10/24/2026
I have been Airbnb Superhosts for over 6 years. My property is a guest favorite and I am a superhost in the top 5% of all Airbnb listings.
Right now, in the owner groups on Facebook, thousands of vacation rental owners are posting that they are pulling their homes off Airbnb and Vrbo, selling, or leaving the business altogether. This is an uprising, and it is happening in plain sight. Before you book your next family getaway, I'm asking you to understand why…
THE HOTEL STANDARD
Can you check into a hotel without showing your ID? NO.
Can you check into a hotel without sharing your full first and last name, your email address and your phone number? NO.
Can you stay in a hotel without agreeing to their terms and contracts? NO.
Even at a hotel, does your card have a hold a charge in it for damages and accidentals? YES.
Even at a hotel, are you charged for leaving too much of a mess, moving furniture, sneaking in unauthorized pets, breaking things, etc? YES
Hotels verify who is staying in their building, require agreements, and enforce rules, because that is how you protect a multimillion-dollar investment.
Today, Airbnb announced that hosts can no longer require a rental agreement or verify the identity or contact info of the people staying in our homes. We can't ask guests to take out the trash. We can't even ask them to put their dishes in the dishwasher and press start. We can’t charge fees for bringing in unauthorized pets. And so many other new “rules.”
Hotels are allowed to protect their property. We are being told to hand over the keys to our homes and hope for the best.
THE FEES
Last fall, Airbnb raised its host fee from about 3% to 15.5%. Airbnb dropped its separate guest service fee, but the 15.5% now comes out of everything we charge, including the cleaning fee.
Vrbo looked at that and went bigger. Starting October 29, Vrbo raises its host commission from 5% to 12%, and it still charges you a guest fee on top of it.
WHO PAYS
Owners can't absorb this. We have mortgages, taxes, insurance, repairs, and cleaners to pay. So nightly rates go up to cover the platforms' cut, and your taxes are then calculated on those higher rates. Margins disappear. More owners quit. And the homes that disappear are the family cabin, the lake house, and the place you take the kids every summer.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
If you love renting an entire home for your family to get away, please understand what is happening to the people who own those homes.
1. Find the property name or management company name on the Airbnb/Vrbo listing.
2. Google that name and look for their own booking website.
3. BOOK DIRECT. You deal with the people who actually care about the place, and the platform markup is gone. AND this saves you money!!
We speak from over 12 years of experience, and we are kindly asking you to seriously consider supporting the owners of the vacation rentals you love by booking direct. It is the best way to keep these getaways alive.
BOOK DIRECT WITH US:
🏔️Hartfielproperties.com
HELP US:
🫶Please share this with anyone who loves a good family getaway.
