Live data from Hacker News

Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

theverge.com

31–40 of 527 posts

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#31
> Hosts can’t use outdoor cams to keep tabs on indoor spaces

That might be easy to game either way. Hosts can claim they didn’t keep tabs, just had a hunch to come over and check; and guests can claim the camera in the yard could see some part of the interior through a window and ask for a refund.

One interesting effect is that now hosts with hidden cameras can't offer the footage as proof during disputes.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#32
post #16

I almost forgot how annoying Airbnb is until I started staying in hotels again. I will gladly take a smaller property in exchange for dealing with people that have actual hospitality training, daily room cleaning, room service, etc. Hotels are just a nicer experience. I don't want to spend my vacation cleaning the room or worrying about a "host."

Airbnbs are amazing for: - Group get-aways where the point is being together at the place, not seeing the sights of whatever area you’re in. - Families traveling, especially when not staying in a city core - Trial runs at living in a place - Areas poorly served by decent hotels They’re bad for lots of other scenarios. [edit] oh and the less time you’re staying the worse they tend to be—stuff like cleaning fees and ha…

> Group get-aways where the point is being together at the place

And how are the neighbours going to feel about your house party in their residential area? You can't call this model "amazing" for all concerned. Don't say that this doesn't happen, it really does. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39669347

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#33
post #16

I almost forgot how annoying Airbnb is until I started staying in hotels again. I will gladly take a smaller property in exchange for dealing with people that have actual hospitality training, daily room cleaning, room service, etc. Hotels are just a nicer experience. I don't want to spend my vacation cleaning the room or worrying about a "host."

Airbnbs are amazing for: - Group get-aways where the point is being together at the place, not seeing the sights of whatever area you’re in. - Families traveling, especially when not staying in a city core - Trial runs at living in a place - Areas poorly served by decent hotels They’re bad for lots of other scenarios. [edit] oh and the less time you’re staying the worse they tend to be—stuff like cleaning fees and ha…

I've often felt a bunch of the "love" for AirBNB comes from people who didn't realize that you could do short-term rentals of entire properties before it hit the market (and where you'd go for those).

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#34
post #30
post #22

I'm worried this ban will only affect honest hosts. Anyway, what Airbnb should really ban is hosts charging a mandatory cleaning fee when also requiring their guests to do the cleaning. We just stayed at one this weekend, and like almost all our previous bookings, the host asked us to: - Take off all bedding and towels and start a load of laundry - Do all the dishes and start the dishwasher (but required to hand-wash…

If you’re paying the cleaning fee anyway, why would you do any of that stuff?

Because they'll charge you for it and ding your rating.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#35
post #22

I'm worried this ban will only affect honest hosts. Anyway, what Airbnb should really ban is hosts charging a mandatory cleaning fee when also requiring their guests to do the cleaning. We just stayed at one this weekend, and like almost all our previous bookings, the host asked us to: - Take off all bedding and towels and start a load of laundry - Do all the dishes and start the dishwasher (but required to hand-wash…

I’d say if it’s not mentioned in the ad up-front, you don’t have to do any of that.

I’ve found high cleaning fees to sometimes be an intentional discouragement to shorter bookings, but sometimes I’ve paid it because it was still the best option and I like that they maintained the option.

Sucks that the only way to push on fixed costs (it’s not just cleaning) is via the cleaning fee.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#36
post #30
post #22

I'm worried this ban will only affect honest hosts. Anyway, what Airbnb should really ban is hosts charging a mandatory cleaning fee when also requiring their guests to do the cleaning. We just stayed at one this weekend, and like almost all our previous bookings, the host asked us to: - Take off all bedding and towels and start a load of laundry - Do all the dishes and start the dishwasher (but required to hand-wash…

If you’re paying the cleaning fee anyway, why would you do any of that stuff?

The hosts could leave you a bad review which can make it harder to book in the future.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#37
post #30
post #22

I'm worried this ban will only affect honest hosts. Anyway, what Airbnb should really ban is hosts charging a mandatory cleaning fee when also requiring their guests to do the cleaning. We just stayed at one this weekend, and like almost all our previous bookings, the host asked us to: - Take off all bedding and towels and start a load of laundry - Do all the dishes and start the dishwasher (but required to hand-wash…

If you’re paying the cleaning fee anyway, why would you do any of that stuff?

Because hosts can leave bad reviews of guests. This happened to us once when we were new to Airbnb, we had that exact thought: "We paid a cleaning fee, we're pretty tidy anyway let's just let them do their job." But we got a bad review and now almost every place we book, I get a phone call asking about the bad review and I have to explain... "We paid a cleaning fee, we're already very tidy people, and we were stressed and rushed getting our family with young kids out the door on time. The mess they're complaining about was probably 5 minutes of sweeping, but now we are even more meticulous when checking out."

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#38
post #14

Next they need to ban giving my personal info to 3rd party services. It's becoming common now to upload guests' personal info into cloud property management systems, and set up things like wifi with services that offer a discount if you provide guest info. It's gross and when I complain about it to AirBnB they do nothing.

I went to an Airbnb where the host had a ledger of all the previous guests that had stayed, with their personal information and their passport number. And it was left in the apartment for you to sign, so I had access to the passport number of literally hundreds of people from all over the world.

And it wasn't a mistake as the host asked you to sign the ledger when you arrived.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#39
post #22

I'm worried this ban will only affect honest hosts. Anyway, what Airbnb should really ban is hosts charging a mandatory cleaning fee when also requiring their guests to do the cleaning. We just stayed at one this weekend, and like almost all our previous bookings, the host asked us to: - Take off all bedding and towels and start a load of laundry - Do all the dishes and start the dishwasher (but required to hand-wash…

It's hard to gauge cleaning effort: if a guest uses every dish in the kitchen without doing a wash up, they cleaning crew could be there for hours. But if a guest is tidy, then the cleaning fee should be nothing. The hard part is that you need to reserve and pay for a cleaning crew as if it was always a disaster.

Any service that's so pedantic about cleaning isn't a service that most customers would want to use. Airbnb is trying to have it's cake and eat it too putting the responsibility on "hosts" to be the bad guys. It's just lazy and callous to not have strict bounds of responsibilities customers are expected to engage with.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#40
post #22

I'm worried this ban will only affect honest hosts. Anyway, what Airbnb should really ban is hosts charging a mandatory cleaning fee when also requiring their guests to do the cleaning. We just stayed at one this weekend, and like almost all our previous bookings, the host asked us to: - Take off all bedding and towels and start a load of laundry - Do all the dishes and start the dishwasher (but required to hand-wash…

It's hard to gauge cleaning effort: if a guest uses every dish in the kitchen without doing a wash up, they cleaning crew could be there for hours. But if a guest is tidy, then the cleaning fee should be nothing. The hard part is that you need to reserve and pay for a cleaning crew as if it was always a disaster.

you need to reserve and pay for a cleaning crew as if it was always a disaster.

Yet hotels manage this fine - it's just baked into the price.

I don't have a problem paying a cleaning fee. I just don't want to pay the fee AND be required to do 90% of the cleaning myself.

I'm happy to put the dishes in and then start the dishwasher. I'm not going to wait around for it to finish and then put them away. I'm happy to pile the used towels and bedding in a single spot, but I'm not going to do the laundry. I'll pick up any trash and wipe down the kitchen, but I'm not going to take out the trash or do a deep clean of the kitchen. Etc.

Post reply on HN