thankfully, these people are typically a pain before they even book. I plan on doing a great deal of blocking people. And then only using AirBnb long enough to build up a client list -- people who want to return year after year and stay in one of my "Swiss Family Robinson" Hawaii houses. Then I can kick AirBnb to the curb, lower my prices, and live off the repeat business.

 

[pedro47]

I will prefer to include the cleaning costs in my costs,

 

[jehb2]

Airbnb made Europe and Japan affordable for our family of 4. But it took a lot of research to make sure you end up with a good unit and no mishaps.

I always leave my hotel rooms, timeshares, & Airbnb pretty clean. That’s only because I want to be sure I don’t leave anything behind. But I don’t want to be told I have to clean the apartment or make it ready for the next guests. And I don’t want to stay in a unit that wasn’t professionally cleaned.

 

[TravelTime]

Airbnb made Europe and Japan affordable for our family of 4. But it took a lot of research to make sure you end up with a good unit and no mishaps.

I always leave my hotel rooms, timeshares, & Airbnb pretty clean. That’s only because I want to be sure I don’t leave anything behind. But I don’t want to be told I have to clean the apartment or make it ready for the next guests. And I don’t want to stay in a unit that wasn’t professionally cleaned.

That is a great point. If the host is making you clean, then they are cutting corners on cleaning. Who wants to stay in one of their units and know it was possibly not well cleaned? I wonder if they disclose what guests need to clean on their Airbnb listing.

 

[PigsDad]

Hilton has come out w/ a new TV ad directly taking on AirBnB and the like. I found it well done:

Kurt

 

[TravelTime]

I am looking at an Airbnb just to see what it is like. I can’t find the cancellation policy. It says cancel within 48 hours but it does not say how to cancel after 48 hours. This is frustrating. It seems like there are so many sneaky things with Airbnb. The other thing is the host picks a price and then Airbnb crosses it out as if the host is giving a discount.

 

[Ken555]

I've had good to poor Airbnb rentals, and while I will occasionally consider them in future I will book almost anything else if I find a reasonable alternative. Too much inconsistency, too much uncertainty, too many misleading pictures, and way too many fake reviews.

 

[TheHolleys87]

DD and DSiL, as the millennials they are, have had good experiences with Airbnb both here and abroad, and it’s probably the first site they check when planning travel. DH and I aren’t quite ready to try it.

 

[TravelTime]

DD and DSiL, as the millennials they are, have had good experiences with Air B&B both here and abroad, and it’s probably the first site they check when planning travel. DH and I aren’t quite ready to try it.

I was going to try Airbnb for the first time on Saturday for a week but I missed the cancellation for the Ritz Key Biscayne by a week. I was bummed but the rep on the phone said that resort is amazing. I am using points to stay there but we only get a regular hotel room. I am noticing the rate on Airbnb are incredibly low. The 1 BR condo I almost switched to would have cost $1500 including taxes, service fee and cleaning. It was in Coconut Grove, one of the best neighborhoods in Miami, with a balcony and what looked like a gorgeous view.

Rental unit in Miami · ★4.90 · 1 bedroom · 2 beds · 1.5 baths

Fresh Sea Views. Fully Redesigned, Free Park, Pool

www.airbnb.com

 

[klpca]

Reddit is talking about this too:

https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/xhsmno

We have stayed in B&B's in Europe usually booked directly (love them) and have done Airbnb's where hotel rooms are scarce as recently as this June. I agree that consistency is all over the place. At our last stay in June we were in the mountains. A bear got into the trash overnight and we were the ones that had to pick up all of the trash in the street. The appliances and furniture were vintage. It was expensive. We won't be back that's for sure. Too bad that the timeshare industry can't capitalize on this publicity. People's minds would be blown if they realized that there is an even better alternative to hotels and Airbnb's.

 

[stmartinfan]

We've rented a variety of places via VRBO. For our last rental, we noticed that cleaning fees were appearing on many more places and creeping up in cost. I'm used to places asking us to put our garbage into the outside can, load and run the dishwasher, throw any dirty towels into the tub and strip the beds. Those are things that are easy to do and I can understand why It's helpful to the cleaners. More than that..not for me. I don't rent somewhere without several reviews and read them carefully. It's easy to spot the fake reviews..,people just aren't good at making them sound realistic!

 

[TravelTime]

Reddit is talking about this too:

https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/xhsmno

We have stayed in B&B's in Europe usually booked directly (love them) and have done Airbnb's where hotel rooms are scarce as recently as this June. I agree that consistency is all over the place. At our last stay in June we were in the mountains. A bear got into the trash overnight and we were the ones that had to pick up all of the trash in the street. The appliances and furniture were vintage. It was expensive. We won't be back that's for sure. Too bad that the timeshare industry can't capitalize on this publicity. People's minds would be blown if they realized that there is an even better alternative to hotels and Airbnb's.

Someone just posted a Hilton hotel ad capitalizing on Airbnb’s inconsistent quality. It is a good ad. It does not mention Airbnb but it is obvious.

 

[TravelTime]

Are cancellation fees strict on Airbnb? I recall they are but I can’t find the policy on Airbnb. If the cancellation policies are there, they are hidden.

I also noticed room rates are often in the $200s and even $100 to $200 in great locations. That is really low. I wonder if completion is really high in some locations so they need low rates to compete.

If there is a timeshare I own somewhere, I much prefer it. Otherwise I may start looking on Redweek to supplement my timeshares instead of a hotel or Airbnb.

 

[klpca]

Are cancellation fees strict on Airbnb? I recall they are but I can’t find the policy on Airbnb. If the cancellation policies are there, they are hidden.

I also noticed room rates are often in the $200s and even $100 to $200 in great locations. That is really low. I wonder if completion is really high in some locations so they need low rates to compete.

If there is a timeshare I own somewhere, I much prefer it. Otherwise I may start looking on Redweek to supplement my timeshares instead of a hotel or Airbnb.

Once you go through the screens to complete the transaction you will see the add-on fees. It's an eye opener.

 

[TravelTime]

Once you go through the screens to complete the transaction you will see the add-on fees. It's an eye opener.

Yes, I have seen the add on fees that amount to hundred of dollars. Taxes on hotels, resort fees and parking also amount to hundreds of dollars but virtually nothing with timeshares. I would not like it if I arrive at a Airbnb and they told me to do any cleaning at all. That is a deal breaker for me. But I plan to try it once at some time and see what it is like.