Enhanced cleaning protocol might just kill my business

[Adam1295]

I absolutely hate that Airbnb is making this new cleaning protocol mandatory now! I read through what some other hosts are saying about it, and I'm glad I'm far from the only one who has a real issue with it.

To tell my situation:

My listing is a 5500-6000 sf home. Up to this point, I've been doing all the cleaning on my own. It takes 3 hours bare minimum IF guests left my home in good shape, meaning I'm just washing sheets, wiping down surfaces, scrubbing toilets, and vacuuming the floors. And that's if I'm motivated and really moving fast. If they leave more mess, it can easily take 4-5-6 hours, depending on what I have to do. IF I actually do everything in the protocol, it will easily take ALL DAY, EVERY SINGLE TIME! I'm sorry, but that's unacceptable.

Another problem is that I live in the home when I don't have full-house bookings. I leave when I get the bookings. So the bit about not being in the rooms after they've been cleaned/sanitized literally would kick me out of my home, or force me to finish last minute every time. Also unacceptable!

The ONLY way I might manage this is if I hire a cleaning service, which will mean raising the price on guests, but it still leaves me with the second problem of how am I supposed to stay out.

This NEEDS to be optional! Let's be real here... those people who are THIS extremely cautious with their health... are probably not traveling at all. AND they are probably not getting together in large groups, as is the common thing in my home (I regularly have 12-13 guests in my home). I have been giving guests options regarding my interaction with them, or lack thereof, and most have said they're not worried. Again, not surprising considering what my listing is. So WHY should I force them to pay an extra $300 or so in a cleaning fee WHEN THEY DON'T EVEN CARE, and will go somewhere cheaper and less paranoid in their cleaning practices when given the choice? This is utterly ridiculous.

Also, I'm a superhost... and I'm considering taking my business elsewhere over this.

So there's my rant. But apart from ranting, I would actually like a reasonable solution.

[Emiel1]

@Adam1295 

IMHO Airbnb should concentrate a being a booking platform, with lot of (technical) issues to resolve (see this community), instead of interfering with the cleaning procedures of their (super)hosts.

[Helen427]

@Emiel1 @Adam1295

Gvtmnts  & bureaucrats should keep well away from involving innocent bystanders getting dragged into there squabbles & power & control trips that have instigated all this nonsense we are facing through NO fault of our own.

 If they genuinely cared about "Public Health" they would never ever have allowed laxness at our borders through increased use of impersonal AI/ IT that's caused Society to be so fragmented.

Before the ramping up of the Wild West of the internet travellers were greeted by their names on arrival & departures from Airports & Crew, including carriage & customs officers had personal conversations that would have picked up if anyone was unwell, or using False documentation & failing to disclose Health issues.

What we are been subjected to is bc of a lack of accountability & the dangers of the internet  

[Paul2002]

I absolutely agree Adam. This is a totally unacceptable imposition on us by Airbnb. Such a shame as I always spoke highly of Airbnb. Now Brian Chesky and his Covid team will ruin all the good work that has been done over the years. I am appalled and extremely disappointed. We are really expected to wear masks in our own homes? Introduce a totally impractical and actually harmful to our health protocol regime? Too much use of detergents and sanitizing chemicals will compromise our health sure. This is recklessness and madness not to.mention strong arm.tactics which is innappropriate but smacks of the corpocracy driven and controlled state none of us wish to see dominate our lives. It is extremely foolish and dangerous. If enough of us resist this pressure Airbnb will either be ruined or will have to have a rethink over this. I suggest we give management 7 days from 11th November to drop the Covid based new cleaning protocol measures or we mount a class action. What are people's thoughts on this suggestion?

Paul.

[Adam1295]

I agree that this IS harmful to both our businesses and us personally for the reasons you said! And I also hate the notion of being forced to wear a mask in my own home. I will say that if this came out in the form of a lawsuit, I would back that. Though I have no experience with leading such a charge myself. But agreed, such strong-arm tactics should NOT be used in an industry that at least used to be the furthest thing from one-size-fits-all. When I traveled before, I LOVED the fact that I could choose anything from an air mattress on the floor of someone's living room or a tent in the yard to a room in a mansion or THE mansion if I wanted! Let people choose what they want!

[Marit-Anne0]

@Emiel1 @Adam1295 @Paul2002 @Helen427  I am in my third airbnb during the last four days, how would I as a guest be able to verify that the cleaning protocol has been followed ? Hosts provide a bottle of hand sanitizer, which I hardly ever use as I have my own or I use the fluid hand soap provided. 

True, I am not the paranoid clean freak, but all the places we have stayed have been spotless and that is all I ask. And I ask myself to wash my hands frequently.