Now launched in the U.S.: Airbnb’s new enhanced cleaning protocol

[Airbnb]

Many of you have asked for more guidance around cleaning your spaces during COVID-19 and beyond, so we wanted to let you know that our enhanced cleaning protocol is now ready and available for hosts in the U.S. (with other countries and regions to follow). 

The cleaning protocol offers in-depth, expert-backed guidelines for cleaning every room in your space. Hosts with eligible listings who commit to the protocol will get a special highlight on their listing page, so guests know they’ve committed to following higher standards for cleaning. We know you may have questions about how the program works—like who’s eligible, how the special highlight works, and what to do if you can’t commit to the protocol—and we’ve done our best to answer them in the Resource Center. 

None of this would have been possible without the feedback so many of you provided here and in our global listening sessions. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us and for being part of our host community. 

If you host in the U.S., you can commit to the protocol now

Learn more at Airbnb.com/cleaningresources

[Michelle53]

A picture is worth a thousand words. It will now take five people to clean my space instead of one. 

The economics of the new protocol are not going to work for me, in terms of time to clean, extensive use of materials including disposables, laundry and dishwashing, and PPE. It would take me a whole day, for example, to put every single item of dishware, flatware and glassware through my dishwasher between each guest.

The ceiling has a "popcorn" finish (yeah, I know). There's no wiping that down - only spraying with lysol. Probably a full can at a time. If it was even available to buy. 

I run a "value" listing. My core business is folks coming into town for sporting events, festivals and family events. It's not a space generally geared towards longer stays (and longer stays are not my preference). 

Since Airbnb is not my full time job, I'll be cutting bookings to weekends only. Which isn't hard, since I only have two bookings between now and December, and all our summer events are cancelled through September 7th (Labor Day). 

[Marissa107]

@Michelle53 oh dear I've got that popcorn finish or we call it gotele here in Spain everywhere (ceiling + walls)!

Well for one thing, I'm adding a shoe rack at the entrance/foyer to leave their shoes. Helpful for both host and guests. That would be my latest COVID feature 🤔

[Michelle53]

@Marissa107    I only have it on the ceiling. Many of the walls are textured, but in a different way (someone took a tool with teeth and made half-circles in the finish, to create sortof a seashell pattern). All very 70's. 

Today, I thought I would, at least, take a run at the protocol, to see if it was going to be in any way feasible. 

My space was prepped and cleaned after my last guest checked out (in March) before all the cancellations. So it wasn't in a "just checked out" state.  Even then, it took 6 hours to clean, excluding dishes and laundry.    I did not clean the walls and ceiling, but did floors, all surfaces,  refrigerator, kitchen area, re-did the bathroom, wiped everything down with a damp cloth (not disinfectant) since this was more of a time test, and the space has been empty for 3 months. 

Adding all the parts about laundry and dishware would push it into 8 - 12 hours, since there is no dishwasher or washer/drier in the space, and I'd be carrying dishes upstairs on a tray to my kitchen. Hand washing in the small sink would be prohibitive. Bedding and washable soft items would have to go into my laundry area first. I don't really want to move potentially contaminated items out of the space into my main home. 

That's before all the other general admin of resetting entry codes, etc. 

The only way for me to approach this is a long buffer between bookings. 

There's so much variability in listings from one space to the next that one standard protocol cannot possibly fit all. 

[Seth12]

If I commit to this am I required to have a 24hr buffer between checkout and checkin? I see it sort of recommended but will the app block checkin for 24hrs after every checkout? If I commit will lose a day between booking?

[Lisa723]

@Seth12 from the handbook: "Check your local authority for guidance on how long to wait before entering a space occupied by a person who may have been exposed to COVID-19. For example, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests waiting 24 hours. If that’s not possible, we recommend waiting at least 3 hours, which is what the European CDC recommends."  From this my conclusion would be that if the app is consistent with the handbook then the app will not enforce a 24-hour buffer. But that's assuming internal consistency at Airbnb, which may be a lot to assume.

[Seth12]

The guids should be more clear on this considering the first announcement from Airbnb clearly states a 24 hour requirement. Now no mention of it being required and it's extremely vague. Don't want to commit to anything without knowing whether or not my calendar is going to have 24 hour blocks on it.

https://news.airbnb.com/our-enhanced-cleaning-initiative-for-the-future-of-travel/

[Martina714]

It was meant to be 72hrs weeks ago, good to know airbnb changed the guidelines

[Virginia176]

How could you possibly meet all of the requirements in the pledge if you don't have at least 24 hours between guests?

[Sandy301]

The washing the walls and baseboards part is just untenable. I would have no problem wiping down high traffic areas, using a disinfectant spray, but all walls just can't be done.

[Denice0]

I have signed up for the cleaning protocol for my small studio spaces, but I would also like to sign up for the 3 day booking gap.  It seems to be one or the other.  Why not allow both?  It is safer for all involved.

[Emilia42]

@Denice0, for the time being - to go your availability settings and then edit reservations preferences. Change your preparation time to "Block 2 nights before and after each reservation."

[Marie22]

As a corporate trainer, I have a suggestion for the people who created the over-the-top cleaning protocol: Create a video showing one person following EVERY step in the protocol - in real time. Use a one bedroom apartment with a balcony to show inside and outside steps. The purpose would be twofold. One, we could all learn Airbnb's trick for how to clean every surface, wash walls, clean curtains and rugs, then sanitize in one day. And two, we could gauge how many hours our own places would take to clean using EVERY step in the protocol.

Yes, this is a bit tongue-in-cheek, however there is value in this exercise. We could all learn something from it. Airbnb might learn that the protocols should be guidelines with only a few "must haves". And the rest of us may feel better about doing the right thing without having to wash the ceilings every day or two.

[Sharon1014]

@Marie22  I think it was so clearly written by a bureaucrat or someone working in legal or policy.  Certainly not written by anyone who actually does the job.  Part of the purpose of the extent of it is, imo, for liability disclaimer purposes should anyone contract the virus and then looks to sue Airbnb.  The out - well it's not our fault, the host agreed to supermax clean, or you as a guest agreed to stay in a listing that didn't have the cleaning gold star.

And I do think many will just sign off on it but not actually do the full extent of it.  And who is there to police it?  The Airbnb fairies?  😂

But the Airbnb lawyers will be happy either way.

[Susan3708]

I read the protocol, took the test and agreed to abide by it.  I then went to the house to help the house cleaner get ready for a guest in a couple of days.  She thinks the people who wrote the protocol don't actually clean houses. We figured we would go from a 4 hour cleaning to 8 hours.  We have always cleaned then disinfected and I'll add in the bleach spray on door handles etc.    I am going to see if I can back out of the gold star I'll get for signing onto the protocol, like a few others, this is not my full time job and trying to wash all of the dishes, glasses, silverware, pots and pans etc. is not going to work.  My listing is for 8 people, that is a complete set of 72 plates/silver and glasses.  Doesn't include serving dishes etc.     In addition, where exactly do I find disinfecting wipes,  hand sanitizer.  Toilet paper and paper towels are just making their way back onto our shelves.   I live in a rural area and have always had a 1 day buffer in between guests so that isn't anything new for me.  This just seems to be far more than I expected it would be.

[Marie22]

@Susan3708  I agree. I want to back out too. How do we do that? I thought I could try to do the cleaning - but it took a 3 hour cleaning into a 6 hour cleaning. And I did not have time to take down and wash  8 drapes. And I did not touch the 12 foot ceilings. I am in Texas. All we have to do is turn off the conditioning for a few hours and the heat will do a huge part of the sanitizing.  How foolish are the protocols!!!!!