New upcoming airbnb requirement to provide sheets, towels, toilet paper, and soap.

[Rachel-And-Omar-Marius0]

In the airbnb app I noticed today that beginning in June/July 2018, airbnb will require all hosts to provide linens/sheets, towels, toilet paper, and soap.

This seems a little ridiculous to us (and other hosts we've talked to) as there is already a filter guests can use if they want such things to be provided. There are many vacation rental areas where this is uncommon and guests are expected to bring their own linens/towels/etc, especially for areas that are more frequented by driving visitors rather than flying visitors. That's how hosts are able to keep costs/hassle down and pass that savings onto guests.

Our house does not not have a washer/dryer so this means we'll have to rent sheets and towels at our own cost for literally every rental, and pay extra to the cleaning company to place said sheets.

Really hoping airbnb reconsiders this requirement, or we'll be forced to take our business/listing elsewhere.

[Victoria567]

Hi @Letti0

there are many of us from the UK who hire cars in foreign countries at the airport , this whole concept of lack of basic amenities is shocking for us from the UK.

[Sarah977]

@Victoria567    The hosts that don't provide these things, and the ones @Letti0 is referring to, assume that guests are driving from their own homes within the country, so it's not a big deal for guests to load this stuff in their cars before setting out. They've been operating like this for a long time, and apparently it works for them, as guests from within their own countries are accustomed to this when renting these remote cabins. 

That's a whole different ball game than flying somewhere and renting a car for your holiday. Of course you're not going to pack up sheets, blankets and towels to lug on a plane or a ferry, even if you rent a car when you get to your destination.

I just wonder if those non-amenity-providing hosts realize that they are automatically eliminating potential foreign guests, or even same-country guests who may be flying from further away. Maybe they have enough bookings that they don't care.

[Letti0]

@Sarah977  I know a few hosts on the east coast that book solid for the whole summer from Labor Day through Memorial Day with 1 week stays only Saturday to Saturday. A few close up shop after the summer, but others rent out weekends and holidays. They know they are only attracting the drive in guests and seem to do very well with it. They are large family homes that have mostly been in the family for years and years and were handed down in many cases. The renting over the summer pays for all the maintence and bills on the places that why they do it.  

[Catherine232]

Shocking!

[Victoria567]

Hi@Catherine

Why not put as the first descriptor a guest sees of the property .

No potable water, no toilet paper, no linens or soap. A real  normal homely experience so don't be shocked .

[Gary287]

Here are my thoughts, first off @Letti1  @Sarah977 you pretty much nailed it. Our cottage is rented the entire season mostly to locals that live 2-3 hours away. We live 2-3 hours away from our cottage ourselves, and we have a really hard time finding good help, to come in and clean, and it would be another challenge to find someone or even a service to provide clean sheets and towels. That being said there is almost always soap at our cottage, both dish soap, and hand soap, and there is always a bottle of shampoo if someone needs it. Toilet paper and paper towels are always there, even though we tell people to bring it with them. We don't have laundry facilities, and we don't have room for them. 

@Victoria567 here's my thought to you, if you find a cottage that you really like and you want to stay there, send the owner a message and tell them your situation. If you sent me a text and wanted to stay at my cottage, I would go out of my way to get you linens and towels, but it would be an extra charge. This past season, in fact, we did have a family come in from the U.K. and they wanted sheets and towels, and we managed to get it for them, I think it was about $100 extra for the week. Please understand we're not running a hotel, this doesn't have maid service, and most people understand what they're getting up front. We've had nothing but positive reviews on our place, and I'm not sure about other owners, but we go out of our way to help people have a great time and take in all that Canada has to offer, especially in our little oasis in the woods. 

[Catherine232]

Why, that's *shockingly* good customer service Gary. Sounds like you can more than compete on the world stage 😉

[Victoria567]

Hi@Gary

Thanks for being so considerate of UK guests and our little foibles.

Yes it's good to mention in your listing about the provision of extra linens and I know that you ,just like my dear self,  are not running a hotel but Ive still to book into a hotel that does not provide linens, soap, big roll etc as for us it's a basic amenity.

Despite the "witty" response from a fellow host about raising standards great that you are doing this as for many of us Brits going self catering in a cottage etc it's our cultural thing to expect clean potable water in the property including linens and bog rolls

[Susan17]

As per usual in the Community Centre, the constant resurrection of old, outdated threads fuels the continued spread of misinformation, fallacies and inaccuracies. 

Due to intense outrage and a massive pushback from thousands of hosts who operate in many, many niche destinations *worldwide* (throughout US, Canada, Australia, Scandinavia, Europe, Africa and yes, even parts of the UK), where it's been the norm since time immemorial *not* to provide bedlinens etc, Airbnb was forced - several months back - to recognise that one size does *not* fit all. The company was left with no option but to do a hasty U-turn on this ill-conceived policy - or face losing a sizeable, highly experienced, productive and profitable sector of its host base.  

And to those of you who are "shocked", "appalled", "horrified" and "flabbergasted" that there are hosts out there who do things differently to what *you* deem acceptable - get over yourselves. If a host doesn't provide what you require, no need to demand, criticise or pontificate - simply book one of the gazillion other places on the site that do meet your "standards" That's supposed to be the beauty of Airbnb, is it not - something to suit everyone, whatever their tastes or budgets? (Some of you obviously aren't nearly as educated as you seem to think you are about the world of travel and tourism though - otherwise you wouldn't be so aghast at every little thing that doesn't conform to your blinkered, self-righteous definitions of "good hospitality")

Armies of these niche hosts have been operating very successfully for decades - long before Airbnb ever existed - and point blank refused to change their age-old, tried and tested methods of managing their own thriving hospitality businesses, just to fall in line with a global tech corporation's clueless and poorly thought-out profit-maximising diktats. Bottom line - the affected hosts stood up for their rights - and won.  Perhaps we should all take a leaf out of their book. 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Airbnb-Updates/Clarification-on-essential-amenities-Hosts-can-ch...

[John1080]

I think hosts should make the decision whether to provide these things or not, however AirBnb does want to provide standards across the platform. As far as hosts standing up for their 'rights', this is a private platform, not a government entity. If one wants to be a participant in this platform, one should abide by the standards and policies. 

The right one does have is to leave the platform if she is unhappy with it. 

[Susan17]

Here we go again, that old chestnut..."If you don't like it, you can leave" Just as well the thousands of hosts who don't provide sheets and towels didn't have that roll-over attitude, isn't it, or they'd all be off the platform too, instead of standing up for themselves, fighting to have a short-sighted, disproportionate policy that would have harmed their businesses overturned, and winning the right to *choose* what they provide.

You did read the link, right? 

"Earlier this year, we announced that hosts will soon be required to provide a specific set of amenities in each listing that we consider “essential” to a comfortable stay.

Since then, we heard it was impacting some hosts’ ability to host successfully. So now, we’re giving you the choice"

And for the record, I believe any host who has given Airbnb almost a decade of hard graft, exemplary service and dedication, and has consistently provided a first-class experience to thousands of happy and satisfied Airbnb guests (and earned the company a sizeable chunk in the process), has more than earned the right to remain on the platform, whilst still having the right to voice their opinions on policies they see as unfair, inequitable or abusive. Don't you? Or are you one of those who believe the rest of us should just "Put up, and shut up", no matter how detrimental certain policies are for us, because everything's  going just tickety-boo for you?

[Victoria567]

Listen up here

Asking for clean potable water , toilet paper and  linens is NOT blinkered and self righteous it is really a matter of good hygeine!

[Daniel1992]

Victoria,

There are places in the US and Canada that take longer to drive to from civilization than it takes to go from Dumphries to Inverness, and we'd still be in the same state or province. There are places in Alaska that if you own properties in two seperate towns, it would be impossible to do this (see Juneau and Sitka).  There is even a portion of Minnesota called the Northwest Angle that requires you to leave the US to get to (and we don't have the same open border policy that Europe does, so it would take literally hours to go through customs 4 times just to change some linens or add toilet paper).

Not everywhere is as densely populated, close together, or as easily accessible as the UK.  Please think of that.

[Letti0]

@Daniel1992  You are correct. The US State where I am from Texas (696,241 square kilometers) is almost 3 times larger than the United Kingdom and there are many remote areas that take hours to get to. 

[Victoria567]

Hi@Daniel

I understand that Canada is a vast country.

What I'm trying to understand is that such an advanced rich modern nation finds such lack of basic amenities as the norm.

You've sent the Starbucks concept worldwide , can't you get this stuff delivered by Amazon?....or how were these properties managed to be constructed in the first place?....surely the folks must have had some basic amenities.