Airbnb feels like a soulless rip-off – and its hosts are revolting | Arwa Mahdawi

Excuse me if I feel no sympathy for the property owners who have threatened strike action because guests no longer have to do their chores. Whatever happened to the company’s initial guff about building community?

To Airbnb or not to Airbnb, that is the question. Would you like to help pay someone’s mortgage and clean their house and fork out an extortionate cleaning fee and abide by a 90-page list of house rules? Or would you like to check into a nice hotel where you get fresh towels and a tiny chocolate on your pillow?

Airbnb’s business is booming, so plenty of people are still choosing the first option. Nevertheless, the hospitality giant seems to have realised travellers are sick of being handed ridiculous chore lists, and is reining in some of its more tyrannical hosts. Last week Airbnb posted updated guidelines stating guests can no longer be asked to complete tasks that “require significant effort or time or would typically be performed by a cleaner”.

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