Allow short-term cleaning fee to exceed main cleaning fee

Problem statement

Hosts cannot set the Airbnb short-term cleaning fee (1-2 nights) higher than the main cleaning fee (3+ nights). The system enforces a restriction that the short-term fee must be less than the main fee, which prevents hosts from charging more for shorter stays that require more intensive cleaning.

Current workaround

No workaround is currently in use. Hosts are forced to either:

• Accept lower-margin 2-night bookings with inadequate cleaning fee coverage, or
• Set minimum stay rules that block short stays entirely (losing potential revenue)

Impact

• Higher overall cleaning costs — 2-night guests tend to treat the property like a hotel and leave it less clean than longer-stay guests who treat it as a home and clean as they go
• Lower profit margins on short stays due to cleaning costs not being covered by the cleaning fee
• Lost revenue opportunity — 2-night guests are often time-poor and willing to pay a premium for convenience, but hosts cannot capture this value through cleaning fees

Proposed solution

Remove the restriction that requires the Airbnb short-term cleaning fee to be less than the main cleaning fee. Allow hosts to set the short-term cleaning fee higher than the main fee if they choose.

Unlock

Hosts would be able to:

• Price short-term cleaning fees to reflect the actual higher cleaning burden of 2-night stays
• Improve profit margins on short stays by charging appropriately for cleaning
• Use pricing (rather than minimum stay rules) to manage the mix of short vs. long stays
• Capture premium pricing from time-poor guests willing to pay more for convenience