Most people hate Airbnb cleaning fees and feel even worse paying it when the host also requires you to do some cleaning before you go.
Plenty of people in that situation ask themselves, “Why am I cleaning if I’m already paying for this service?”
This Airbnb host took “leave the home clean at checkout” to a whole new level.
In a viral video with more than 2.2 million views, Fallon (@fallon.ris) shared that she stayed at an Airbnb with a pretty unreasonable cleaning request.
A strange request
Most places will ask you to leave the place how you found it and maybe leave sheets and towels in a certain spot or for the fridge to be empty.
However, this host asked Fallon and her friends to take out the trash—wait for it—six miles away from the house.
In the TikTok, one of Fallon’s friends is seen driving an SUV, and each passenger is holding a large garbage bag out of the window. They seem to have three bags of trash (one which appears to hold a Bud Light keg), but it might be more, given that Fallon, who’s behind them in another car, might also be lugging trash bags.
Now, the technique is smart. No one wants bags of trash sitting in the car, stinking it up, and potentially getting fluids all over the place.
The real issue is that they even had to do this in the first place. It seems reasonable to ask guests to take the trash to a curbside trash can, but all the way to a secondary location miles away? To Fallon, it seems that’s asking for too much.
@fallon.ris Boopas car has earrings #airbnb ♬ original sound – Brooke & Connor Make a Podcast
Controversial cleaning fees
Airbnb cleaning fees are controversial among some because of the sheer cost. While Airbnb told NerdWallet that, on average, these fees average to less than 10% of the total reservation cost, NerdWallet found that they actually tend to amount to about 25% of the total price.
On some listings, the cleaning fee was even higher than the nightly rate.
Part of the frustration is how the fees are displayed. It used to be that you’d just see the nightly rate as you searched listings and only see the fee once you clicked on the listing. It could be that what looks like a cheaply priced room that you’re excited about has a high cleaning fee that puts you over budget.
To circumvent this, Airbnb now allows you to see the all-in pricing of a listing versus just the nightly cost. People who are used to hotels are also likely taken aback to see the fee on its own since it’s usually wrapped into the nightly rate.
NerdWallet also found that the medium cleaning fee for a one-night listing was $75. It usually costs more to clean an Airbnb versus a hotel room because they aren’t able to take advantage of the economies of scale (like how it’s cheaper per unit to buy items in bulk).
In a 2021 memo, Airbnb advised hosts to only charge the actual cost of cleaning instead of trying to make a profit on the expense.
Viewers weigh in
People in the comments section had a lot to say about Fallon’s trash journey.
“Don’t be shy drop the air bnb so nobody else has to do this,” a top comment read.
“You know who doesn’t make you lug your trash 6 miles? A hotel,” a person said.
“If that’s not in the description before I book I’m not doing it,” another added.
“Cleaning fee is $300 too,” a commenter speculated.
The Daily Dot reached out to Fallon for comment via Instagram direct message and to Airbnb via email.
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