Courtesy of Rachel Boice
An Airbnb host said guests are leaving her properties more spotless than ever after she stopped charging separate cleaning fees.
Rachel Boice, 30, and her husband Parker Boice, listed their first Airbnb property in Georgia in 2021 with the hopes of giving people a chance to escape the hustle and bustle of modern life. They now have two active properties listed on Airbnb, including a tiny glass house, which Rachel said has surged in popularity since it went viral on TikTok in September.
"We wanted to get into more of the experiential side of Airbnb, not just necessarily a house for someone to stay at if they're traveling through," Rachel, who also works for a tech company, told Insider.
Courtesy of Rachel Boice
But like many other hosts, the couple started out by advertising the nightly rates of their Airbnbs alongside a separate cleaning fee — a practice that has previously raised eyebrows. In 2022, Insider's Hannah Towey reported on growing frustrations among travelers toward Airbnb hosts who require guests to complete chores as well as pay exorbitant cleaning fees.
In response to the outcry, three hosts told Insider's Dan Latu that they decided to raise nightly rates to attract guests with a $0 cleaning fee.
Similarly, Rachel said she decided to forgo a separate cleaning fee a few months ago. Instead of offering a nightly rate of $89 on the tiny glass home with a separate $40 cleaning fee, she began offering stays at a $129 nightly rate. After her TikTok about the Airbnb went viral, leading to a surge in bookings, she raised the nightly rate to $139.
"I get why Airbnb hosts do it because typically you pay somebody to clean and it adds up," she said of cleaning fees.
However, in the months since she instituted a $0 cleaning fee, Rachel said she's noticed a pattern emerging among guests — they are leaving her rentals more spotless than ever before.
"Quite honestly, people have left it so much cleaner now that I don't charge a cleaning fee," Rachel said. From what she's gathered, guests who book the stay may be under the impression that she isn't paying someone else to clean the Airbnb, so they feel obligated to leave it as clean as possible for her sake.
"I guess they're thinking, 'I'm not paying someone to clean this, so I'll leave it clean,'" she said.
@rachelrboice Welcome to The Tiny Glass House ???? #airbnbfinds #exploregeorgia #travelbucketlist #tinyhouse #glampingnotcamping #atlantageorgia #fyp
♬ Aesthetic - Tollan Kim
As someone who also uses Airbnb as a guest, Rachel said she's yet to see many other hosts ditch the practice of charging separate cleaning fees. But she does think it'll start becoming more common as guests continue to express frustration at the additional costs.
"We stay in Airbnbs a lot. I pretty much always pay a cleaning fee," Rachel said, adding that she and Parker have often booked Airbnbs where they've been required to pay up to $200 in cleaning fees. "You're like, 'Why am I paying all of this money? This should just be built in for the cost.'"
"We can stay at hotels and we don't have to pay cleaning fees," Rachel said. Meanwhile, when guests find a stay on Airbnb, go to book it, and then see that it comes with a pricey cleaning fee, "it doesn't feel honest," she added.
