When you rent a house or room via Airbnb, it’s natural to expect the place to be cleaned up before your arrival, right? Well, one tenant staying at a spot in Lake Tahoe between California and Nevada was none too pleased when she discovered her rental was in a mess. The cleaners had forgotten to tidy up the place after the last guests, and what’s worse, the host had the audacity to request the newcomers to pay the cleaning fee!
Used towels were lying around the bathroom, the beds weren’t made, their messy blankets and pillowcases weren’t washed, and even smears of liquid and remnants of trash were left about. “Host only wanted to offer to return the cleaning fee for $190 when I paid over $1,000 for just the Airbnb,” she explained in a post on r/mildlyinfuriating. Asking for nearly $200 to pay for something that should have been done after receiving $1K is wild, if you ask me. Nobody in the comment section was happy with the host, either.
“At this point we’re back to hotels clearly being the better option,” remarked a user. “People need to stop using Airbnb,” added another. “This sort of thing would definitely deter me from renting their place…but the lack of generosity on the host’s part is gross,” said a third. A fourth chimed in, saying that this behavior from the host likely goes against Airbnb’s guidelines. Rentals are required to provide a clean and safe environment for guests, and failure to do so will be grounds for suspension. “Also the cleaning fee is supposed to cover your cleaning fee after you leave,” not before, the commenter adds.
Fortunately, cleaners did arrive and tidy up the place immediately after the guest notified the host, which she later clarified. Other people added that, although the quality of Airbnbs can be often be shoddy more often than not, the pros outweigh the cons for them. Some have kids, so getting an Airbnb house is much cheaper and preferable over a hotel room. Another person pointed out the convenience of access to a home kitchen. Whatever the case, it’s always important to do due diligence by researching the place in detail, especially when it costs upwards of a grand.
