New Airbnb rule Adaptations

Real Estate Agent · NV · Member since 2023 · 1k+ posts · 720 votes

There were 2 big changes for Airbnb, What you can ask of guests on checkout and how you can or cannot collect your guest contact information. Essentially it seems the cleaners might need to do a bit more adding to time between turnover and cost. Second is Airbnb now owns the lead when that guests book with you.

How do people plan to adapt to the new Airbnb Rules?

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Jules Aton

MD/DC · Member since 2024 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

I adapted by delisting the day after the announcement.

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Jules Aton
MD/DC · Member since 2024 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
1d
I adapted by delisting the day after the announcement.
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- Dan H.Pro Member
  Investor · Poway, CA · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 8k+ votes
  21h
  I did something similar but not quite as extreme. I would like to be able to delist on Airbnb, but over 75% of our bookings come from Airbnb.
  Direct booking was always a lower price than Airbnb. Now so is VRBO. Anyone that exerts any effort can find our units at a lower price than Airbnb. My hope is to increase the bookings not coming from Airbnb. My units have very high occupancy. If occupancy falls slightly I am ok with that consequence.
  Hopefully the plan works. I likely will not know for a few months minimum.
  1 Reply
Andrew SteffensBusiness Member
Tampa, FL · Member since 2022 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
1d
wow @Jules Aton really you did?
Bradley - we did not ask much of what was covered in the cleaning changes but there is more to it than that. For example no signing a guest reservation agreement. I plan to continue doing so until they call me out. Once they do I will likely claim it is in an HOA as they are making allowances for that. all of these rules will get very cumbersome and expensive for them to enforce - and their offshore help is likely to be able to be outsmarted quite easy.
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- Jules Aton
  MD/DC · Member since 2024 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
  1d
  Yup, I'm not trying to make a living off these properties. While I don't expect it to make a difference with AirBNB I'm hoping VRBO gets the hint.
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John RacinePro Member
Rental Property Investor · Casselberry, FL · Member since 2008 · 135 posts · 77 votes
1d
Bradley, the checkout change is a small one for me. The only things I ever asked guests to do were load and run the dishwasher and put the trash in the trash can, not haul it anywhere. So there's not much to undo on my end.
The screening piece matters more to me. I target 28+ day guests, so I still plan to use ID checks and signed agreements on those stays. The difference is I'll have my PMS handle it so I don't run afoul of the new rules.
I do hope there's enough pushback from hosts to get some of this changed. Until then, I'm putting more focus on other channels and on direct bookings, so Airbnb isn't the only way guests find me.
Are you mostly nightly in Incline Village, or do you get many longer stays there?
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- Bradley BuxtonBusiness Member
  OP
  Real Estate Agent · NV · Member since 2023 · 1k+ posts · 720 votes
  1d
  I think the ID verification and guest data collection hosts will need to get more creative. From hosts I've talked to the cleaning and "chores " was already mostly dealt with. Seems like there will be an influx of business creating direct booking sites or hosts switching to mid-term. In incline village and around Tahoe in general there has been a decline in the number of STR. We are very seasonal so there are some operations switching to MTR for ski leases or summer rentals.
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- John RacinePro Member
  Rental Property Investor · Casselberry, FL · Member since 2008 · 135 posts · 77 votes
  1d
  That makes sense, Bradley. I don't operate in Tahoe, so I can't speak to that market, but seasonal markets are where I think a hybrid can really help. A ski lease or a summer rental is basically a planned mid-term stay.
  If I were setting one up there, I'd decide which season carries the nightly rates and which season goes to the 30+ day guests. Then I'd let shorter stays fill the gaps between them, so dates aren't sitting empty waiting on nightly bookings.
  This is where the PriceLabs Market Dashboards are incredibly valuable. Seeing how demand shifts through the year, how far out guests are booking and how the market is pacing gives you the insight to draw that line based on data instead of guessing.
  I also leave room after a long stay so a guest can extend. I've had a construction crew extend four times.
  Are the operators who switched doing full-season leases there, or month-to-month?
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Divin KanyamaBusiness Member
Accountant · Seattle, WA · Member since 2025 · 660 posts · 272 votes
1d
Great question, @Bradley Buxton For me, the cleaners come first. If guests are doing less at checkout, I’m building in more buffer between stays and having an honest chat with my cleaner about time and rate. I’d rather pay a bit more than have them feel rushed.
On the lead ownership piece, I’m not changing much. I’m putting my energy into reviews, a solid guidebook, and a great guest experience so people want to book again through the platform. Since the details matter, I’m also reading the updated terms before I promote anything direct.
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Mirza Strujo
Investor · Manassas, VA · Member since 2014 · 18 posts · 4 votes
1d
Bradley, good question. I'll give you the unsexy answer: I went through my listing line by line and cleaned it up rather than work around it.
The agreement piece is where I'd be careful. The exceptions in the actual policy are narrower than the thread version — it's basically: required by law, a documented HOA or building rule (documented is doing the work in that sentence), stays of 28+ nights, or an optional amenity like a golf cart. Claiming an HOA exception you don't have paperwork for is the one move I'd expect to blow up, because Airbnb can ask for the document.
What I changed: every checkout ask got rewritten to the version that's still allowed — dishes in the sink instead of washed and put away, towels gathered in one spot, trash sorted into the indoor bins instead of hauled out. Anything that couldn't survive as a "request" came out of the listing entirely and went into the cleaner's scope, and I adjusted the cleaning fee to match instead of pretending the work disappeared. The separate agreement ask is gone for regular Airbnb stays; I only kept ID/agreement where an exception genuinely applies.
Reason I bothered before the 20th: listings that keep flagged requests can get the "includes cleaning requests" label shown to guests and lose search visibility. I'd rather fix it on my schedule than under a warning. Happy to share the before/after of my rules section if it's useful to anyone.
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- Bradley BuxtonBusiness Member
  OP
  Real Estate Agent · NV · Member since 2023 · 1k+ posts · 720 votes
  1d
  Did you use AI to help make the changes?
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- Mirza Strujo
  Investor · Manassas, VA · Member since 2014 · 18 posts · 4 votes
  1d
  Yeah, used it as a second set of eyes on the new requirements. The one that almost got me was the pet fee field — mine wasn't set up the way the new rules want it. Worth a look if you haven't checked yours.
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Matthew Tregoning
Property Manager · Melbourne, FL · Member since 2019 · 505 posts · 178 votes
18h
I’d also audit every place the checkout instructions appear: the listing, scheduled message, digital guide, and anything printed inside the house. It’s easy to update one and leave an old checklist somewhere else. Then I’d walk the cleaner through a turnover with the revised guest instructions and see which tasks actually change the timing. That gives you something concrete to adjust without guessing at the extra work.
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Matthew Dowg
Investor · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2026 · 16 posts · 1 vote
15h
Dan's point about 75% of bookings coming from Airbnb is really the bigger issue to me.

When one platform controls that much of your business, even relatively small policy changes can materially affect your operations. It's a concentration risk, similar to relying on one major tenant or customer.

We have gotten on well with it, not in love, but have done well and get mostly new bookings. I would probably feel different if I had a solid vacation rental with longer term.

I hate when companies do this though. The changes don't seem to benefit hosts (maybe benefits guests depending on how hosts modify cleaning expenses), but directly benefit the platform, strengthening their hand as the middle man via holding your data. I work in IT, and it burns me that mature SaaS now consider "Product Improvements" to be tied to how much money they can make via upcharges and service "optimization" rather than trying to make their customers successful.

I'm curious whether operators are seeing enough repeat guests to make direct booking a realistic alternative, or whether Airbnb's customer acquisition advantage is simply too strong.
1 Reply
- Bradley BuxtonBusiness Member
  OP
  Real Estate Agent · NV · Member since 2023 · 1k+ posts · 720 votes
  11h
  This is a good point. It seems like Airbnb is taking the Amazon approach, customer experience at all costs to the vendors and they (hosts) are disposable. With an over supply of hosts in many markets they have the ability to replace the host business with a new one. They are now having to compete with hotels in many markets. It will be interesting to see how AI search (Chatgpt, Claude, co-pilot) can be optimized and drive a direct booking even though your listing appears on Airbnb. Host that lean how the search works can diversify the guest funnel.
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- Dan H.Pro Member
  Investor · Poway, CA · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 8k+ votes
  9h
  >I'm curious whether operators are seeing enough repeat guests to make direct booking a realistic alternative, or whether Airbnb's customer acquisition advantage is simply too strong.
  It does not have to be a repeat booking to result in adirect booking.
  Mark Simpson. “The book direct playbook” is the only book I am aware of on the subject (I think the title is bad as it should mention STRs). It is available on Amazon. I have not read the book. I should but I use a co-host and have many higher priority things I should be doing.
  When I heard him speak just over 3 years ago (at BPCon2023) he claimed he was getting 70% to 80% of his bookings via direct bookings.
  He had easy suggestions such as your STR should have a unique name so that it can be searched via internet. Not Jamaica cottage (which once was one of my STR names. It was not in Jamaica but on Jamaica court and was so uncreative than another STR on same street about 20 years after we chose the name chose the same name), but what about "Roswithas blue wave cottage" (current name for what used to be Jamaica cottage). He also had some suggestions that the effort would add up. If you save enough on OTA fees maybe those efforts could be justified financially. Where it is more likely justified is control over your own business and not being at risk of an OTA's whims.
  He was as adamant as anyone not to refer to STRs as airbnbs.
  By the way Roswithas blue wave cottage used to be 100% direct bookings. Before Airbnb and when VRBO was still establishing itself. Today every one of my STRs get at least 75% of bookings via Airbnb today. Roswitha’s blue wave gets the highest percentage on non Airbnb booking of our STRs - maybe average 2 non Airbnb booking a month. It also has highest occupancy rate and highest repeat customers.
  Best wishes
  2 Reply
- Bradley BuxtonBusiness Member
  OP
  Real Estate Agent · NV · Member since 2023 · 1k+ posts · 720 votes
  8h
  Good point Dan on the name and are you really getting that many repeat guests. Think about how your STR will be found within Airbnb search and other platforms or through google and AI searches. The more unique and original it can be the better. I would not recommend having AI write your description, use it as a tool to start and maybe refine it. Google search is now giving more priority to original content vs AI written content in general search results.
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- Dan H.Pro Member
  Investor · Poway, CA · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 8k+ votes
  6h
  Unfortunately it is not that many. Roswitha's blue wave cottage is likely the highest and I suspect most years is 5 or 6 repeat bookings. The other unit on same property is close to as many repeat bookings. it is a bit cheaper but not as nice but same great location (one of the best STR locations in the city). Someone has booked this unit nearly every year for near 20 years. It may be the least expensive 2 BR that close to mission beach ocean and Belmont park So if you love the location this is the unit to book (and it has almost as high occupancy as Roswitha's blue wave cottage which is over 90%).
  My direct bookings are minimal. The co-host discourages it for first time guests but even if she did not the direct bookings would be minimal.
  The 2 times a month was referring to all sources of booking other than Airbnb (direct, VRBO, booking.com). That is 2 out of maybe ann anverage of 9 bookings per month. Unfortunately, my units have got very dependent on Airbnb. Hopefully, by charging a little more on Airbnb than on the other OTAs and direct, I can increase the bookings on the other OTAs or direct (reducing the bookings from Airbnb).
  If all hosts would charge a little extra for their bookings from Airbnb, maybe we can nibble away at the Airbnb market share and their influence.
  1 Reply
Daniel Jung
Member since 2026 · 69 posts · 24 votes
12h
I am staying, but I am simplifying. We rewrote every checkout message to ask for almost nothing, because a short list is easier for guests to follow and easier for us to defend if a stay is ever reviewed. Then we paid for the difference on our side. The cleaners get a realistic window instead of a rushed one, and the calendar reflects that, so a same day turn is only offered when it can actually be done well. On guest contact, I am not trying to work around the platform. I keep everything in the Airbnb thread, do a good job, and let repeat guests find us again because the stay was easy. Depending on one platform is a real risk, but breaking its rules feels like a bigger one.
1 Reply
- Jules Aton
  MD/DC · Member since 2024 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
  11h
  If you want to stay with AirBNB this is smart. Actually regardless of where you secure bookings having simple check in and out instructions is key. I'm surprised so many seasoned hosts and PMs have allowed either platform to control so much of their traffic as opposed to seriously focusing on trying to lure in direct bookings over the years.
  0 Reply
- Bradley BuxtonBusiness Member
  OP
  Real Estate Agent · NV · Member since 2023 · 1k+ posts · 720 votes
  11h
  Have you been working with your cleaners on efficiency before the rule changes or do you think you'll need to increase prices for your guests?
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- Lauren Kormylo
  Rental Property Investor · Phoenix, AZ and Rehoboth Beach DE · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
  11h
  So you’re paying your cleaners more, and doing away with many same day turnovers (so having fewer booked nights), but you’re not charging the guests more? You’re eating all these costs?
  2 Reply
- Mirza Strujo
  Investor · Manassas, VA · Member since 2014 · 18 posts · 4 votes
  5h
  +1 on asking for less. When I went through a listing line by line, the stuff that actually conflicted with the new rules mostly wasn't in the house rules — it was checkout chores hiding in the saved messages and a sign by the door. Cutting the asks to almost nothing was easier than rewriting the rules, and the cleaner got a saner window out of it too.
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