Woman (L), Airbnb logo (M) Cleaning rules for Airbnb (R)

Tero Vesalainen/Shutterstock @melworeit/TikTok

‘It’s the principle’: TikToker criticizes Airbnb host for charging cleaning fee and asking guests to clean before check out, sparking debate

'Hotels do all that for me and don't charge me an extra fee.'

 

Brooke Sjoberg

Tech

Posted on Feb 21, 2022   Updated on Feb 21, 2022, 10:12 am CST

A TikToker planning a small vacation with Airbnb lodging options has shared one of her more irksome findings on the platform, garnering over 222,000 views and sparking discussion.

The poster, lifestyle and fashion creator Melissa (@melworeit), shared that she was doing some research for an upcoming vacation and looking at Airbnbs that would be suitable for herself and her husband. That’s when she came across a listing with what she believes are some odd requirements for the amount of fees guests pay.

“It does have a $125 cleaning fee as most Airbnb’s do, and I don’t have a problem with that, but this is what I do have a problem with: in addition to that $125 cleaning fee, we ask that you remove garbage, fine, remove bed linens, fine, start the dishwasher and a load of laundry,” she says in the video. “Now, maybe this is entitlement, or privilege talking, however, if I’m paying $225 a night to stay somewhere plus $125 cleaning fee, I’m not doing any fucking laundry. Full stop. I know it’s like one load of laundry, it will take me like two minutes to do, but it’s the principle that bothers me.”

@melworeit

$700 for two nights ≠ no chores lol

♬ original sound – Melissa

Some commenters agreed and pointed out that if someone pays a cleaning fee, they shouldn’t then have to do more cleaning than would be a courtesy, like taking out the garbage.

“Hotels do all that for me and don’t charge me an extra fee,” one commenter wrote.

“I 100% agree,” another commenter wrote. “Hosts forget that they’re providing a service, and not doing guests a favor. I think they forget that because it’s their own house.”

Others disagreed, and felt that what was asked of customers in the listing was not a big deal.

“It’s not asking you to do the laundry,” one commenter wrote. “It’s asking you to throw some towels in the washer and start it. Not a big deal.”

“Are you cleaning the toilets?” another commenter wrote. “Are you vacuuming? Are you scrubbing the shower? Who is doing the flip. So you pressed start on the dishwasher…”

The Daily Dot has reached out to @melworeit via TikTok DM and a comment on the video. We’ve also reached out to Airbnb.


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*First Published: Feb 21, 2022, 8:35 am CST