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Airbnb Sets Limits on Guests’ Checkout Chores

A holiday usually offers a break from housework, but leaving a rented home can involve an unexpected list of chores. Airbnb announced changes on October 20 that aim to make these expectations clearer. The new policy will apply to reservations booked on or after November 20, 2026. Hosts generally will not be allowed to ask guests to strip beds, wash and put away dishes, or carry rubbish away from the property. However, smaller requests will still be permitted. Guests may be asked to place dishes in the sink, gather used towels, or separate recycling into indoor bins. Hosts must display their rules and requests in the correct section of the online listing before booking, rather than introduce new instructions after guests have reserved a home.

The changes raise a practical question about what travellers are paying for. Guests who pay a cleaning fee may feel that washing dishes or preparing laundry should already be covered. Hosts, meanwhile, need to prepare properties between stays, sometimes with little time before the next arrival. Industry publication Rental Scale-Up notes that moving tasks from guests to cleaners could mean higher cleaning fees or nightly prices. This creates a trade-off between doing less work and paying more for accommodation. Airbnb will also consider exceptions based on local conditions, so the same request may not be reasonable everywhere. Clearer rules could help travellers compare properties more fairly, but they cannot remove every disagreement about where basic courtesy ends and professional cleaning begins.

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Chat

Talk about these words from the article.

housework / chores / expectations / policy / reservations / strip beds / permitted / recycling / listing / cleaning fee / laundry / trade-off / accommodation / exceptions / courtesy

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Discussion

1. What do you think of Airbnb’s decision to limit checkout chores?

2. What cleaning tasks, if any, should guests do before leaving a rented home?

3. What services should a cleaning fee cover?

4. How would you choose between a cheaper stay with chores and a more expensive stay without them?

5. What advantages and disadvantages do holiday rentals have compared with hotels?

6. How might the new policy affect people who rent out their homes?

7. What house rules would you introduce if you became a host?

8. How should a host and a guest resolve a disagreement about cleanliness?