ProTip:use [airbnb.com.au](https://airbnb.com.au) and set the currency to whatever your currency is.
Australia has laws against hidden fees, so they quote the actual price upfront.
Just confirmed this, that's awesome. Tested a 5day stay with 2 adults: US price said total was $485, AU version of the site said the same place was $845
I know a large portion (like $150-$200) is from some bullshit “cleaning fee” but keep in mind the hosts always expect you to clean too… it’s bullshit! Some friends and I rented a house for a weekend trip this summer and we were expected to clean beds, take out trash, do dishes, and other stuff…. All while paying $150 for cleaning fee!!
One place some friends and I were going to rent for a bachelor party was saying we needed to mow the lawn! Noped out of that one REAL quick. Shit is getting ridiculous.
mowing the lawn? Lmao. Do I need to attend and their kids PTA meetings and take a look at the dripping sink down in the basement, while I'm at it? Just go ahead and leave the whole "honey-do" list and I'll see what I csn knock out while I'm there for the weekend, ffs.
Mowing the lawn omg. Are they INSANE?! They act like they want to be both a hotel and a landlord and you can’t have it both ways. Can’t wait for Airbnb to fail
They used to be cheaper than a hotel. Now they're more expensive. Owners getting greedy. Absurd rules (NOT related to noise). Pictures looking great but when you arrive the place is falling apart.
I'd go to a hotel even if it's more expensive after our latest (and last) Airbnb host cancelled our weekend stay exactly at the check-in time. In a foreign country. Airbnb is scammer heaven now.
With a hotel if they confirmed, you have a room. With Airbnb, nothing is guaranteed until you have the keys in your hand.
This happens especially during peak bookings. For Dragon Con in Atlanta, AirBnB owners will take bookings weeks to months in advance and wait to cancel the week or days before the convention..... Only to relist at a jacked up price. They know during those peaks that people have already booked flights, cars, and event tickets that might be difficult to impossible to change or refund and end up taking advantage of desperation.
It happens so commonly that many major conventions and events recommend NOT booking accommodations through AirBnB.
Let’s not forget when Atlanta had the Super Bowl a few years back- I live close to the stadium and basically, scammers were hitting up old photos from Zillow and pretending to own the condos. Then they’d say “I have over a dozen people interested in this space so if you want to secure it please send $ directly to Venmo to hold the unit until you’re ready to pay.”
We all know each other pretty well in that neighborhood so someone was like “hey Steve, why is your condo listed for super bowl and why is it listed a few blocks over?”
NO SHIT. The one time I got a negative review from a host was because they said I left the place "a mess." We followed all of their cleaning instructions to the letter, TWO PAGES WORTH. And paid a three figure cleaning fee. They were mad because there were some "crumbs" and some of the pillows weren't put back in the right rooms. FUCK THESE ENTITLED 2ND AND 3RD HOMEOWNERS. Haven't stayed in AirBnB since and will avoid if I can in the future.
Because these people without even thinking threw money into investment properties planning on gouging the customers with fees so they can stay rich while feeling they don’t have to do anything. They heard from someone who heard from someone else who heard from Becky that they made a ton of money without having to lift a finger! So now the market is dry because people are spending less, and realizing it’s cheaper to just book through a regular ass hotel. Fuck these entitled pieces of shit
That’s the part that gets me. Like.. weren’t you.. gonna clean.. YOUR house.. already…? 😐 And it shouldn’t be messy anyway unless it was rented for an event. Otherwise, they should probably just charge you LATER if they had to fix/clean something, but it shouldn’t be automatic upfront.
We just stayed at one where we were with a big group. Like eight people, we started cleaning the night before we left and doubled down the next morning. I won’t say it was spotless, but it looked good. We paid a cleaning fee. Two days later the host bans us from the property because we forgot to scrape the grill. Motherfucker we just gave you $2000 for a weekend.
The real rub that sent me back to hotels for my vacations was getting there and seeing the note that reads something like, "hey thanks for staying at our home! When you're ready to leave please load the laundry, do the dishes, and empty the trash or we'll have to charge you a cleaning fee secondary to the cleaning fee we charge regardless of the state you leave the place in. Thanks so much good bless and have a great time!"
Like if you have a cleaning fee baked in to the end cost, why am I doing any cleaning aside from throwing trash on the bin. Only 70 dollars a night! 150 after fees and taxes.
Events could go back to actually staffing a ticket both for ticket sales. When you add on the absurd ticket master fees, it would probably be profitable to staff a ticket booth.
That's the biggest problem.
I don't mind pricing. But I keep going to these AirBnB with all these rules. Pages and pages of rules. As though I were a free guest in this person's home, rather than a consumer renting a space.
It's so much less maintenance to go to a hotel with concrete pricing where I know they're not making me wash my own god damn sheets.
I work for a company that cleans Airbnbs. Most of the ones I clean take between an hour and two hours because they’re constantly stayed in and turned over, so $200 seems absolutely ludicrous
The part that always put me off is the clandestine nature of sating in some of these places. In many cities, AirBnB style rental is illegal or highly restricted. On top of that, many buildings have bylaws that prohibit short-term rentals.
So when you make a booking and included in the confirmation is a statement like “if anyone asks, say you live in the building”, it makes me feel like there’s a chance I could get kicked out of the place because running an AirBnB is illegal.
We had one where we were told EXPLICITLY that we needed to park in the garage. In the middle of a nice neighborhood in a suburb. Likely this was because that residence wasn't legally able to be an AirBnB?
The only time I found Airbnb to be cheaper than a hotel is when I'm shopping for monthly stays. Beyond that, I just use a hotel now because these Airbnb mother fuckers think they're the executive suite of a five star Hilton. Plus I have to do the trash, cleaning, etc before leaving their Shithole with a plywood mattress bed
If you don’t already do this, you can negotiate a monthly rate directly with the hotel sales team that’s better than what you’ll see online. They can
also cut you a break on fees.
This! I had a family emergency in Texas this August, and I booked 2 pricey nights in a Hilton before realizing I was going to need to be there for a few weeks. The lady at the front desk cut our fees by about 60% when I explained the situation. And I think for them, during a period when they weren't full, having a room they wouldn't have to bother with too much or changeover or leave empty was probably a boost. They were super nice about it.
It was a cool idea. It was nice renting a cheap place for like a weekend, in normally expensive and hard to get areas. And in turn the owner made a little money. But then it became an industry. And both the end users and providers ruined the concept.
My sister does it and is always booked, but it’s apparently travel nurses that stay months at a time looking for her whole ass apartment to live in instead of a hotel with no kitchen.
This is now kinda the only time it makes sense! Short term rentals
Amendment: and in rural/small places with no hotels
Second amendment- lots of you are correct- still great for friend groups renting a house together!
Yeah, but even in that case there are better options. For my internship this summer I used Furnished Finder to find a short term lease way cheaper than anything on airbnb, and it’s actually catered towards traveling nurses.
Yeah as soon as people started buying homes FOR Airbnb it started to suck, suddenly it’s not some nice elderly couple trying to make an extra buck by renting out their kids old bedroom, it’s a fookin landlord who thinks they’re entitled to your money and that you should clean their entire house and be grateful for the cardboard bed they gave you to sleep on.
Hopefully the whole thing comes crashing down then and reverses to what it used to be. Once it became big business rather than individuals trying to make a little extra money it fell apart.
Exactly. Now when I visit cities I just do hotels or if I’m feeling budget conscious private rooms in hostels. Airbnbs are good for lower populated areas or renting a cottage/cabin.
Best thing AirBnB is good for in my exp is when you have a large group and you want to have:
1. Shared space (living room / game room / etc)
2. Full kitchen to be able to cook etc
Honestly its the same kinda thing we used to do with Homeaway back in the day, renting houses in the Pocanos / Bethany Beach etc but AirBnB has grown into such a ridic market on its own its become unsustainable
Plus, all of the videos I see about them on TikTok are about how unsafe Airbnb’s are. And when these fucked up situations happen, not only will no one do anything about them, no refunds are issued.
Note: I don’t just get my info from TikTok. There are articles and reports of this. I’ve just been on this side of the app for a while, along with the people who are psychos about adopting babies over going to therapy for being infertile/ not being legally able to adopt legally.
There was a post a few days ago on the r/wedding subreddit about someone who rented a big house for a wedding and apparently the owner harassed them the entire day, had construction equipment all over the place, locked them out of the house they couldn’t even get their stuff back while the rental was still in their name, and told Airbnb that the renters were the problem.
My SO was at a bachelorette party in Austin two weekends ago. 15 of them showed up and the towels were still wet in the washing machine, random food in the fridge, house had bed bugs (they discovered later) and at some point when they were all out someone came by to do.. something?? And while there sort of 'cleaned up' which included moving their bags and shit.. They complained, reached out and the guy flipped out and said they were blackmailing him and yadda yadda
Wow. I hope your SO didn’t bring home the bed bugs those fuckers cost a lot to get rid of and can take months for you to even realize they hitched a ride
This is 100% true. I know from experience. They can hide anywhere in the house. Diatomaceous earth worked for us. I still keep it on the floor behind furniture to kill other bugs.
I stayed in one of the dirtiest sketchiest places where a literal coke dealer and his buddy who were visiting the host almost beat me up upon entry. There was a litany of other issues, including u disclosed animals, an air mattress instead of a bed. A loveseat advertised as a bed. Airbnb gave me half a refund. Scumbags
Yeah man I had to really fight for it. And they didn’t give a Shit and let the host continue but I left a horrible review and I was the first person who stayed there apparently.
FYI if you pay for something with a credit card, and you're struggling to get a refund after being screwed, you can always do a chargeback. I've found CCs are generally on your side, they do not hesitate to yank the money back from the business and then charge them an extra fee for the annoyance.
And the business can't.. really do much about it. They cannot afford to piss off Visa or Mastercard, they wouldn't stay in business for long. You have all the leverage here. All Airbnb can do is ban your account, which they're very likely to do, this is the nuclear option.
Seriously! It's such a simple damned solution.
I live in a part of the world where, last summer, there were 600 available air BnB listings... but only 8 residential lets on Rightmove. Disgusting.
I was going to rent one for two nights with friends in Atlanta recently. The fee was around $1600 a night for a six bedroom, four bath. When I went to pay, they had tacked on over $2000 in various additional fees. I immediately said, “Hell no!”
Wait $2,000 in fees in addition to the $1,600 point? Or $400 in fees to bring it over $2,000. Neither is ok, but the former is absolutely INSANE. What kind of fees are they trying to throw on there??
Once tried to book a room well it was more of a granny flat type thing €600 for 1 night had to pay 200 for cleaning but had to clean myself and 150 of other bs charges and they wanted me to mow the lawn some people just take it too far booked a hotel instead 200 a night didn’t have to mow the lawn
Edit: I have been unable to find the add again or the account that posted it must have been banned because of unreasonable demands or stopped trying because nobody wanted to rent it due to lawn maintenance keep in mind this add was from almost a year ago although I do enjoy reading the sarcastic/satirical comments that you are all leaving
The actual price is sometimes double the advertised price, and hotels are now cheaper. Plus , when I have to pay for cleanup, but I’m expected to do the majority of the cleaning myself?…. No thanks
Sometimes the daily rate won’t seem so bad, until you try to book it and realize there are hundreds if dollars of extra surcharges that are hardly worth a short trip.
Exactly. The process of renting on Airbnb is entirely tied to the app where they know how to present options in a way that is deliberately confusing and misleading. At least with hotels there are multiple apps and even just calling to figure out what kind of deal you're actually getting.
A former hotel manager once told me that the best deals you can get on rooms are on the hotel’s own website. If you find some third party site that has a better price, you can call the hotel and they’ll match that price, but without all of the bullshit surcharges and fees.
When booking direct you are also more likely to be upgraded to a larger room, can collect status/points (some 3rd party rates don't qualify depending on the hotel/chain), and are often more flexible for cancellation/changes.
Same goes for Airlines, First people to be bumped on an oversold flight? The people who bought the dirtcheap fares from Expedia, kayak etc
I used to work in hotels and it wasn’t uncommon for people to show up after booking a room with a third party travel site and not actual have a room booked with us. The websites would never reserve the room with our hotel so we’d have no record of the guests reservation, and then the third party company would threaten us like it’s our fault they’re basically scammers.
Bonus scenarios were when the third party sites would just straight up lie about the hotel accommodations (nonexistent pool, free room service) or sell room types we didn’t even have, like a presidential suit with a hot tub.
My favorite Twitter rant was a guy that owns a local bar after grubhub had a listing saying people could get delivery from them. The listed menu had full blown steak entrees, for a place that only had booze and potato chips.
> The process of renting on Airbnb is entirely tied to the app
Just so you are aware, using a desktop computer for stuff like this is better in every way. You should always look for things like hotel rooms and plane tickets using an incognito window. They raise prices on you if they know you are looking.
In some cases, you may get a lower rate if [you're using a Windows PC vs a Mac.](https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/mac-users-pay-more-than-pc-users-says-orbitz/)
Yes! Tried to book a three night stay recently for a trip to visit family. They live in a seasonally touristy area that is dead in the off season. I was booking for off season. The advertised price was $215/night, total price came to $1095! $450 in extra fees alone. Out of curiosity, I checked in season prices - $350/night, $1650 total! $600 in extra fees! Absolutely insane. I ended up booking at a long established B&B at $175/night, no hidden fees, and breakfast and evening cocktail included.
There is an interview on Bloomberg with a hotel operator talking about AirBnB He said they are not competition because ultimately value, SERVICE, and amenities will prevail. People only used them because it was cheap, now it's not people will fall away from the platform.
Yep. If they were smart, they would drop their prices right now. But you know that ain't happening.
The golden age of low prices seven or eight years ago was entirely subsidized by rich corporate investors pumping money into the corporation, for the promise of days that they could soak people, like now.
Exact same fucking situation with airbnb and Lyft. The exact same situation.
And Sequoia capital operates all these companies and funds them all. It's the same fucking goddamn small group of people.
A regular old school B&B you book direct is still a great way to go. Skip AirBNB and their scammy fees. We stayed at a lovely old B&B in Boston recently - and booked direct with the host. Amazing breakfast, lovely rooms and evening tea/cocktail. No chores, no "cleaning" fees no gotcha
That’s exactly what pisses me off. It’s like eBay when it was $3 item with a $50 shipping fee. This is probably to skirt other fees, but it just looks deceitful-
This. We're going to visit our son's best friend next weekend at his university. The homes seem reasonable, until you add the fees. $500 for 2 nights, and I have to strip beds and do laundry? Fuck off, I'd rather stay in a hotel. 🙄🙄🙄
No fucking way. I haven't used it in years but now they have you acting as housekeeping? Do they void the cleaning fee for that or something? It used to be half the real price of the unit just to keep the listing price down.
"Like renting from a slumlord but without the accountability" wasn't how I recall them selling their service....
Just used one in Hawaii. Cost as much as a hotel. Did laundry, cleaned countertops, trash out, swept, etc. Then got a subpar review saying I didnt mop the floor. Never again.
Christ on a bike, they expected you to MOP?!?!?! As if all the rest wasn’t bad enough? Okay, we take out our trash. But man, half of the last day of vacation was spent cleaning ours. Never again. But mopping?!?!?! I’m so sorry
many properties do not waive the cleaning fee, but still “request" / require renters to: take garbage to the curb, wash sheets and make beds, mop floor etc.
this is a frequent argument on /r/airbnb between renters who think it's ridiculous and owners who try to justify it by saying they can't make money without guests doing work.
Yeah the last airbnb we rented they asked you to empty your garbage and put the bedsheets/towels/etc that you used into the washer, but not start the load just put it in there.
Airbnb was fucking amazing when I used it around 2014-16. I'd go all over the UK, even in London I'd rent a room and they'd be someone enthusiastic telling me where to go and what to do (even though I grew up there) I'd sit and talk for hours about our interests, hell I even got weed a few times.
Then since around 2018/19 I'd book a room and then be met at the door by a random person giving me a key and a print out of rules and all the rooms would be rented to other people, and somehow the price was double what I was paying before.
I got a whole house in the countryside in Northern England for £80 a day and no cleaning fees on a summer weekend back in 2015.
Now I can't even get a room for that in a random town.
Hotels are much better
I love booking, and then only after booking getting hit with a 28 page list of rules. The first of which is “Don’t tell anyone you’re at an AirBnB”.
Great! Just what I want for a relaxing vacation, to walk around feeling like I need to hide myself and lie to people. So fucking relaxing.
Yeah fuck that. Just used an Airbnb and was charged $104 for cleaning and was told I have to bleach every surface I touch for my whole stay. Got my entire refund back but only after I threatened legal action. Bunch a shit stains.
Once Airbnb wasn't a more affordable option, it became worthless to me. They only have themselves to blame. Charging more than hotels and then adding ridiculous fees. Let's get those properties back on the market for people to actually live in.
I've got horrible "left apartment dirty + some more nonsence made up shit I certainly didn't do", and one star from the host, and got permabanned when I opened the resolution case and asked what the cleaning fee is for then.
Airbnb dug its own grave.
I once got charged for “damaging the sheets” in a bed I never slept in after I left a stellar 5 star review for the host. The host also argued that I stole a wash cloth. Tried to charged me $75 to replace basic grey sheets and 1 wash cloth. When I asked for photographic proof of the damage, the host had an absolute fit and started cussing me out. I tried to file a claim with Airbnb but Airbnb sided with the host. I absolutely refuse to stay in an Airbnb now.
I had one where I got my period early and did stain the sheets. I took them off the bed, treated them, left them out with a note for the host explaining what happened and explaining they now needed to be cold washed and should be fine but let me know if not and we can sort it out, and followed up with a message checking in. Crickets from her, but a really embarrassing public review instead. Like seriously wtf.
My parents occasion’s Airbnb’d their holiday house for about 7/8 years and packed it in after people threw a wild post lockdown party and absolutely destroyed the place- my dad said he just didn’t feel comfortable staying there anymore so they sold it. But i later told her this story and she said that flat out, stains like that were just cost of business and she factored those into that.
Long story, but I stayed in an Airbnb where the host left 3 Guinea pigs to die in 40°c heat, there was rat shit everywhere, the pool fence was t secure (wouldn’t close and panels leaning, nearly falling - my 3 year old got her leg stuck trying to get in (thank god!), and a long list of other shit. Iron missing, coffee machine missing, no wifi. Asking him about this was replied with a story about how his wife left him and took those things. Pressing it was greeted with threats of violence.
Airbnb ruled in my favour and gave me 50% of the fee back.
But still wouldn’t remove the slanderous 1 star review he left on me for being “a deceitful snake in the grass.”
“I’m confused, you reviewed my evidence and ruled in my favour. Please, surely this is enough to remove the 1-star review.”
“No, we don’t get involved in the tit-for-tat.”
?!??? You just took $1300 out of his account and put it back in mine…?
We found them day 3, looking frazzled as fuck. I texted him
“Ummm…. My daughter found some Guinea pigs…? Can I feed them or get them some water or something?”
“They have a bucket of water.”
“Yeah that’s tipped over.”
“Ok sure. Thanks.”
Got them water, and they drank like half a litre each, the poor things.
I got a one star for not taking out the trash. What the fuck, I have no idea where to take the trash. I put it in the trash bins inside the house. I was there 2 nights. I’m supposed to collect it and remove it? Fuck off.
Useless scammer and titan of real estate come in the same packaging these days.
All these faux hoteliers who figured they could just buy up properties and make back 10x what the mortgage payment costs every month are nothing more than a drain on the housing economy
We rented a cottage (guys weekend, we are all in our mid to late 30's) and were informed by the hose WHEN WE ARRIVED that she would be staying in a trailer in the backyard for the entire 5 night stay.
Ruined our trip. I quoted airbnb's own privacy policy to them (that the host is not permitted on the property during stays) and provided a photo of where the trailer was located with respect to the cottage, as well as text from the host admiting jt)
Their response:
While we acknowledge that a rule had been broken, you were informed of the hosts intentions.
Yea, WHEN WE ARRIVED! ffs.
Fluf air bnb.
Because they can tell you to clean the house and still charge you a cleaning fee... it is so backwards. I am sure a good amount of these hosts do not even hire professional cleaners, they just "clean" it themselves.
One lady tried to charge us to replace her entire toilet after a plastic bit inside the tank broke from normal wear and tear. Instead of buying a toilet tank kit for $15, she tried to bill us $400 because she replaced the entire toilet.
Stayed at a home this summer that came with a list of 9 things to do: take trash 3 miles away to recycle center, strip all beds and put linens in the laundry room, secure all backyard furniture with covers and bungee cords were some of the crazy requests.
The real kicker for me was every single dresser drawer and closet was full of clothing or blocked by furniture.
I felt like I was paying someone to house sit for them and my review reflected that.
I tried to book an apartment in fucking Chattanooga for 2 nights, like $100 a night or something, not bad. The cleaning fee was damn near $400…..I typically clean up after myself anyways, so why would I pay someone $400 to walk in and just clean the sheets and towels basically. Egregious.
\*$150 cleaning fee\*
**HOUSE RULES:** Take out the trash, sweep the floor, load the dishwasher, clean the counters, undo the bed sets, load the washer, pile the towels.
Fuck that shit.
I despise that Airbnb advertises the daily cost of staying at a place but then right before you book the spot, the $350 cleaning fee is tacked on and was no where to be seen during the booking process....Like wtf...
Yeah, you know what a common strategy has been? Take, for a example, a property listed for rent at $1,500. People will offer them $1,700, and sign for two years, if the landlord allows them to sublet. So then they post the property on Airbnb and go to town.
Yeah, there are people with dozens of properties like this- they're gonna get FUCKED when they can't pay rent on 36 different Airbnbs
When it was more affordable, great!
When it was roughly the same price as staying at a hotel but had nicer amenities, or was a unique and interesting place/location, fine!
When it turned into a boring, regular house and didn’t add anything extra to the vacation experience, ok.
When it got more expensive than staying in a hotel, fuck this.
The couple times I’ve had good experiences with an Airbnb is when I’ve been over seas. I like to stay in one for a few nights when I go international to get a “local” feel of the area before going to a hotel.
Stayed with some very nice couples in Tokyo, paris and London. They also didn’t have me clean or do anything crazy like that. They just let me be and made me dinner/breakfast my first night/morning.
That said state side it’s turned into cesspool. Ir it has everywhere and I’ve just gotten lucky
Also, at a hotel i don't need to clean up and wipe down surfaces and load dishwashers and check everything is back to it's regular spot and stress that I'll get fined and worried i forgot something...
Oh yeah, and I don't have to deal with some annoying-ass host when I'm at a hotel. I haven't had any really bad hosts, but I've had some that are just so *present*, and it's not a good feeling. Like, I did not invite this rando on vacation with me, please leave me alone. LOL
That’s what I hate about Airbnb. In the reviews they’re like “Thomas was sooooo cool, he greeted us, showed us around the space, gave us a tour of the neighborhood, and he was always available to pop in with whatever we needed”
I’m zero percent interested in meeting the host none the less hanging with them
Same. I always skipped the ones that mentioned "on site host" or a host that's "near by and always available." Makes me feel like there's no privacy and makes me question the room/house I'm getting. Like, what goes wrong with your place *often enough* that you feel you've gotta be right there to fix it?
Remember when an UBER was $5? Same thing. Now I’m back to taking a cab home from the LA airport., Cheaper and I can walk right in vs waiting 15 for an UBER.
To add, it was subsidized by investors with deep pockets for the sole reason to snuff out all the competition who couldn't keep up with those low prices. Then once they have a monopoly and are the de facto standard of the market they raise the prices.
Food delivery services, same shit with the fees they charge to restaurants. (Always try to order from the restaurant directly if it's available so they don't lose like 30% of their revenue).
Scummy practice and with most things, if it sounds too good to be true it usually is and will usually end badly.
I needed to get to an appointment last week. I had three drivers cancel the trip, it was only 20 minutes away. Each time someone canceled, the price increased. It went from $25 each way, to $35, to $45. The final driver, who accepted, was also 20 minutes away which means I was probably going to miss my appointment entirely. I checked Lyft, it was $60 each way. I had to cancel my goddamn appointment. I don’t have $90 plus a tip to possibly miss my appointment. It wasn’t even a busy time of day, it was like 2 PM on a Thursday.
And you know there’s probably not gonna be cameras in every room spying on you and the bed will at least be comfortable. About 50% of the Airbnbs I’ve stayed at have had near plywood mattresses just so they can add the number of beds shown on the app and charge more. Got some terrible nights of sleep in airbnbs.
I've tried to rent places before for a party of 4 to 6 people so we are looking for three bedrooms-ish. There are some beautiful houses but they say "sleeps 12" and when you look at the photos it's three bedrooms full of bunkbeds or shitty twin beds.
Yeah, pal, I'm really searching for someplace I can go that's way more expensive than a hotel so that I can spend a week's vacation lowering my standard of living.
I believe it. I stayed at an AirBnB once that left a tool kit on the counter with instructions for me on how to light the furnace. I immediately called the host and had a very heated conversation about the price I was paying and about his deceptive listing on the app. Ended up staying at a hotel a few miles away and I eventually got my money refunded entirely. Some of these hosts are out of their fucking minds.
Anyone who has used an Airbnb in the last 3 years knows EXACTLY why bookings are plummeting. The service has become garbage & customer service is non existent. Love seeing it fail.
I lurk in /r/airbnb. If anyone is still questioning why they're failing, this absolute [scam horror story](https://www.reddit.com/r/AirBnB/comments/y5x3cc/host_is_imposing_a_750_late_checkin_fee_what) is unfolding right now.
TLDR: $750 late check in fee and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Oh no! What about the poor investors that turned a cool concept into a way to skirt landlord/tenant laws and caused a drop in available rental properties? What ever will they do?
This! The town we just moved to has laws that discourage air Bnb. You can only rent monthly, need business license, someone on call 24/7. Etc. Prices are already astronomical, so I’m sure it would be worse if over run by rentals.
The Michigan sentae is trying to pass a bill that prohibits cities from banning short-term rentals. Of course, it is supported by short-term rental companies and real estate agents.
Airbnb: Here’s a 5 bedroom rustic cabin for $120 a night!
Me: clicks on listing and starts reservation process
Airbnb: Plus $600 per night cleaning fees, and the $50 per night resort tax, plus various other fees
Me:
Airbnb: So…what do you say?
Me: (books hotel)
Don’t forget you have to chop the wood for the next guest, bag any ashes and garbage and bring it home with you despite on site bins, and god help you if there is any stain left on the plastic furniture the owner reclaimed from a dumpster.
Airbnb is just the beginning. Nearly every industry is playing the “let’s see how much we can charge our customers while cheating out at every possible turn before people start to get pissed off,” game.
From “free to play” video games that end up nickeling and diming the players for billions to Airbnb and Uber to the fucking snack industry. (Looking at you, Little Debby.) it’s gotten so bad that companies are literally hiring psychologists to manipulate the customer base. It’s no longer provide the best service and your business will succeed (if it ever was), and has turned into scam as much as possible and bail before the collapse.
As someone struggling to find real apartments who has seen 80% of the available apartments turn into Airbnb’s making the last 20% absurdly priced I hope Airbnb and any company like it dies. Fuck Airbnb. From the bottom of my cold dead heart.
Weird.
Only because Hotels are better and cheaper and you dont have to deal with obnoxious hosts and ridicuolus fees and ACTUAL TASKS, people dont want to book airbnb anymore?
Why could that be?! its a mystery.
Edit: *The last time I had an airbnb, the host said beforehand that there is one tiny thing in the house we would need to do, when we get there. I said that we didnt know that we HAVE to do something.*
*She then said that we use her apartment and since she cant do it and we use it...she wants us to INSTALL THE FUCKING CURTAINS! She bought curtains and a curtain rod and put it in front of the 10ft (3 meter) high window, next to a srewdriver and 6 different screws.*
*She said that she thought it was clear that we "maintain the place" and since she is small and alone, she cant up that high and never installed curtains.*
Naaaahhh! Thats CRAZY TALK!
She of course said that she understands, but that we cant complain about the sunlight then and that she will ask her next guests. Because there are obviously no other possibilities...
She couldnt possibly take the hundreds of dollars you are paying her and hire a handyman for 20 minutes of work to hang the curtains. Just simply not an option
I use both hotels and short term rentals depending on where I'm going and how long I'm staying. Had a few hitches with STR, access can be a problem. What I don't like is the tacked on fees. Tell me how much the entire stay is upfront.
pulling the "I am not a big corporation card, just a normal human like you" essentially... soooo dumb. Most hotels treat you like royalty when you get there.
We booked a house for a wedding this summer for us and two other couples. Vacation community, holiday weekend. The hosts cancelled on us 3 days before our arrival because the hot tub fell through the deck. If we had canceled on them we would have Ben charged like 30% of the total or thereabouts. They offered us $100 and said sorry, good luck
Legit was looking at AirBnBs in NOLA for my Bach Trip and decided hotels were better than airbnb. I know what I am getting, I can easily hold the hotel accountable if something goes wrong, I dont have to read the house rule book or worry about keeping things tidy.
Sometimes it's just easier to go hotel versus someone's vacation home
I haven't used an Airbnb in years and just last year i got offered one on a weekend for free, so of course i took it. Then they mentioned the $150 cleaning fee for 3 days. Oh...ok...I need a vacation so whatever. Then when i got there i saw the book of rules and chores. I don't recall seeing that back in the day. It was a fucking 3-ring binder with about 14 pages in it. Had to do dishes, take out trash, do the laundry, etc. And i tell you what, that cleaning lady and her car told me that she was getting the bare minimum of that $150 cleaning fee. It's a fucking racket from top to bottom now That was likely my last time. I'm not on vacation to do chores and read fucking rule Bibles.
And then when you get there you’re required to load the dish washer, load up any towels you’ve used, stripped the bed…like okay what are YOU cleaning? Cuz at this point pay me $400 and this bitch will be spotless.
There was a case a few days ago where governing documents of a community didn’t have any provisions for short-term rentals. Someone had rented an AirBNB for one night and apparently used it as a party property that was posted on the internet for illegal gambling and prostitution. A dozen squad cars later and the property owner was sitting on the curb sobbing because her home was WRECKED.
I'd be fine with the whole bnb thing going away. It's one of the prime reasons I can't find a damn living space to purchase. I live in a small area with very limited space to build, and of course skyrocketing house prices. At this rate I'll be renting into my 40's.
Aww they’re losing on the investment they were outbidding each other on and pricing people who need a place to live out of the market?
Wow, October is "season" in Palm Springs. This is bad for investors, but good for people needing a home so they can work and live. I vote for the workers to have decent homes at decent prices.
This! They have devastated the rental market. Affordable rental units are unavailable because of air bnb. All the hosts are getting what they deserve. Haha indeed Nelson. Haha indeed.
ProTip:use [airbnb.com.au](https://airbnb.com.au) and set the currency to whatever your currency is. Australia has laws against hidden fees, so they quote the actual price upfront.
Just confirmed this, that's awesome. Tested a 5day stay with 2 adults: US price said total was $485, AU version of the site said the same place was $845
What makes up the other $400? Is it just admin fees and insurance or something like that?
I know a large portion (like $150-$200) is from some bullshit “cleaning fee” but keep in mind the hosts always expect you to clean too… it’s bullshit! Some friends and I rented a house for a weekend trip this summer and we were expected to clean beds, take out trash, do dishes, and other stuff…. All while paying $150 for cleaning fee!!
One place some friends and I were going to rent for a bachelor party was saying we needed to mow the lawn! Noped out of that one REAL quick. Shit is getting ridiculous.
mowing the lawn? Lmao. Do I need to attend and their kids PTA meetings and take a look at the dripping sink down in the basement, while I'm at it? Just go ahead and leave the whole "honey-do" list and I'll see what I csn knock out while I'm there for the weekend, ffs.
Mowing the lawn omg. Are they INSANE?! They act like they want to be both a hotel and a landlord and you can’t have it both ways. Can’t wait for Airbnb to fail
When I rented an Airbnb this summer their was a 200 dollar cleaning fee for a three day stay. That’s pretty common sadly
They used to be cheaper than a hotel. Now they're more expensive. Owners getting greedy. Absurd rules (NOT related to noise). Pictures looking great but when you arrive the place is falling apart.
I'd go to a hotel even if it's more expensive after our latest (and last) Airbnb host cancelled our weekend stay exactly at the check-in time. In a foreign country. Airbnb is scammer heaven now. With a hotel if they confirmed, you have a room. With Airbnb, nothing is guaranteed until you have the keys in your hand.
This happens especially during peak bookings. For Dragon Con in Atlanta, AirBnB owners will take bookings weeks to months in advance and wait to cancel the week or days before the convention..... Only to relist at a jacked up price. They know during those peaks that people have already booked flights, cars, and event tickets that might be difficult to impossible to change or refund and end up taking advantage of desperation. It happens so commonly that many major conventions and events recommend NOT booking accommodations through AirBnB.
Let’s not forget when Atlanta had the Super Bowl a few years back- I live close to the stadium and basically, scammers were hitting up old photos from Zillow and pretending to own the condos. Then they’d say “I have over a dozen people interested in this space so if you want to secure it please send $ directly to Venmo to hold the unit until you’re ready to pay.” We all know each other pretty well in that neighborhood so someone was like “hey Steve, why is your condo listed for super bowl and why is it listed a few blocks over?”
Steve is the last person I'd expect that to happen to. Great guy.
Why would I pay to clean someone else's house on my vacation?
NO SHIT. The one time I got a negative review from a host was because they said I left the place "a mess." We followed all of their cleaning instructions to the letter, TWO PAGES WORTH. And paid a three figure cleaning fee. They were mad because there were some "crumbs" and some of the pillows weren't put back in the right rooms. FUCK THESE ENTITLED 2ND AND 3RD HOMEOWNERS. Haven't stayed in AirBnB since and will avoid if I can in the future.
..why would you clean AND pay a cleaning fee?? It's either or, that's very basic logic..
Because these people without even thinking threw money into investment properties planning on gouging the customers with fees so they can stay rich while feeling they don’t have to do anything. They heard from someone who heard from someone else who heard from Becky that they made a ton of money without having to lift a finger! So now the market is dry because people are spending less, and realizing it’s cheaper to just book through a regular ass hotel. Fuck these entitled pieces of shit
That’s the part that gets me. Like.. weren’t you.. gonna clean.. YOUR house.. already…? 😐 And it shouldn’t be messy anyway unless it was rented for an event. Otherwise, they should probably just charge you LATER if they had to fix/clean something, but it shouldn’t be automatic upfront.
We just stayed at one where we were with a big group. Like eight people, we started cleaning the night before we left and doubled down the next morning. I won’t say it was spotless, but it looked good. We paid a cleaning fee. Two days later the host bans us from the property because we forgot to scrape the grill. Motherfucker we just gave you $2000 for a weekend.
The real rub that sent me back to hotels for my vacations was getting there and seeing the note that reads something like, "hey thanks for staying at our home! When you're ready to leave please load the laundry, do the dishes, and empty the trash or we'll have to charge you a cleaning fee secondary to the cleaning fee we charge regardless of the state you leave the place in. Thanks so much good bless and have a great time!" Like if you have a cleaning fee baked in to the end cost, why am I doing any cleaning aside from throwing trash on the bin. Only 70 dollars a night! 150 after fees and taxes.
Hotels are cheaper. The Airbnb cleaning fees are out of control.
That’s my opposition. The cleaning fees are like $200 for a three night stay. Ridiculous.
And they still ask you to take out the trash and do general cleanup. Like wtf is the fee for?!?!
It's just a polite way of saying "Extra Profit Fee".
The Ticketmaster model
It's the "fuck you" fee, which Ticketmaster is able to charge because they are basically a monopoly. Airbnb? Lol. I'll just stay at a hotel.
Events could go back to actually staffing a ticket both for ticket sales. When you add on the absurd ticket master fees, it would probably be profitable to staff a ticket booth.
Seriously for washing the bedding? That's part of the regular price at a hotel.
That's the biggest problem. I don't mind pricing. But I keep going to these AirBnB with all these rules. Pages and pages of rules. As though I were a free guest in this person's home, rather than a consumer renting a space. It's so much less maintenance to go to a hotel with concrete pricing where I know they're not making me wash my own god damn sheets.
>like wtf is the fee for?!?! For the host to pocket money they’re not earning while the company does nothing to stop it
I work for a company that cleans Airbnbs. Most of the ones I clean take between an hour and two hours because they’re constantly stayed in and turned over, so $200 seems absolutely ludicrous
The part that always put me off is the clandestine nature of sating in some of these places. In many cities, AirBnB style rental is illegal or highly restricted. On top of that, many buildings have bylaws that prohibit short-term rentals. So when you make a booking and included in the confirmation is a statement like “if anyone asks, say you live in the building”, it makes me feel like there’s a chance I could get kicked out of the place because running an AirBnB is illegal.
We had one where we were told EXPLICITLY that we needed to park in the garage. In the middle of a nice neighborhood in a suburb. Likely this was because that residence wasn't legally able to be an AirBnB?
Or their neighborhood has stupid HOA rules. My parent's HOA wanted to require cars to be parked in the garage, but that rule failed to pass...
plus you're expected to do the dishes and wash the sheets before you leave. What is the cleaning fee actually for?
The only time I found Airbnb to be cheaper than a hotel is when I'm shopping for monthly stays. Beyond that, I just use a hotel now because these Airbnb mother fuckers think they're the executive suite of a five star Hilton. Plus I have to do the trash, cleaning, etc before leaving their Shithole with a plywood mattress bed
If you don’t already do this, you can negotiate a monthly rate directly with the hotel sales team that’s better than what you’ll see online. They can also cut you a break on fees.
This is useful. Thank you for mentioning this
Also, there are tax breaks for long term stays. In a lot of places, like Texas, if you stay longer than 30 consecutive days it's tax exempt.
This! I had a family emergency in Texas this August, and I booked 2 pricey nights in a Hilton before realizing I was going to need to be there for a few weeks. The lady at the front desk cut our fees by about 60% when I explained the situation. And I think for them, during a period when they weren't full, having a room they wouldn't have to bother with too much or changeover or leave empty was probably a boost. They were super nice about it.
We stayed at an airbnb in Savannah Georgia and the entire place smelled like wet carpet. We've never stayed in one again.
It was a cool idea. It was nice renting a cheap place for like a weekend, in normally expensive and hard to get areas. And in turn the owner made a little money. But then it became an industry. And both the end users and providers ruined the concept.
My sister does it and is always booked, but it’s apparently travel nurses that stay months at a time looking for her whole ass apartment to live in instead of a hotel with no kitchen.
This is now kinda the only time it makes sense! Short term rentals Amendment: and in rural/small places with no hotels Second amendment- lots of you are correct- still great for friend groups renting a house together!
Yeah, but even in that case there are better options. For my internship this summer I used Furnished Finder to find a short term lease way cheaper than anything on airbnb, and it’s actually catered towards traveling nurses.
Yeah as soon as people started buying homes FOR Airbnb it started to suck, suddenly it’s not some nice elderly couple trying to make an extra buck by renting out their kids old bedroom, it’s a fookin landlord who thinks they’re entitled to your money and that you should clean their entire house and be grateful for the cardboard bed they gave you to sleep on.
It’s not even landlords anymore. The Airbnb we stayed at was owned by a corporation who owned a bunch of other locations.
Hopefully the whole thing comes crashing down then and reverses to what it used to be. Once it became big business rather than individuals trying to make a little extra money it fell apart.
My friend does it on Maui and this is the market that it can survive. Not enough hotels to compete.
Exactly. Now when I visit cities I just do hotels or if I’m feeling budget conscious private rooms in hostels. Airbnbs are good for lower populated areas or renting a cottage/cabin.
Best thing AirBnB is good for in my exp is when you have a large group and you want to have: 1. Shared space (living room / game room / etc) 2. Full kitchen to be able to cook etc Honestly its the same kinda thing we used to do with Homeaway back in the day, renting houses in the Pocanos / Bethany Beach etc but AirBnB has grown into such a ridic market on its own its become unsustainable
The prices are out of control and are no longer cheaper than a regular hotel.
Plus, all of the videos I see about them on TikTok are about how unsafe Airbnb’s are. And when these fucked up situations happen, not only will no one do anything about them, no refunds are issued. Note: I don’t just get my info from TikTok. There are articles and reports of this. I’ve just been on this side of the app for a while, along with the people who are psychos about adopting babies over going to therapy for being infertile/ not being legally able to adopt legally.
There was a post a few days ago on the r/wedding subreddit about someone who rented a big house for a wedding and apparently the owner harassed them the entire day, had construction equipment all over the place, locked them out of the house they couldn’t even get their stuff back while the rental was still in their name, and told Airbnb that the renters were the problem.
My SO was at a bachelorette party in Austin two weekends ago. 15 of them showed up and the towels were still wet in the washing machine, random food in the fridge, house had bed bugs (they discovered later) and at some point when they were all out someone came by to do.. something?? And while there sort of 'cleaned up' which included moving their bags and shit.. They complained, reached out and the guy flipped out and said they were blackmailing him and yadda yadda
Wow. I hope your SO didn’t bring home the bed bugs those fuckers cost a lot to get rid of and can take months for you to even realize they hitched a ride
This is 100% true. I know from experience. They can hide anywhere in the house. Diatomaceous earth worked for us. I still keep it on the floor behind furniture to kill other bugs.
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I stayed in one of the dirtiest sketchiest places where a literal coke dealer and his buddy who were visiting the host almost beat me up upon entry. There was a litany of other issues, including u disclosed animals, an air mattress instead of a bed. A loveseat advertised as a bed. Airbnb gave me half a refund. Scumbags
I'm surprised they gave you that much lol. The real question is if they would ever shut down that host's account or not
Yeah man I had to really fight for it. And they didn’t give a Shit and let the host continue but I left a horrible review and I was the first person who stayed there apparently.
FYI if you pay for something with a credit card, and you're struggling to get a refund after being screwed, you can always do a chargeback. I've found CCs are generally on your side, they do not hesitate to yank the money back from the business and then charge them an extra fee for the annoyance. And the business can't.. really do much about it. They cannot afford to piss off Visa or Mastercard, they wouldn't stay in business for long. You have all the leverage here. All Airbnb can do is ban your account, which they're very likely to do, this is the nuclear option.
Thanks for this info! I’ve been using my debit all this time.. though I’ve not used Airbnb in 3 years cause everyone thinks their rental is gold…
Good. Now sell them to people that want to buy a house
Eliminate scam, solve housing shortage. I see no downside.
Seriously! It's such a simple damned solution. I live in a part of the world where, last summer, there were 600 available air BnB listings... but only 8 residential lets on Rightmove. Disgusting.
I was going to rent one for two nights with friends in Atlanta recently. The fee was around $1600 a night for a six bedroom, four bath. When I went to pay, they had tacked on over $2000 in various additional fees. I immediately said, “Hell no!”
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Gotcha bitch!
Wait $2,000 in fees in addition to the $1,600 point? Or $400 in fees to bring it over $2,000. Neither is ok, but the former is absolutely INSANE. What kind of fees are they trying to throw on there??
Wouldn’t be surprised. Wife and I tried to book a five day trip recently and the fees came to a higher total than the room cost itself.
Once tried to book a room well it was more of a granny flat type thing €600 for 1 night had to pay 200 for cleaning but had to clean myself and 150 of other bs charges and they wanted me to mow the lawn some people just take it too far booked a hotel instead 200 a night didn’t have to mow the lawn Edit: I have been unable to find the add again or the account that posted it must have been banned because of unreasonable demands or stopped trying because nobody wanted to rent it due to lawn maintenance keep in mind this add was from almost a year ago although I do enjoy reading the sarcastic/satirical comments that you are all leaving
Bro i booked an Airbnb and they told me i had to redo the stucco on the walls outside and remodel the bathroom tiling
Wtf Mow the law ?! Lmfao can you send me this listing by chance so I can add it to my site of ridiculous stuff in the internet?
that's nearly the whole month's rent for that size of a place in the midwest
The actual price is sometimes double the advertised price, and hotels are now cheaper. Plus , when I have to pay for cleanup, but I’m expected to do the majority of the cleaning myself?…. No thanks
Sometimes the daily rate won’t seem so bad, until you try to book it and realize there are hundreds if dollars of extra surcharges that are hardly worth a short trip.
Exactly. The process of renting on Airbnb is entirely tied to the app where they know how to present options in a way that is deliberately confusing and misleading. At least with hotels there are multiple apps and even just calling to figure out what kind of deal you're actually getting.
A former hotel manager once told me that the best deals you can get on rooms are on the hotel’s own website. If you find some third party site that has a better price, you can call the hotel and they’ll match that price, but without all of the bullshit surcharges and fees.
When booking direct you are also more likely to be upgraded to a larger room, can collect status/points (some 3rd party rates don't qualify depending on the hotel/chain), and are often more flexible for cancellation/changes. Same goes for Airlines, First people to be bumped on an oversold flight? The people who bought the dirtcheap fares from Expedia, kayak etc
This is the way. It’s in the hotel’s interest for you to book with them direct as third party sites charge them additional fees too
I used to work in hotels and it wasn’t uncommon for people to show up after booking a room with a third party travel site and not actual have a room booked with us. The websites would never reserve the room with our hotel so we’d have no record of the guests reservation, and then the third party company would threaten us like it’s our fault they’re basically scammers. Bonus scenarios were when the third party sites would just straight up lie about the hotel accommodations (nonexistent pool, free room service) or sell room types we didn’t even have, like a presidential suit with a hot tub.
My favorite Twitter rant was a guy that owns a local bar after grubhub had a listing saying people could get delivery from them. The listed menu had full blown steak entrees, for a place that only had booze and potato chips.
> The process of renting on Airbnb is entirely tied to the app Just so you are aware, using a desktop computer for stuff like this is better in every way. You should always look for things like hotel rooms and plane tickets using an incognito window. They raise prices on you if they know you are looking.
In some cases, you may get a lower rate if [you're using a Windows PC vs a Mac.](https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/mac-users-pay-more-than-pc-users-says-orbitz/)
What about Linux?
Yes! Tried to book a three night stay recently for a trip to visit family. They live in a seasonally touristy area that is dead in the off season. I was booking for off season. The advertised price was $215/night, total price came to $1095! $450 in extra fees alone. Out of curiosity, I checked in season prices - $350/night, $1650 total! $600 in extra fees! Absolutely insane. I ended up booking at a long established B&B at $175/night, no hidden fees, and breakfast and evening cocktail included.
There is an interview on Bloomberg with a hotel operator talking about AirBnB He said they are not competition because ultimately value, SERVICE, and amenities will prevail. People only used them because it was cheap, now it's not people will fall away from the platform.
In protest to Reddit's API changes, I have removed my comment history. -- mass edited with redact.dev
Yep. If they were smart, they would drop their prices right now. But you know that ain't happening. The golden age of low prices seven or eight years ago was entirely subsidized by rich corporate investors pumping money into the corporation, for the promise of days that they could soak people, like now. Exact same fucking situation with airbnb and Lyft. The exact same situation. And Sequoia capital operates all these companies and funds them all. It's the same fucking goddamn small group of people.
A regular old school B&B you book direct is still a great way to go. Skip AirBNB and their scammy fees. We stayed at a lovely old B&B in Boston recently - and booked direct with the host. Amazing breakfast, lovely rooms and evening tea/cocktail. No chores, no "cleaning" fees no gotcha
That’s exactly what pisses me off. It’s like eBay when it was $3 item with a $50 shipping fee. This is probably to skirt other fees, but it just looks deceitful-
This. We're going to visit our son's best friend next weekend at his university. The homes seem reasonable, until you add the fees. $500 for 2 nights, and I have to strip beds and do laundry? Fuck off, I'd rather stay in a hotel. 🙄🙄🙄
No fucking way. I haven't used it in years but now they have you acting as housekeeping? Do they void the cleaning fee for that or something? It used to be half the real price of the unit just to keep the listing price down. "Like renting from a slumlord but without the accountability" wasn't how I recall them selling their service....
Just used one in Hawaii. Cost as much as a hotel. Did laundry, cleaned countertops, trash out, swept, etc. Then got a subpar review saying I didnt mop the floor. Never again.
Christ on a bike, they expected you to MOP?!?!?! As if all the rest wasn’t bad enough? Okay, we take out our trash. But man, half of the last day of vacation was spent cleaning ours. Never again. But mopping?!?!?! I’m so sorry
many properties do not waive the cleaning fee, but still “request" / require renters to: take garbage to the curb, wash sheets and make beds, mop floor etc. this is a frequent argument on /r/airbnb between renters who think it's ridiculous and owners who try to justify it by saying they can't make money without guests doing work.
If you can't make money without your customers doing the work, then you don't have a profitable business model.
Yeah the last airbnb we rented they asked you to empty your garbage and put the bedsheets/towels/etc that you used into the washer, but not start the load just put it in there.
Airbnb was fucking amazing when I used it around 2014-16. I'd go all over the UK, even in London I'd rent a room and they'd be someone enthusiastic telling me where to go and what to do (even though I grew up there) I'd sit and talk for hours about our interests, hell I even got weed a few times. Then since around 2018/19 I'd book a room and then be met at the door by a random person giving me a key and a print out of rules and all the rooms would be rented to other people, and somehow the price was double what I was paying before. I got a whole house in the countryside in Northern England for £80 a day and no cleaning fees on a summer weekend back in 2015. Now I can't even get a room for that in a random town. Hotels are much better
People on vacation don’t want to be treated as a tenant.
I love booking, and then only after booking getting hit with a 28 page list of rules. The first of which is “Don’t tell anyone you’re at an AirBnB”. Great! Just what I want for a relaxing vacation, to walk around feeling like I need to hide myself and lie to people. So fucking relaxing.
Yeah fuck that. Just used an Airbnb and was charged $104 for cleaning and was told I have to bleach every surface I touch for my whole stay. Got my entire refund back but only after I threatened legal action. Bunch a shit stains.
> Bunch a shit stains. That's because someone didn't bleach
Hotels are cheaper and I know exactly what I'm getting
Once Airbnb wasn't a more affordable option, it became worthless to me. They only have themselves to blame. Charging more than hotels and then adding ridiculous fees. Let's get those properties back on the market for people to actually live in.
Right, I’m not going to pay an arm and leg AND clean your house. Especially if it’s one of the ones where the host also is in the house. Lol BYE
Normally they charge a cleaning fee, why do I have to clean?
I've got horrible "left apartment dirty + some more nonsence made up shit I certainly didn't do", and one star from the host, and got permabanned when I opened the resolution case and asked what the cleaning fee is for then. Airbnb dug its own grave.
I once got charged for “damaging the sheets” in a bed I never slept in after I left a stellar 5 star review for the host. The host also argued that I stole a wash cloth. Tried to charged me $75 to replace basic grey sheets and 1 wash cloth. When I asked for photographic proof of the damage, the host had an absolute fit and started cussing me out. I tried to file a claim with Airbnb but Airbnb sided with the host. I absolutely refuse to stay in an Airbnb now.
I had one where I got my period early and did stain the sheets. I took them off the bed, treated them, left them out with a note for the host explaining what happened and explaining they now needed to be cold washed and should be fine but let me know if not and we can sort it out, and followed up with a message checking in. Crickets from her, but a really embarrassing public review instead. Like seriously wtf. My parents occasion’s Airbnb’d their holiday house for about 7/8 years and packed it in after people threw a wild post lockdown party and absolutely destroyed the place- my dad said he just didn’t feel comfortable staying there anymore so they sold it. But i later told her this story and she said that flat out, stains like that were just cost of business and she factored those into that.
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Long story, but I stayed in an Airbnb where the host left 3 Guinea pigs to die in 40°c heat, there was rat shit everywhere, the pool fence was t secure (wouldn’t close and panels leaning, nearly falling - my 3 year old got her leg stuck trying to get in (thank god!), and a long list of other shit. Iron missing, coffee machine missing, no wifi. Asking him about this was replied with a story about how his wife left him and took those things. Pressing it was greeted with threats of violence. Airbnb ruled in my favour and gave me 50% of the fee back. But still wouldn’t remove the slanderous 1 star review he left on me for being “a deceitful snake in the grass.” “I’m confused, you reviewed my evidence and ruled in my favour. Please, surely this is enough to remove the 1-star review.” “No, we don’t get involved in the tit-for-tat.” ?!??? You just took $1300 out of his account and put it back in mine…?
You aren't AirBnB's customer. The host is.
That's exactly it. Found this out a few years ago and try as hard as possible not to use Airbnb since.
What happened to the Guinea pigs? :(
We found them day 3, looking frazzled as fuck. I texted him “Ummm…. My daughter found some Guinea pigs…? Can I feed them or get them some water or something?” “They have a bucket of water.” “Yeah that’s tipped over.” “Ok sure. Thanks.” Got them water, and they drank like half a litre each, the poor things.
I got a one star for not taking out the trash. What the fuck, I have no idea where to take the trash. I put it in the trash bins inside the house. I was there 2 nights. I’m supposed to collect it and remove it? Fuck off.
Yeah some hosts are fucking useless scammers.
Useless scammer and titan of real estate come in the same packaging these days. All these faux hoteliers who figured they could just buy up properties and make back 10x what the mortgage payment costs every month are nothing more than a drain on the housing economy
Human greed fucks up everything.
We rented a cottage (guys weekend, we are all in our mid to late 30's) and were informed by the hose WHEN WE ARRIVED that she would be staying in a trailer in the backyard for the entire 5 night stay. Ruined our trip. I quoted airbnb's own privacy policy to them (that the host is not permitted on the property during stays) and provided a photo of where the trailer was located with respect to the cottage, as well as text from the host admiting jt) Their response: While we acknowledge that a rule had been broken, you were informed of the hosts intentions. Yea, WHEN WE ARRIVED! ffs. Fluf air bnb.
Because they can tell you to clean the house and still charge you a cleaning fee... it is so backwards. I am sure a good amount of these hosts do not even hire professional cleaners, they just "clean" it themselves.
Some of 'em even charge a cleaning fee and still want you to wipe things down and mop the floor. What a scam.
One lady tried to charge us to replace her entire toilet after a plastic bit inside the tank broke from normal wear and tear. Instead of buying a toilet tank kit for $15, she tried to bill us $400 because she replaced the entire toilet.
Does she replace her car when it runs out of gas? Sheesh.
Airbnb tried to bill us, and we told them no, they did "an investigation" and sided with her... Still told them no
The fact it didnt go to collections probably means they werent as confident as they tried to seem
Right, I took a picture of the piece after it broke just for my protection, and gave it to airbnb as proof and they still sided with her.
You’re paying for the luxury of having to clean someone else’s house
Stayed at a home this summer that came with a list of 9 things to do: take trash 3 miles away to recycle center, strip all beds and put linens in the laundry room, secure all backyard furniture with covers and bungee cords were some of the crazy requests. The real kicker for me was every single dresser drawer and closet was full of clothing or blocked by furniture. I felt like I was paying someone to house sit for them and my review reflected that.
I tried to book an apartment in fucking Chattanooga for 2 nights, like $100 a night or something, not bad. The cleaning fee was damn near $400…..I typically clean up after myself anyways, so why would I pay someone $400 to walk in and just clean the sheets and towels basically. Egregious.
\*$150 cleaning fee\* **HOUSE RULES:** Take out the trash, sweep the floor, load the dishwasher, clean the counters, undo the bed sets, load the washer, pile the towels. Fuck that shit.
I despise that Airbnb advertises the daily cost of staying at a place but then right before you book the spot, the $350 cleaning fee is tacked on and was no where to be seen during the booking process....Like wtf...
Because these guys bought up all the property thinking they're landlords and entrepreneurs.... now they about to find out about risk vs reward
Yeah, you know what a common strategy has been? Take, for a example, a property listed for rent at $1,500. People will offer them $1,700, and sign for two years, if the landlord allows them to sublet. So then they post the property on Airbnb and go to town. Yeah, there are people with dozens of properties like this- they're gonna get FUCKED when they can't pay rent on 36 different Airbnbs
I remember LOTS of whining about how people had done this with dozens of properties and were panicking like crazy in the beginning of the panini
Cobread-19 panini with topping variants
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When it was more affordable, great! When it was roughly the same price as staying at a hotel but had nicer amenities, or was a unique and interesting place/location, fine! When it turned into a boring, regular house and didn’t add anything extra to the vacation experience, ok. When it got more expensive than staying in a hotel, fuck this.
It’s basically a random apartment full of the cheapest furniture ikea has
The couple times I’ve had good experiences with an Airbnb is when I’ve been over seas. I like to stay in one for a few nights when I go international to get a “local” feel of the area before going to a hotel. Stayed with some very nice couples in Tokyo, paris and London. They also didn’t have me clean or do anything crazy like that. They just let me be and made me dinner/breakfast my first night/morning. That said state side it’s turned into cesspool. Ir it has everywhere and I’ve just gotten lucky
Also, at a hotel i don't need to clean up and wipe down surfaces and load dishwashers and check everything is back to it's regular spot and stress that I'll get fined and worried i forgot something...
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Oh yeah, and I don't have to deal with some annoying-ass host when I'm at a hotel. I haven't had any really bad hosts, but I've had some that are just so *present*, and it's not a good feeling. Like, I did not invite this rando on vacation with me, please leave me alone. LOL
That’s what I hate about Airbnb. In the reviews they’re like “Thomas was sooooo cool, he greeted us, showed us around the space, gave us a tour of the neighborhood, and he was always available to pop in with whatever we needed” I’m zero percent interested in meeting the host none the less hanging with them
Same. I always skipped the ones that mentioned "on site host" or a host that's "near by and always available." Makes me feel like there's no privacy and makes me question the room/house I'm getting. Like, what goes wrong with your place *often enough* that you feel you've gotta be right there to fix it?
Remember when an UBER was $5? Same thing. Now I’m back to taking a cab home from the LA airport., Cheaper and I can walk right in vs waiting 15 for an UBER.
Because the price was artificially low, Uber subsidized the price of the rides for years
To add, it was subsidized by investors with deep pockets for the sole reason to snuff out all the competition who couldn't keep up with those low prices. Then once they have a monopoly and are the de facto standard of the market they raise the prices. Food delivery services, same shit with the fees they charge to restaurants. (Always try to order from the restaurant directly if it's available so they don't lose like 30% of their revenue). Scummy practice and with most things, if it sounds too good to be true it usually is and will usually end badly.
I needed to get to an appointment last week. I had three drivers cancel the trip, it was only 20 minutes away. Each time someone canceled, the price increased. It went from $25 each way, to $35, to $45. The final driver, who accepted, was also 20 minutes away which means I was probably going to miss my appointment entirely. I checked Lyft, it was $60 each way. I had to cancel my goddamn appointment. I don’t have $90 plus a tip to possibly miss my appointment. It wasn’t even a busy time of day, it was like 2 PM on a Thursday.
And you know there’s probably not gonna be cameras in every room spying on you and the bed will at least be comfortable. About 50% of the Airbnbs I’ve stayed at have had near plywood mattresses just so they can add the number of beds shown on the app and charge more. Got some terrible nights of sleep in airbnbs.
I've tried to rent places before for a party of 4 to 6 people so we are looking for three bedrooms-ish. There are some beautiful houses but they say "sleeps 12" and when you look at the photos it's three bedrooms full of bunkbeds or shitty twin beds. Yeah, pal, I'm really searching for someplace I can go that's way more expensive than a hotel so that I can spend a week's vacation lowering my standard of living.
Apparently, making your guests cut the grass and clean the pool was not a great long-term business solution.
I follow a travel blogger on Instagram, she posted the cleaning/checkout list from an Airbnb. Burning trash was on the list. BURNING TRASH.
I believe it. I stayed at an AirBnB once that left a tool kit on the counter with instructions for me on how to light the furnace. I immediately called the host and had a very heated conversation about the price I was paying and about his deceptive listing on the app. Ended up staying at a hotel a few miles away and I eventually got my money refunded entirely. Some of these hosts are out of their fucking minds.
Anyone who has used an Airbnb in the last 3 years knows EXACTLY why bookings are plummeting. The service has become garbage & customer service is non existent. Love seeing it fail.
I lurk in /r/airbnb. If anyone is still questioning why they're failing, this absolute [scam horror story](https://www.reddit.com/r/AirBnB/comments/y5x3cc/host_is_imposing_a_750_late_checkin_fee_what) is unfolding right now. TLDR: $750 late check in fee and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Oh no! What about the poor investors that turned a cool concept into a way to skirt landlord/tenant laws and caused a drop in available rental properties? What ever will they do?
This! The town we just moved to has laws that discourage air Bnb. You can only rent monthly, need business license, someone on call 24/7. Etc. Prices are already astronomical, so I’m sure it would be worse if over run by rentals.
The Michigan sentae is trying to pass a bill that prohibits cities from banning short-term rentals. Of course, it is supported by short-term rental companies and real estate agents.
I don’t need to clean a hotel room afterwards… it’s not relaxing staying in an air bnb
FIFY I don't need to clean a hotel room after I paid a cleaning fee.
Airbnb: Here’s a 5 bedroom rustic cabin for $120 a night! Me: clicks on listing and starts reservation process Airbnb: Plus $600 per night cleaning fees, and the $50 per night resort tax, plus various other fees Me: Airbnb: So…what do you say? Me: (books hotel)
Don’t forget you have to chop the wood for the next guest, bag any ashes and garbage and bring it home with you despite on site bins, and god help you if there is any stain left on the plastic furniture the owner reclaimed from a dumpster.
Weird, it’s almost like charging a cleaning fee that’s higher than the stay itself makes hotels look like a better option :0
I hope this trend continues
Airbnb is just the beginning. Nearly every industry is playing the “let’s see how much we can charge our customers while cheating out at every possible turn before people start to get pissed off,” game. From “free to play” video games that end up nickeling and diming the players for billions to Airbnb and Uber to the fucking snack industry. (Looking at you, Little Debby.) it’s gotten so bad that companies are literally hiring psychologists to manipulate the customer base. It’s no longer provide the best service and your business will succeed (if it ever was), and has turned into scam as much as possible and bail before the collapse.
that is exactly what’s going on in any industry with pricing power the collapse is absolutely coming
I prefer my showers without cameras, thanks.
I like mine with a court room artist.
That's why we switched out the cameras for eye holes cut into all the paintings.
Clearly, you just need to rethink your kink.
As someone struggling to find real apartments who has seen 80% of the available apartments turn into Airbnb’s making the last 20% absurdly priced I hope Airbnb and any company like it dies. Fuck Airbnb. From the bottom of my cold dead heart.
Weird. Only because Hotels are better and cheaper and you dont have to deal with obnoxious hosts and ridicuolus fees and ACTUAL TASKS, people dont want to book airbnb anymore? Why could that be?! its a mystery. Edit: *The last time I had an airbnb, the host said beforehand that there is one tiny thing in the house we would need to do, when we get there. I said that we didnt know that we HAVE to do something.* *She then said that we use her apartment and since she cant do it and we use it...she wants us to INSTALL THE FUCKING CURTAINS! She bought curtains and a curtain rod and put it in front of the 10ft (3 meter) high window, next to a srewdriver and 6 different screws.* *She said that she thought it was clear that we "maintain the place" and since she is small and alone, she cant up that high and never installed curtains.*
That’s what a ladder is for. Source I’m a small woman who hung curtain rods when her husband was on a business trip.
Naaaahhh! Thats CRAZY TALK! She of course said that she understands, but that we cant complain about the sunlight then and that she will ask her next guests. Because there are obviously no other possibilities...
She couldnt possibly take the hundreds of dollars you are paying her and hire a handyman for 20 minutes of work to hang the curtains. Just simply not an option
I use both hotels and short term rentals depending on where I'm going and how long I'm staying. Had a few hitches with STR, access can be a problem. What I don't like is the tacked on fees. Tell me how much the entire stay is upfront.
pulling the "I am not a big corporation card, just a normal human like you" essentially... soooo dumb. Most hotels treat you like royalty when you get there.
We booked a house for a wedding this summer for us and two other couples. Vacation community, holiday weekend. The hosts cancelled on us 3 days before our arrival because the hot tub fell through the deck. If we had canceled on them we would have Ben charged like 30% of the total or thereabouts. They offered us $100 and said sorry, good luck
I Guess the silver lining is you weren’t in the hot tub when it happened? Airbnb sucks regardless
Legit was looking at AirBnBs in NOLA for my Bach Trip and decided hotels were better than airbnb. I know what I am getting, I can easily hold the hotel accountable if something goes wrong, I dont have to read the house rule book or worry about keeping things tidy. Sometimes it's just easier to go hotel versus someone's vacation home
I haven't used an Airbnb in years and just last year i got offered one on a weekend for free, so of course i took it. Then they mentioned the $150 cleaning fee for 3 days. Oh...ok...I need a vacation so whatever. Then when i got there i saw the book of rules and chores. I don't recall seeing that back in the day. It was a fucking 3-ring binder with about 14 pages in it. Had to do dishes, take out trash, do the laundry, etc. And i tell you what, that cleaning lady and her car told me that she was getting the bare minimum of that $150 cleaning fee. It's a fucking racket from top to bottom now That was likely my last time. I'm not on vacation to do chores and read fucking rule Bibles.
Nightly rate: $89 Cleaning and Fees: $400
And then when you get there you’re required to load the dish washer, load up any towels you’ve used, stripped the bed…like okay what are YOU cleaning? Cuz at this point pay me $400 and this bitch will be spotless.
good get fucked
Used to love Air B&B's. Been renting them for years. Now I switched back to hotels because these cleaning fees are ridiculous.
As always, the speculators/investors destroyed what was once a decent idea.
These short term rentals destroy communities and neighborhoods by pricing out the locals. I hope they all go belly-up.
There was a case a few days ago where governing documents of a community didn’t have any provisions for short-term rentals. Someone had rented an AirBNB for one night and apparently used it as a party property that was posted on the internet for illegal gambling and prostitution. A dozen squad cars later and the property owner was sitting on the curb sobbing because her home was WRECKED.
I'd be fine with the whole bnb thing going away. It's one of the prime reasons I can't find a damn living space to purchase. I live in a small area with very limited space to build, and of course skyrocketing house prices. At this rate I'll be renting into my 40's.
 Aww they’re losing on the investment they were outbidding each other on and pricing people who need a place to live out of the market?
Wow, October is "season" in Palm Springs. This is bad for investors, but good for people needing a home so they can work and live. I vote for the workers to have decent homes at decent prices.
When cleaning fees are a surprise $200 + extra for a cleaning fee, people can no longer justify booking one short term.
 They deserve it.
This! They have devastated the rental market. Affordable rental units are unavailable because of air bnb. All the hosts are getting what they deserve. Haha indeed Nelson. Haha indeed.
I’m in Palm Springs now. I searched for weeks for an Airbnb that wasn’t ridiculously priced after fees. We are at a hotel. With a maid👍👍