No more housework...Airbnb's new rules spark a rift between hosts and guests

- Airbnb has revised its rules to reduce the tasks a host can expect a guest to complete at the end of their stay, after customers complained to the company about unclear house rules and burdensome demands imposed by hosts. This means that washing dishes and removing bed covers have officially been removed from the check-out to-do list, along with other chores.

Hosts can set ground rules around maximum guest numbers, quiet hours, and pets, as well as specify how keys will be returned and whether guests are allowed to hold events or organize commercial photo shoots. Airbnb said that in the rare case you have an additional request related to your home, you can add it as a request, but stressed that these requests must be reasonable.

Hosts are prohibited from imposing fines, and are not allowed to require guests to sign any contract separate from the one they agreed to through Airbnb when booking, except in limited circumstances. Reactions from Airbnb hosts and their guests to this news were very mixed on social media.

“Airbnb has issued some rules that are like, 'You have to treat people who use your properties as guests, not servants,'” one guest said. “I understand that you're on vacation and maybe you don't want to do some things, but most of the requests that good hosts make are actually reasonable, which is to be a considerate guest,” one flight attendant explained.