Airbnb hosts are threatening strike action after the platform introduced updated guidelines that ban hosts from asking guests to complete tasks that would typically be performed by a cleaner. The move has sparked anger among some property owners, with calls to unlist properties to send a message to the company.
New rules limit guest chores
Last week, Airbnb posted updated guidelines stating that guests can no longer be asked to complete tasks that “require significant effort or time or would typically be performed by a cleaner”. The change is intended to curb the practice of hosts handing guests lengthy chore lists despite charging hotel-like fees.
Some hosts are reportedly trying to find loopholes, while others are calling for a strike. “Even if we all unlist our properties for just a day or two, we can send a powerful message,” one host wrote in a Facebook group for Airbnb hosts. “Airbnb built its empire on OUR properties. It’s time we reminded them who actually holds the power.”
Columnist offers little sympathy
Writing in the Guardian, columnist Arwa Mahdawi expressed little sympathy for hosts upset about the new rules. She recalled a stay where the coffee table was declared off-limits for coffee cups and there was a snake in the basement, adding that she cannot say she has much sympathy for hosts who want to force guests to scrub floors.
Mahdawi said she fully supports a general Airbnb strike, arguing that despite the company’s talk about building community, the platform is “as soulless as every other tech company”. She noted that Airbnb has enabled Israeli settlers to make money from illegal settlements built on stolen land and has supercharged property speculation.
Broader concerns about the platform
Mahdawi also argued that Airbnb has gone through the same “enshittification” as other once-shiny startups, with what was once a fun and inexpensive way to travel now often feeling like “a bland rip-off”.
She encouraged disgruntled hosts to remind Airbnb who holds the power, but suggested they channel that energy into protecting democracy rather than their bank balance.
