Hell hath no fury like an Airbnb guest forced to start the dishwasher and sweep the entire home before they leave. But don’t worry, because the vacation rental company released new rules that the hosts have to abide by, and they involve less of an emphasis on what hosts can demand of their guests at the end of their stay.
But when a couple on TikTok, whose account is called Restored by the Valks, aired their grievances in a video and read the new rules aloud, they shared their side of things. As in, they are not happy, and their feelings could be an indication of how other Airbnb hosts feel about the roll-out of new policies that are in favor of guests. And in the comments, anyone who has ever been stuck with an unexpected cleaning fee or added charge spoke up against the couple. Ope.
Some Airbnb hosts have some major cleaning rules in place for guests to follow.
Some of you will be happy to hear this: @Airbnb just stated that short term rental hosts can no longer have in their house rules to strip the bed, wash dishes, start a load of laundry, take out the trash, or anything else related to cleaning and sanitation. It’s created quite the uproar among hosts who are stating their cleaning fees will have to go up due to extra cleaning time required. The kicker is this: Airbnb takes 15.5% of the total cleaning fees and pockets the money. Is this a ploy for Airbnb to make more money?
— Justa (early) Retired Scientist (@PunkyCovfefe) October 21, 2026
If you have ever stayed in an Airbnb rental, then you know something about the rules each host has in place to ensure their next guests have a good time. Really, that’s what it boils down to. Well, that, and making sure the host has less to do when they prep the space for the next guest. Some hosts require that you take out the trash when you leave, which isn’t totally outrageous.
Others, however, require sweeping or vacuuming, loading and starting the dishwasher, starting a load of laundry with the bedding, and other things to make a cleaner’s or a host’s job easier when they re-enter the space to prep it. Apparently, guests heard the complaints. Per the Airbnb website, rules in place now prohibit hosts from requesting that guests perform chores that a professional cleaner would instead typically be in charge of.
The requirements for house rules and requests state, “Hosts are generally not allowed to:
Ask guests to complete tasks that require significant effort or time, or would typically be performed by a cleaner, including stripping the bed, taking trash offsite, or washing and putting away dishes.”
Airbnb’s new rules have one couple ready to throw hands.
@restoredbythevalks As airbnb hosts, I’m sure our reactions would be considered “hot takes” to the general public. But let me explain. The reaction doesn’t come from being upset that I can’t force a guest to clean now. The reaction comes from not being allowed to even request a guest to follow some basic checkout instructions, and then leave it up to the guest if they want to do them or not. Our “checkout instructions” were never required, just suggested (except the checkout time). We never rated a guest poorly if they didn’t do them, and actually, most of our guests do not do all checkout instructions which has not been a problem. We basically asked guests to pick up after themselves. Here are our literal checkout instructions: – bring trash bins to curb if staying on trash pick up day (Thursday) – place used dishes in dishwasher – checkout is at 11 – place towels and sheets by beds – lock all windows and doors – turn off lights – move furniture back to original place if moved during stay I’m sure a lot of people will disagree, but I don’t think this is a lot to ask. My perception is Airbnb is trying to reign in many hosts who require guests to legitimately clean the airbnb before they leave. Like vacuum, or mop, or start sheets, or hand wash dishes. But I think they’re swinging the pendulum too far the other way to help combat this by saying you can’t ask guests to do anything. I’ve said this before, but comparing airbnbs to hotels is unfair. Hotels have a full staff, billions of dollars, and a single room to turnover. Airbnbs likely have 1-2 people to clean, limited budgets, and an entire home to turnover within hours. That is why there is a cleaning fee. And hotels have it too, it’s just baked into their overall room cost, which, again, is sometimes cheaper because you’re getting a singular room. Hotels also have some expectation level that you leave the room in good condition – they will absolutely charge you if you trash a room or break/steal things, so it’s fair for Airbnb hosts to have a similar level of expectation. At the end of the day, this doesn’t affect us thatttt much, but I found this to be an interesting business move.
♬ original sound – restoredbythevalks
In the Valk family’s TikTok where they share a “live reaction” of the Airbnb rules set for hosts, they do indeed share their honest reactions and opinions of what Airbnb does and does not require from hosts and guests. In the caption, the couple admitted that their reactions might “hot takes” to some, but that didn’t stop them from sharing their thoughts anyway.
“Everyone has house rules like every Airbnb and it takes like five minutes to do, like, I know this is Airbnb’s thing of, like, we want to be more like a hotel and everything and I get it,” the wife and husband share in the video as they interject and speak, sometimes at the same time, with their responses to the rules. “I mean, but like, there’s a reason that hotels and Airbnbs are different though.”
They also share that they have some of their own house rules in place for sanitary reasons. For one. They would prefer not to touch sheets, so they might have expected guests to strip the beds before. And, the wife, Laura says, the garbage can get gross over time. But, as people pointed out in the comments, the cleaning fee is there to cover all of this. Or so they thought.
But users were quick to criticize them for their reaction.
@restoredbythevalks Phew😅 that was a lot harder than I thought. What used to take me about 2 hours to clean, took over 3 and some tears (from my daughter and me🥴) I know she’s still sooooo young, but I do hope this is showing her how to work hard!! #airbnbhost #cleaning #airbnbcleaning #newmom Couldn’t do this without @BabyBjörn lol @airbnb ♬ original sound – restoredbythevalks
Airbnb guests are pretty passionate about what a good host and not-so-great host looks like. In the comments under the couple’s TikTok, one person wrote, “If I’m on vacation AND paying a cleaning fee, I’m NOT f–king cleaning for you!”
Another quoted the wife with the sheets comment and added, “Then don’t get into this business or hire cleaners with the CLEANING FEE people PAY YOU.”
“Oh no, your cleaning fee has to actually be used for cleaning. Instead of having us do it and pocket the money,” someone else wrote.
“Too many hosts got comfortable collecting passive income while expecting paying guests to do all the work, and these new rules are a long-overdue reality check,” someone also pointed out.
The idea is that when you pay a cleaning fee of several hundred dollars, Airbnb hosts use it to pay professional cleaners to clean and sanitize the home before the next set of guests arrive. If a host is cleaning their own home, then people want to know why they are charging an additional cleaning fee at all.
READ NEXT: Daughter Invites Mom To Check Out Her ‘Airbnb’ But It’s Actually Her Very First House
