There are a few known enemies in this world. Batman and the Joker. Taylor Swift and Kanye West. And Airbnb guests and housecleaners.
Guests are often upset with cleaning fees that trend upward of $500 dollars.
An ultimate showdown took place when an Airbnb house cleaner arrived to find guests who were late checking out. In Regina’s (@thebabybestie) now-deleted TikTok video, which by Wednesday had been viewed more than 4.4 million times, she waited in her car for 45 minutes.
The Daily Dot reached out to @thebabybestie via TikTok comment. Airbnb declined to comment for this article.
“I arrived at 10:05am to find guests still at the cabin. Happy to wait a few minutes. But… check out is 10am,” the TikToker wrote in the text overlay for the video.
Eventually, a few minutes turned into 25. “No one is responding, so I was told to go knock on the door. This is so awkward,” Regina said as she began walking up the driveway of the cabin.
“Keep in mind we often clean more than one cabin in a small amount of time,” Regina shared. “They were in their pajamas and said they needed to pack up still.”
To help kill the time, Regina gave viewers updates on her late guests—and proceeded to roast them in the process. “10:33, first sign of movement,” she said.
At 10:40am, the guests began loading up their cars. By 10:45, almost an hour past checkout, they were finally gone. “Thank you for having me sit here for 45 minutes and waste my baby’s nap time,” she said.
The roast was only just getting started. She went throughout the house and commented on how they left the place. There were a few things out of the ordinary, like water left in the bathtub and trash cans moved beside the beds.
“You know it was a good time when there’s a trash can next to where they were sleeping,” Regina observed.
She moved to the kitchen where she found two cups and two spoons in the sink. “Can’t wait to wash those,” Regina said.
Finally, she showed the dirt that came off her rag from cleaning the inside of the hot tub. “Yuck,” she said before ending her viral post with this: “Please be considerate of others’ time. Thank you!”
Unfortunately for Regina, she didn’t get the response she wanted. The majority of viewers saw her as less as Regina the poor housecleaner and more like Regina George from Mean Girls.
“10 am is way too early. These Airbnb need to make it 11 or 12 like hotels. I understand the cleaning but higher more help,” one user wrote.
“The audacity to complain about 3 spoons in the sink when you know DAMN WELL you charged these people $150 cleaning fee,” another person commented.
In June 2022, a Nerdwallet analysis of 1,000 reservations in 2022 or 2023 found that the average cleaning fee for a one-night Airbnb stay was $75.
Following complaints from customers and even hosts, Airbnb rolled out a toggle in November that makes cleaning fees more transparent. Now, users have the option for search results to show the total price, which includes all fees. Those who don’t opt into this new feature will only see the nightly rates.
Regardless, many believe that Regina’s stance and Airbnb cleaning fees are a problem.
“They left it very clean. Confused with your judgement to them?” observed another.
Viewers were also upset that she showed up 5 minutes past checkout. “You being there 5 minutes after they’re supposed to check out is ceazy,” a user commented.
Some believe she’s done a good job of driving business away from Airbnb.
“Thank you for reminding me TO NEVER stay at an Airbnb. Ughhhhh,” wrote a commenter.
Based on the comments, it’s clear to see that Regina’s video backfired. However, some users could understand why Regina was upset about the guests being late.
“I agree with you I used to clean holiday lets/air bnbs and they all typically have the same check out check in at 2 o clock so it means you have to rush to get all of them done by 2 if someone is late checking out!” one wrote.
She also received some sympathy from fellow house cleaners: “Pro cleaner here! I feel you,” one commenter wrote. “Even being behind by 15 minutes can screw your whole day up!”
