Airbnb’s cleaning fees are a major point of contention amongst people using the site. While hosts can understandably charge a cleaning fee, some also expect guests to do substantial cleanup work themselves, occasionally giving them a list of chores they must complete before leaving the rental.
TikTok user Tenille (@prettybully23) recently shared a similar complaint to viral success, beginning a several video-long series in which she complains about a recent Airbnb experience.
“[The host] is like, ‘Make sure you take out the garbage,’ even though he claims a maid is coming,” Tenille explains. The place to dispose of the garbage, Tenille reveals, is down and then up several flights of stairs. The cleaning fee for the rental, Tenille says, was $75.
Her initial video on the topic currently has over 1.8 million views as of Monday morning.
@prettybully23 Replying to @Kathy Rivas I usually have great stays with airbnb but this host was so petty. #greenscreen ♬ original sound – Tenille
By the end of the video, Tenille questions why she has to pay such a fee in the first place, given that she’s left the apartment “spic and span.”
“The only thing is that the bed has to be made,” she says. “Every other part of the condo is literally spic and span. So what exactly am I paying $75 for?”
In a follow-up video, Tenille claims that the host messaged her after checkout regardless, saying that the cleaning lady said she stayed past her checkout time and that she stole a bottle of wine, claims which Tenille denies.
@prettybully23 Good thing I record everything! These airbnb hosts are greedy. My airbnb host is lying and acussing me of stealing and leaving late. Ridiculous. #greenscreen ♬ original sound – Tenille
In this video, Tenille shows some of the host’s rules that she regards as strange. For example, the apartment has a 10pm curfew—which means, according to her, that the apartment cannot be entered after 10pm.
From there, Tenille addresses the allegations made against her by the host. First, she says she checked out at the appropriate time but forgot her charger. She returned past checkout and knocked on the door to see if the cleaning person was there and could let her in but, seeing as she wasn’t, she let herself in, grabbed her charger, and left.
Only upon leaving did she encounter the cleaning lady, with whom she had a brief conversation.
As for the wine-theft allegations, Tenille says that the host left chocolates on the pillows of the bed as well as a bottle of wine on the kitchen table with two glasses and a welcome note. Naturally, Tenille says, she assumed that they came with the room and that she was within her rights to consume them.
Tenille then posted a third video saying that Airbnb had reached out to her, despite her not reaching out to them in the first place.
@prettybully23 Replying to @Miranda ♬ original sound – Tenille
In this video, Tenille also speculates that the cleaning lady was overcharging the host and potentially lying about the number of hours she spent cleaning the room.
Commenters were quick to share their Airbnb complaints.
“Why do y’all still use airbnbs instead of hotels ?” a user asked.
“This is why I stick the oldie but goodie hotels on vacation. Airbnb and their hosts ask too much for those prices,” added another.
“I has this happen to me. tried to charge me for damages that was there when I got there. I took photos of everything when I arrived,” stated a third.
The Daily Dot reached out to Tenille and Airbnb via email.
Update 11:15am CT, August 4, 2023: In an email to the Daily Dot, an Airbnb spokesperson stated that the “guest and Host communicated and resolved the issues between themselves” and that the company “reached out to the guest to offer additional support if they so need it.”
