People reveal why they stopped using Airbnb as hosts complain bookings are down

Airbnb has dominated the vacation rental industry for more than a decade. But in a Facebook group dedicated to Airbnb hosts, some people have claimed to recently see decline in bookings.

Now, a screenshot from the Facebook group has gone viral, as former Airbnb users reveal why they stopped using the homeshare platform, dubbing the exodus as the “Airbnbust”.

“What’s going on? No bookings at all,” read one post from the Airbnb Superhosts Facebook group, which has nearly 200,000 members. Another host asked a similar question: “Has anyone seen a huge decrease in bookings over the last 3 to 4 months? We went from at least 50 per cent occupancy to literally zero per cent the last two months. I’m just curious if this is something only going on with my property or if other people are seeing similar things. I am in Palm Springs. Where are you located?”

A screenshot of the posts was then shared on Twitter this week, where it received more than 53k likes and nearly 2,000 replies. “The Airbnbust is upon us,” read the viral tweet.

Based on the comments, it seemed many Twitter users had an explanation for why Airbnb hosts have seen a decline in bookings. After seeing the post, thousands of current and former Airbnb users shared their reasons for fleeing the platform, such as chores lists, exorbitant service fees and its effect on the local community.

“They also expect you to clean dishes, throw the garbage, do laundry. Should I also cook 3 course meal before I leave?” one person tweeted in response.

Another user wrote: “Airbnb checkout instructions are like ‘please feed the neighbor’s cat and administer his heartworm medicine before depositing your key in the mailbox.’”

In September, one Airbnb guest complained about a lengthy to-do list left by their host, asking her to take out the trash, change bed linen, clean the dishes, and do a load of laundry. Other travellers have also shared unusual tasks that hosts had expected them to complete, such as mowing the lawn.

“Over $100/night in fees. Just not a reasonable proposition. Wtf is a ‘service fee’ anyway,” said Twitter user Josh Howard. “If you’re doing short duration than a week, the per night fees are just undoable. Cleaning should just be an expense of renting the place.”

Alongside the tweet, he shared an image of the total cost of his recent Airbnb stay, which included a $251 service fee and $195 cleaning fee. The total came to $2,252.50 for only five nights – that’s $450.50 a day.

Because of the high surcharge on Airbnb rentals, many people have returned to staying in hotels. As many Twitter users pointed out, hotel amenities – such as a concierge, cleaning services, pools, and better security – might be worth more than an Airbnb stay.

“I could get a hotel room in the same town, in a top end hotel with a waterfront view, for $300/night and not have an extra $330 in fees,” said one person.

“Hotel has a concierge, cleaning lady, rooftop, bar, restaurant, security, pool, taxi stand, and room upgrades for loyalty,” said someone else. “Airbnb has hidden cameras, a cleaning fee, discriminatory hosts and they ask you to take out the trash, strip your linen, and scrub the tub before you leave lmao.”

Another Twitter user wrote: “Let’s see I can either stay at a hotel with 24/7 staff, transparent pricing, and standard amenities or I can pay 30 per cent more and pray that ‘Superhost Jerry’ isn’t a toilet-cam guy and spend the last six hours of my trip doing chores in his condo.”

Recently, there have been several stories of travellers finding hidden cameras in their Airbnb rental, raising questions about the safety of the platform. In February, a Texas woman posted a video of a small camera she’d found plugged into the wall in her Austin rental apartment’s bathroom. In 2017, another Airbnb guest tweeted that his friend discovered a hidden camera inside a motion detector at an Airbnb apartment.

While many Airbnb users have claimed to see a decline in bookings, a spokesperson for Airbnb maintained that guest demand is as high as ever. “As we shared in our second quarter financial results, guest demand on Airbnb was as high as ever in Q2, and since the beginning of the pandemic, Airbnb significantly outperformed the rest of the travel industry,” the company told The Independent.

”Amidst new economic pressures, more people are looking to leverage the space they have to earn extra income, and quickly, with most newly activated listings getting booked faster compared to a year ago. As we look to improve our product to make it easier to Host, we are proud that hosting remains an economic lifeline for so many.”