Is the new cleaning policy Airbnb's way to get rid of shared places?

[Stephan-And-Skye0]

I am so confused!  During the summer I live at my lakefront cabin near Yellowstone NP.  While living there we rent out our three extra rooms in the cabin.  Guests love our place because of the location and because we offer sweet outdoor amenities like kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, tomahawk throwing, bear spray, etc.  We love meeting all our guests, interacting with them, and inviting them out to have s'mores at night down by the lake.  They enjoy interacting with each other as well.

Our cabin is a shared cabin so guests share our kitchen, our bathrooms, our living room, etc.  Some guests stay one day, others might stay 2-5 days.  They are always coming and going and love our place.  

We have been busier than ever even with Covid-19.  We have communicated with all our guests that our place is a shared place and that risks of Covid do exist. We encourage guests with health risks not to stay at our place and allow cancellation of needed because of this.  We also let guests know that we have stepped up our cleaning by using Clorox wipes on allsurfaces, providing guests with personal hand sanitizer, and encouraging social distancing. I really thought we have been doing it the right way.

I however just can't imagine how the new Covid policy would work in a shared place.  It sounds to me like Airbnb is planning to kill off all shared places or turn us into liars.  😞 

For example:

1) With guests here all the time it sounds like I and my guests would be wearing a mask 24/7 at my own cabin. That just isn't going to happen.  I know certain guests might not wear their mask or forget.  This might anger another guest.  I might forget my mask on a trip to the kitchen offending a guest checking in at that moment.  It's just impossible. Will guests be able to request full refunds if another one of my guests forgets a mask or if I accidently forget on my way to the bathroom?  Yikes!  Too crazy!

2) Our guests touch everything!  There are germs on everything.  It doesn't matter how much I clean.  From dishes, to paddles, to life jackets, to bear spray, to crayons, to books, to maps, DVD's, remote controls.  Our door handle gets used like 50 times by up to 12 different people.  There's no way to honestly meet the requirement!  There is no way my door handle is clean for more than. 5 minutes!  I promise you that ... It will always have germs on it.  

In all honesty I feel like I need a COVID GUARANTEED HERE badge!  We do our best but there are just risks when staying in a shared place. 

In a private place with separate entrances or an entire home I can see this new clean policy working but in a shared place it just doesn't seem possible. 

Anyway ... I don't plan to agree to the policy.  I would hate to lie to my guests. Can someone shed some light on what will happen after Nov 20th for me?  Does my account close?  Do I lose all ratings? Does anyone see a solution possible for their shared areas?

Thanks ahead of time for your insights.  

[Helen427]

@Miguel638 

CEO @Brian  has been tagged into these discussions in this ABB CC of which he pops in and reads.

@Super47 

What date are those figures for Blackstone & Greystone from, Pre Coronavirus / Covid19 world wide disruptions, including job/ career loses at those companies/ places?

Or post the March Covid19 date?

 One would reasonably expect the whole landscape has changed since then.

An area there must be delving into is ALL the ABB surveys, including those that pop up by random students/ academics & others here in ABB CC & that undertaken elsewhere bc the reality is those "surveys" are Used by those people as part of Public Policy changes through universities, rubber stamped across the world just like the ones written by and used for Coronavirus/ Covid19.

The number of people questioned for such surveys usually is far less than 1,000 & are then multipled, probably using Professor Lockdown's Microsoft computer technology 🚾:pile_of_poo: 🚽 .

 It's overdue the academics were hauled into line with their at times incredibly incompetent research practices and one size fits all "Blanket Approaches" without including each & every country & location unique identifying factors and Common Laws of the people.

 It's obvious that there's  need for serious regulations on the internet & world wide web surveys & petitions as there's far too many bots & flaws & don't include a balanced representation of all people, that  includes those on the AVAAZ website which is tied in with WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM.

Antonia Staats, Professor Lockdown Neil Ferguson of England wrote the Petition letter to the New Zealand Gvt about "Rentals /  Residential Tenancy Rights" in March 2020 that was used by the New Zealand Gvt which has contributed to the current "enhanced cleaning, mask wearing, 2 metre Social Distancing" we are faced with.

That AVAAZ petition is tied directly in with the Green Party who are ANTI STR / ABB property let's.

There's a much bigger picture out there that is impacting on the wider Society across the world and ABB, notably it's CEO Brian Chesky needs to start to speak up & challenge those unelected Petition websites ethics and lack of accountability for their behaviours & actions.

[Helen3]

Sadly you can't do this @Miguel638 . If you don't sign up to the new protocols Airbnb has says it can delist you.

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Stephan-And-Skye0 , this is a tough one and I feel very sorry for hosts that are dependent on the income from hosting while being in the unfortunate position of having shared spaces during a pandemic.   I hope that being a summer hangout means your able to afford to keep it during these 2 in 100 year happenings.   One doesn't work well with the other (shared spaces and random unattached varietal guests not from near Yellowstone.) 

The good news is that pandemics of most types typically last 2 to 3 years before they are dispatched in some way or another and  this one seems to have allot of science and medical resources aimed squarely at it and will likely be history sooner than typical.  The bad news is, if you can't mitigate the risks of doing business, you can't just carry on, BaU (Business as Usual), its neither prudent nor safe and Airbnb doesn't need bad press about connecting folks via a virus that might bring more than memories home with them.  

This too shall pass, like the swine flu and others in our recent memory.  Maybe you should try to rent the cabin as a whole for now when your not using it and get what you can out of it.    Do a day between rentals and give it a proper cleaning and airing, you might find the guests really like that, mine don't seem to mind it, they sleep well at night and Im still making $$$ even in the bad times.   Just my 2 cents for what thats worth in todays market, stay well, JR

[Fred13]

Your 2 cents should be seen as worth more than that. Adapt, rent to a single entity till things settle with the coming of the vaccines and even a better understanding of the virus. Time is what we really trying to buy with these mitigation procedures. 

[Cathie19]

My thoughts exactly @Melodie-And-John0 ! 
I think in truth, @Stephan-And-Skye0 , that you are going to have to think outside the box and change your style of hosting if you are wanting to continue during Covid19. This pandemic is a rare situation, that requires a different mindset, not just for the guest’ safety, but yours. The health outcomes, short term, can be mild to catastrophic and as the virus is new, ( hence “novel”) long term are not yet known....

[Fred13]

Exactly @Cathie19. The share model, at the present time, presents even more risks than stand-alone listings, so it stands to reason it merits new thought and compromise if it is to work somewhat till this temporary storm passes.

[Melodie-And-John0]

As someone once said, Its not the Army I want, Its the Army I got!    We are lucky our model was nearly built to serve guests in this situation.   If all we could offer were shared spaces, I would have to step back for now (my wife and I are not spring chickens).   FYI, since we modified our bookings and clean out procedures to be compliant, we have had 2 of the best booking months since we began.  

[Deb44]

 @Stephan-And-Skye0 

We also have a house with 2 rooms and shared kitchen, backyard and front porch just north of Yellowstone Park.  They stay here after they arrive from a long drive or by plane, get groceries and other needs before heading down to the Park. It is hard to keep up with all the places people touch in the house, though we do our best. We keep our masks ready to put on when a guests arrives, but we also want them to feel at home, because that is why my guest picked a house. We have been asking people when we send our “glad you have chosen our home” welcome note to tell us of their Covid exposure, and all complied in the busy summer season except for one. It starts the conversation about Covid. Makes everyone feel more comfortable. We also allow people to sit in the backyard garden ... but we found out that most of our guests had quarantined before they left their home for this big summer trip. We also share our kitchen, and because we can, they have their own guest counter where continental breakfast is, the on the opposite side of the kitchen from where we work. We have hand sanitizer in many places around the house that they are welcome to use before or after they use the counter or bathrooms. And I follow up as much as I can. The one thing I find difficult is making the beds with gloves on. So I do air out the rooms before cleaning them. However, I find knowing where the guest has been before their arrival has been the best comfort, and of course, we love the conversations and new friendships started when guests arrive at our home. I hope Airbnb is not to hard on house hosts, & homes with one or 2 rooms, because that is how they started this adventure.