When you travel, do you like staying in a hotel or Airbnb?
It's a conversation circulating on social media right now, with some saying they now prefer hotels because those Airbnb cleaning fees really start to add up.
"We got it for six nights, so we're staying for a total of seven days," said Kyle Winters.
Winters and his family are in San Diego from Tuscon for the week.
They opted for a rental in Mission Beach over a hotel saying while it's a bit more expensive, the convenience pays for itself.
“It's like a little house so, if you live in a hotel for a week, you're going to be spending way more money, three times a day to go out to eat. And we have our Yorkie with us, so she was more than welcome to be here, and she's comfortable and we are ten steps away from the beach,” said Ashley Winters.
Not everyone feels the same way.
On Twitter this week, user ‘Texas Runner DFW’ wrote: "The Airbnb bust is upon us" as a caption to a screen grab from another group showing an Airbnb host complaining about a decline in bookings.
It has since generated thousands of comments and some blame inflation.
One person said: “They charge an exorbitant amount for the cleaning fee. My family and I are back to booking hotels.”
Another user posted a breakdown of those fees, saying it made his 185 dollar a night stay in Puget Sound 85 percent higher.
CBS 8’s Shannon Handy did some research and looked up the cost of a three-night rental in Palm Springs for a family of 4, the first weekend in November.
Fees were all across the board, especially the cleaning fees.
One charged $250. Another was charging $359.
Turns out, owners decide what the cleaning fees should be.
Last week, Airbnb's CEO, Brian Chesky tweeted one of his top priorities is redesigning how pricing on Airbnb works.
A spokesperson for the company tells CBS 8 they are testing out new ways to display pricing so they're more upfront.
Stating the following: “while hosts maintain the ability to choose their own cleaning fees, we do offer tips to hosts on keeping the amount reasonable and suggest they consider not charging cleaning fees at all.”
The spokesperson also said,
“45 percent do not charge a cleaning fee and for listings that do charge a cleaning fee, the fee on average is less than 10 percent of the total reservation cost.”
As for how this has impacted business, the spokesperson said compared to 2019, bookings are up 24 percent in 2022.
Bottom line, while some people may have stopped using Airbnb due to the added fees, others say depending on your situation, it's worth it.
“We're here for the vacation so we're not looking for that kind of stuff,” said Kyle Winters.
WATCH RELATED: Airbnb cracks down on summer parties with permanent party ban (July 2022)