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Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

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Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#311

Post by matsemann »

EasyMark wrote: post #244
usaar333 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cleaning fees exist to charge a fixed fee for a reservation, regardless of the number of days. There's more overhead for a reservation beyond just "cleaning". The most consumer friendly thing would be for AirBnB to just explicitly have a fixed "stay" fee and a per-day fee. That said, AirBnB's site shows the total cost for a stay when browsing, so I don't really see this as particularly deceptive. I don't care how the…

So put it in the price rather than "fees". That always feels highly dishonest to me.

How would you make that work?

I rent out our cabin. If you stay 1 day or 7 days, it's the same amount of work for me and same costs in cleaning. That's impossible to price fairly without having a flat fee.

In my market the customer sees the total price up front. I think this is the best solution for all parties.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#312

Post by FireBeyond »

barbazoo wrote: post #277
happytiger wrote: post #166

I’m stunned people still use AirBNB after most hosts turned their high paying customers into unpaid housekeepers.

Hasn't been a problem for me. I apply common sense and do the absolute minimum, usually starting the dishwasher. They can ask me to do whatever they want but it has no teeth. I've never seen one of our hosts complain in a review either.

Which also shows you how little oversight they have - I guarantee that there are a sizeable number of places that are not inspected after each stay, let alone clean.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#313

Post by lotsofpulp »

ryandrake wrote: post #301
ghaff wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm totally with you. If someone doesn't come into my room for 3 or 4 days, possibly interrupting me when I'm working, I am perfectly good with that . I had a co-worker who really hated people coming into her room. I think we were in Japan and she had a Do Not Disturb sign up and she got really pissed when a maid came in and made up her room anyway.

First thing I do when I check into a hotel is find the Do Not Disturb sign and hang it on the outside doorknob. It stays there until I check out. Even then, it does not stop cleaning staff from trying.

A good hotel will have a policy to check all hotel rooms on a regular basis (at least once per week), regardless of a do not disturb sign. Just one person living in squalor can cause myriad pests and damage to spread to many other hotel rooms.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#314

Post by hilux »

drdaeman wrote: post #228
standardUser wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've stayed at dozens of AirBnBs and I've never had an onerous list of chores or a noticeably high cleaning fee, so these complaints always baffle me a little. Are people reading the listing thoroughly? Are they choosing a place with lots of ratings and reading all of the reviews? I've definitely had some bad AirBnbs over the years despite my careful selection process, but my complains are usually about noise or a la…

Same here. 16 stays so far (most long-term, 1+ months), so not much, but all with zero issues. Hosts usually ask to do the most basic stuff - check that everything is closed and turned off, sometimes take the trash out, and possibly collect the used towels and drop them in the bathroom. Stuff I'd do anyway without being asked. I remember having a request to run a washing machine once - and sure thing I did. It's just…

> Then, I typically spend about a week's worth of evenings carefully going over the listings, multiple times.

This is the key. You're valuing your time at nothing. Which is fine, if it works for you.

It doesn't work for me. I want to do a quick search, using the basic parameters, and to be able to trust my search without going full CSI.

Increasingly, with Airbnb (also booking.com, also eBay, and now even Amazon), the results of a quick search cannot be trusted. In the case of Airbnb, hotels offer a "more reliable" alternative for the busy person.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#315

Post by matsemann »

idiotsecant wrote: post #292
victorbjorklund wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lets say their cost for cleaning is 100 usd. Without cleaning they the price per night is 150 usd. How much should the price increase per night to cover the cost of cleaning? So either too low for people staying one night or too high for people staying multiple nights. Why is it better?

Somehow hotels that don't clean every night figured this out like a million years ago. Averaging

A hotel with 100 rooms can average. Me with my single room can not.

If you don't like it, fine, just don't use it. But pricing it to what people actually use, is fairest for everyone.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#316

Post by klinquist »

moralestapia wrote: post #288
klinquist wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a host. I charge a $200 cleaning fee and my cleaners charge me $250, so I lose money on cleaning. I ask guests to: * Strip the beds (otherwise, I find that people re-make beds and it's hard to tell if they have been slept in), * Load and start the dishwasher (the dishwasher takes 4 hrs, and the cleaners travel to my remote house, and I want to make sure they can finish in about that time) * Take the trash down to…

Tbh, those are problems that you have to solve, somehow.

Given my airbnb rating and constant positive feedback, I'd say that my existing solution is sufficient.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#317

Post by matsemann »

bonestamp2 wrote: post #161
usaar333 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It could pretty easily be rolled into the advertised nightly rate. No it can't because the hosts are trying to charge a fixed fee per reservation.

They can still take that fixed fee and do what some hotels do and average the total cost of the stay across the number of nights booked to get a "nightly rate".

You can't do that on airbnb. You can only set a flat fee and a nightly fee.

However, in my market customers only see the total, calculated to an avg nightly price. So it all works out and is fair for everyone.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#318

Post by klinquist »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #309
klinquist wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a host. I charge a $200 cleaning fee and my cleaners charge me $250, so I lose money on cleaning. I ask guests to: * Strip the beds (otherwise, I find that people re-make beds and it's hard to tell if they have been slept in), * Load and start the dishwasher (the dishwasher takes 4 hrs, and the cleaners travel to my remote house, and I want to make sure they can finish in about that time) * Take the trash down to…

>(otherwise, I find that people re-make beds and it's hard to tell if they have been slept in), That is why any half decent hotel has protocol to always change all the linens anytime someone rents a room.

I have 6 beds. Change 6 beds when one is used? Talk about energy use and wear/tear on the linens themselves.

Hotels have cleaning "scale" on their side. I'm also operating a large home with a full kitchen, balcony, garage, etc. 8 people can comfortably stay. It ends up being a LOT cheaper AND more comfortable than a hotel for 6-8 people.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#319

Post by klinquist »

EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK wrote: post #283
klinquist wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a host. I charge a $200 cleaning fee and my cleaners charge me $250, so I lose money on cleaning. I ask guests to: * Strip the beds (otherwise, I find that people re-make beds and it's hard to tell if they have been slept in), * Load and start the dishwasher (the dishwasher takes 4 hrs, and the cleaners travel to my remote house, and I want to make sure they can finish in about that time) * Take the trash down to…

As you spelled out your reasons, it makes sense. But usually, you don't go over reasons with guests, and they feel like the host is treating them as his poor relatives doing chores. It's totally different at a hotel, where guests feel like they're being served.

I do go over the reasons in the automated message you receive the night before checkout.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#320

Post by [deleted] »

65 wrote: post #71

Not sure how AirBnB has a $100 billion market cap. The use case for an AirBnB, which is mostly large group travel, seems limited when comparing to the use case for a hotel (every other type of travel). Marriott and Hyatt combined have a lower market cap than AirBnB.

[deleted]
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