Air BnB's have gotten so expensive

[pinkytoe]

We have been trying to get away in the area for a few days. Almost all the Air BnB rentals if we can even find one now have $100 cleaning fees plus service fees so that the final charge is nearly double the room charge listed. I don't recall all the add-ons being so excessive but very frustrating since they used to be good values.

[bae]

Right?

When I was looking for an AirBnB recently, the add-on fees really were insane.

I was wondering why the room prices all seemed so "reasonable" - it's because the fees didn't seem to be included in the top-level of the ad, or the search.

Devils.

[flowerseverywhere]

Like eBay. A small item can be cheap with $49 shipping and handling.

these days it is buyer beware. Maybe with AirBnB there is more demand because people are willing to pay more so as to avoid hotels with shared spaces.

[catherine]

We have been trying to get away in the area for a few days. Almost all the Air BnB rentals if we can even find one now have $100 cleaning fees plus service fees so that the final charge is nearly double the room charge listed. I don't recall all the add-ons being so excessive but very frustrating since they used to be good values.

AirBnBs are more expensive these days since the pandemic, but I'm very accustomed to cleaning fees and taxes being added--we rented houses for vacations in VT for 20 years through VRBO, and we always paid extra for cleaning. Maybe hosts on AirBnB originally didn't because it was a new platform and they wanted guests, but it's really standard practice in vacation home rentals.

[iris lilies]

Are cleaning fees treated separately in the Air B n B system because then they are not subject to the hosts paying a few to Air bnb on that cleaning amount?

I know that bed and breakfast Inns in Hermann have been very very busy in the past 12 months because people are not traveling out of the country, so when they want to go somewhere they go local.

During Octoberfest (we call it Drunkfest) I could easily get $1000 per weekend rent for 4 weekends in my Hermann house. So I suppose if I’m ever poor I could think about that, but I suspect that if I’m poor then the rest of the world will be poor and no one will be paying $1000 to stay in my house.

[Tradd]

Hotel rates have really gone up so I’d expect Air BNB rates to go up as well to reflect demand.

Can’t comment on cleaning fees.

[pinkytoe]

Cleaning fees a year or so ago used to be in the $25-50 range. Now they are often $100 whether you stay two nights or seven.

[iris lilies]

Cleaning fees a year or so ago used to be in the $25-50 range. Now they are often $100 whether you stay two nights or seven.

Does that translate to getting people to clean? People who clean for a living are probably rare as are all employees out there.


My fantasy is to get a house cleaner and twice a month when we moved Hermann, but I wonder if I will really be able to even find anyone to do that.

Many years ago when I was working we had housekeepers come in twice a month. It was nice. And that was when our house was still not “done.”

[jp1]

I'm not surprised cleaning fees have gone up. In the city we had a housekeeper that charged $75 per visit (roughly 3 hours). Now we pay twice that. Part of the increase is that our current housekeeper brings all her own tools and supplies, and has to have a car to get here. But I suspect that part of it is also that the supply/demand for housekeepers has shifted more in favor of the worker.

[bae]

But I suspect that part of it is also that the supply/demand for housekeepers has shifted more in favor of the worker.

I have several times this year been offered unsolicited jobs doing housecleaning to turn over simple AirBnB cottages at $35-$50/hour, and my knowledge of housecleaning consists of saying "Alexa, tell Roomba to clean the main floor".