Airbnb has announced three new rules that will soon come into effect and change what the experience is like for guests. These rules will limit what Airbnb hosts can ask their guests to do, including putting an end to controversial conventions around cleaning. A spokesperson for Airbnb said in a statement to Newsweek, “House rules help guests understand what hosts expect, but we've heard from our community that they can be confusing, onerous and hard to manage.” “So we've redesigned them to make them easier to discover and clearer to set, alongside a new policy that keeps requests reasonable, with no surprises,” they added.
Airbnb announced that guests, who are required to pay a cleaning fee, should not be asked to complete cleaning tasks. On the website’s “Reasonable house rules and requests,” Airbnb noted that 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.” The two other rule changes included hosts not being allowed to “restrict access to any feature that’s advertised as part of the listing,” and “impose fines or other penalties on guests.” These policies will come into effect next month. The move has quickly sparked viral posts online, and the internet has been divided in response.
Many guests were quick to praise the shift. But hosts weren’t as happy. The Hewn Hotel in Yorkshire, England, shared in a post on Instagram that the announcement left them feeling “frustrated and honestly... disappointed,” and questioned saying goodbye to the platform altogether.
As the conversation continues to percolate online, Newsweek has broken down what you need to know about the new rules. The new rules on Airbnb see the platform tightening its rules around what cleaning responsibilities hosts can require from a guest to complete. Now, under the updated policy, it is stipulated that hosts generally cannot ask guests to carry out tasks that require significant time or effort.
This includes jobs that would typically be performed by a cleaner. This change is particularly relevant to properties where guests are also charged a cleaning fee. Airbnb’s guidance includes the following chores.
Guests should not be asked to: The new policy will apply to all reservations booked on or after November 20, 2026. Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
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