Hotels have come under scrutiny for adding in junk fees, something the Biden administration has been working hard to eliminate. But it’s far worse in the Airbnb Homeshare market.
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After a long lapse using homeshare services like Airbnb, my family revisited it this week for a trip to Southwest Florida. It’s incredible just how high the fees have climbed and how much of the total spend those fees represent. Cleaning fees, service fees, and then, of course, the actual nightly expense for the property.
I won’t be the first to whine about Airbnb cleaning charges, in fact, in my experience, the cleaning fees really aren’t that high. I would struggle to find a competent top-to-bottom house cleaner for less than the $200 most of these rentals charge. But adding in the cleaning, plus the Airbnb fee, on top of the nightly rate can add up huge. On our recent test we examined four properties in the same market (Fort Myers) for the same period (7-nights) and found the following additional fees as a percentage of the nightly rate:
That’s a lot of fees and it most negatively impacts the lower end of the market and short term rentals because cleaning fees have a floor of about $200 in the US. For a property that lists $150/night, they have to sell at least three nights just to come to a 50/50 nightly rate to fee ratio, but for properties that start at $500/nt, the cleaning fee is far lower respectively to the entire bill even though the Airbnb commission will remain significant.
More than anything else, the issue is that while homeshare rental properties must disclose their fees entirely, they don’t have to do it in the leading rate. Airbnb properties can advertise $106/night as one homeowner did:
In fact, for this vacation rental the effectual nightly rate was $158.43. That’s a bump of just a hair under 50% per night.
States like New York and California have attempted to ban “junk fees” and include these mandatory costs in the price of the product. According to the Global Hospitality Group, California’s SB 478 will have the following impact:
| The Hidden Fee | Potential Impact of SB 478 |
| Hotel Resort Fees | Require hotels to include mandatory resort fees in the advertised price, giving consumers a more accurate upfront picture of the total cost. |
| Hotel Parking Fees | Require hotels to include parking fees in the advertised nightly rate or clearly display them during the booking process. |
| Early Check-In/Late Check-Out Fees (Hotels) | Require hotels to disclose any fees associated with early check-in or late check-out during the booking process. |
| Minibar Charges (Hotels) | Require hotels to clearly list minibar prices or disclose a flat minibar fee upfront. |
| In-Room Internet Fees (Hotels) | Require hotels to disclose any in-room internet fees during booking clearly. |
| Restaurant Convenience Fees (Online Ordering) | Require restaurants to disclose any added fees for using the online ordering platform. |
| Restaurant Service Charges | Require restaurants to clearly disclose any mandatory service charges on the menu or before ordering. |
| Restaurant Split-Check Fees | Require restaurants to disclose any fees for splitting a bill amongst multiple diners. |
| Restaurant Health Insurance Surcharges | Require transparency about any surcharges applied to cover rising employee healthcare costs. |
| Airline Baggage Fees | Require airlines to clearly disclose all fees upfront, including baggage fees, during the initial fare display. |
| Gym Membership Contracts | Require gyms to provide clear and concise contracts outlining all membership fees, including monthly costs, additional service charges, and cancellation policies. |
| Streaming Service Fees | Require streaming services to clearly display the total cost based on chosen features, including any additional monthly fees. |
| Ticketing Service Fees | Require ticketing services to include all fees in the upfront price displayed for the ticket. |
You’ll notice that the homeshare business is excluded from the hotel section and it does not apply.
President Joe Biden’s administration has made junk fees and fair pricing a focus.
Still Airbnb in particular showcases three prices on their selection pages. First, almost always is a grayed out stricken price because the property is featuring a discount – a perpetual discount, but one all the same. Then in bold, the price is listed as “[number in local currency] night” followed by an underlined grayed “[number in local currency] total”.
The problem is that the nightly rate, isn’t really the nightly rate because you can’t stay in that property for that rate without paying Airbnb’s fee and the cleaning fee. It’s impossible, and the fees are not optional. It’s not an additional service, it’s mandatory and part of the fare.
One way that discount carriers have gotten around this is to charge a fee for booking over the phone (because you have free options that don’t require this convenient service.) It used to be that fares were more expensive purchased at the airport incurring ticketing fees, but since everyone buys everything online, it’s now fee-free to buy at the airport, but there’s a convenience fee to buy online. But even ULCC carriers like Spirit and Frontier disclose them in full online. That’s why you can always score a better deal buying at the airport. The only way these fees are legal is because they have to be for an optional service.
That’s where this is different. Airbnb is saying the word “night” after a rate associated with what the Airbnb owner is charging on a nightly basis. That’s the nightly rate – but it’s just not, and sometimes, it’s not half of the true cost. Airbnb is testing a toggle feature in the upper right hand corner of the screen that displays a “total before taxes” and simplifies the purchase to one price point – but, and this is very important – excludes a nightly rate. This matters because now it’s harder to quickly compare to hotels where a nightly rate is used, or for longer stays, executive apartments.
Many travelers have pulled back from Airbnb due to the onerous task of checking out that includes essentially elaborate, high touch cleaning processes, and then paying a cleaning fee, usually substantial in nature.
“With a higher [cleaning] fee, guests may expect to just walk away from your space at checkout as they would a hotel room,” according to a memo posted to Airbnb’s website before the cleaning changes kicked in…
Others described a list that includes taking out the trash, starting a load of laundry, and washing the dishes on top of a cleaning fee.
There’s constant pressure from an ever-expanding Airbnb ownership network which is cannibalizing pricing structure and placing more pressure on owners to show a more competitive upfront price.
“All this is encouraging a hospitality-industry doom loop: If hosts see their bookings drop, they might try to raise rates to make up for it (or at least resist lowering them), which drives guests back to hotels or the cheapest Airbnbs that tend to be run by bigger professional hosts who can afford to cut prices in ways small hosts can’t. If hosts try to lower rates to draw in more bookings, they might still be unable to turn a profit. “For both the guest and the host, it’s just not a good value proposition anymore,” says Wright.” – Vox
Marriott and Hyatt are now in the homeshare game, so are some premium boutique operators, and Inspirato on a premium subscription level. That creates some competition for Airbnb to “get [their] house in order” as CEO Chesky stated they would. But guests like myself and my family simply look at a weeklong stay and compare to a comparable hotel. If the total cost is less for one or the other then it comes down to inclusions. Every stay, I can make a choice on where I stay.
But if we are going to hold the hotels and resorts to account for showing mandatory costs in their nightly rate, why do homeshares get a pass?
Property owners aren’t in the wrong for charging a cleaning fee, and in most cases, the fee is fair. They also have to compete in the market for which they operate. However, showing a nightly rate that does not comport to the cost of that night, regardless of the fees or industry, it shouldn’t be allowed. Transparency in pricing is critical. And if states like California, or the Biden Administration is serious about it, they will enforce pricing transparency regardless of the venue.
What do you think?
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