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What You Can Still Ask For, and What Is Now Prohibited
Airbnb has published a policy titled “House Rules and Reasonable Requests.” It applies to reservations made on or after November 20, 2026. Stays that have already been booked will continue to follow the rules in effect at the time the traveler clicked to book; this means you have one month to bring your listings into compliance without affecting existing reservations.
The line is clear. Anything a housekeeper would normally do is no longer expected of the traveler. Airbnb itself gives four examples:
Two other restrictions have gone largely unnoticed. You can no longer charge separately for equipment highlighted in the listing: its price must be shown at the time of booking, and only optional extras (such as breakfast) may be included in the request. And you can no longer impose fines or penalties on travelers.
A quick note about trash, because that’s where everyone gets stuck. The policy refers to trash taken off the property. In a home where the trash bins are in the yard, asking guests to place their bags there remains, in our view, a reasonable request. Putting them out on the street on collection night, however, is not. Airbnb says it takes local context into account and may grant exceptions, as detailed by Rental Scale-Up, but you can’t build an organization on exceptions.
Check-in times: a new restriction identified in the Airbnb tool
Another change deserves homeowners’ attention. On October 23, 2026, while reviewing our listings, we noticed that Airbnb displayed an error message when the check-in start time was set to 5:00 p.m. The message is clear: “Select a start time earlier than 4:00 p.m.”
The screenshot below illustrates this point. The scope of this restriction and whether it is permanent have yet to be confirmed by Airbnb, but it is worth checking the settings for each listing right away.
The issue concerns the time by which the accommodation must be ready to welcome guests. Guests can always choose to arrive later, within the agreed time frame. However, making the accommodation available earlier reduces the time available between two stays, particularly when a checkout and a check-in occur on the same day.
For a villa with multiple bedrooms, this change may require adjusting the sequence of tasks, preparing linens, and coordinating service providers. The goal is to maintain the quality of the housekeeping service within the available time slot.
At Loca’Zen, our role is to incorporate these changes into the management of each property: verifying listing details, adjusting schedules as needed, and communicating consistent check-in times to guests. A property ready at the scheduled time, with the same high standards for every stay—this commitment guides everything we do.
House rule or simple request: the nuance that makes all the difference
Since October 20, the ad editor has brought everything together in one place. You can choose from seven standard rules:
- maximum number of overnight guests;
- quiet hours;
- events;
- animals;
- tobacco and vaping;
- photography and filming for commercial purposes;
- Check that the door is locked before leaving.
Everything else is considered a “request.” And this isn’t just a matter of vocabulary. Guests must follow the rules; they are merely encouraged to comply with requests. If a rule is broken during the stay, or if a guest says they plan to break it, you can cancel without penalty. If a request is ignored, however, your only option is to contact Airbnb.
In other words, even the most reasonable request (“put the towels away”) isn’t binding on anyone. Anything that’s truly essential to your household must fall under one of the seven rules or be incorporated into the regular cleaning routine. We explain how to formulate useful rules on our page about house rules.
What if we just keep our to-do list as is? Airbnb is expecting a surge:
- The disputed text is highlighted in the editor;
- If it is recorded anyway, it goes to review;
- You will receive an email with the option to call;
- Without correction, a note such as "includes cleaning requests" may appear in the ad;
- In the event of a repeat offense, the listing is moved down in the search results.
In a market as seasonal as Toulon, losing business in May means losing part of your summer. It's not worth the trouble.
Welcome booklet, contract, ID: the rest of the reform
Many guests haven't noticed it yet, but the policy goes far beyond just the dishes.
The welcome booklet no longer establishes rules. A rule that wasn’t included in the listing at the time of booking has no validity. A message before arrival, a sign on the door, or a page in the booklet can remind guests of it—but never invent it. If your booklet explains how to sort trash, that’s great. If it requires guests to put out the bins on Tuesday evenings, you’ll need to rewrite it. This is also an opportunity to refocus it on what really earns you stars, as explained on our page about the welcome booklet and local recommendations.
A contract signed by the traveler is now the exception. You can no longer require one, except in four cases: a legal obligation or condominium rules, a paid option that requires it, a stay of 28 nights or more, or an Airbnb Luxe listing. Only one contract per listing, submitted as a PDF and visible to everyone.
The same goes for copies of ID. Unless required by law or by the homeowners’ association, you can no longer request them. You may verify the guest’s identity upon arrival if the listing specifies this, but you must not keep a copy. Smart lock apps remain permitted, provided that the guest can obtain an alternative means of access upon request.
Large Homes and Villas: A Thorn in the Side
A nine-bedroom house can accommodate up to eighteen people. A Sunday lunch for eighteen people means three dishwasher cycles and a countertop covered with dishes. Until now, many owners of large villas relied on a simple “please run the dishwasher and take out the trash” to keep things running smoothly between the 10 a.m. checkout and the next check-in, now at 4 p.m. That safety net is disappearing.
Here's what we typically do for this type of property, which is common in villa neighborhoods like Cap Brun or the Faron Hills:
- A second dishwasher. In a large house, this is the renovation investment that pays for itself the fastest. Guests can still be asked to leave their dirty dishes in the sink; the staff will take care of the rest in half the time.
- Large indoor recycling bins. Passengers are responsible for sorting their trash (which is allowed), and the bags are ready to go when the crew arrives.
- Housekeeping during the stay, offered as an optional extra. Airbnb allows optional extras in listings, provided their price is listed. For a group of fifteen people staying for a week, this is often well received.
If you're getting a large house ready for the upcoming season, our equipment checklist will help you make sure the kitchen and laundry room are sized appropriately for the number of guests—and not just for show.
What We're Up to at Loca'Zen Between Now and November 20
No big announcement, just a to-do list, apartment by apartment:
- Review all our listings. Any non-compliant listings will be revised or removed by November 20; the check-in time will be changed from 5:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.; and we’ll make sure our management software doesn’t automatically revert the changes we’ve made on Airbnb.
- Distribute the welcome booklets in a balanced way, so that they serve as a reminder without ever being pushy.
- Recalibrate the cleaning package on a property-by-property basis, through an amendment to the contract, in consultation with the owners. The fees, however, remain unchanged.
- Brief the cleaning crew: new checkout protocol, revised time frames, and corresponding pay. More work means more paid hours—no free labor.
Should I leave Airbnb?
Some hosts are already talking about it. We’re not very convinced. The demand is on Airbnb, and direct bookings come with their own challenges, which we detail on our page about off-platform bookings.
The ones that will suffer are the listings whose profitability relied in part on the traveler’s unpaid labor. Those who already maintained standards comparable to those of the hotel industry will see almost no change. Better yet: they will no longer be competing with listings that appeared cheaper solely because the guest was responsible for cleaning up. This is good news for discerning property owners—and for the reputation of short-term rentals in Toulon in general.
Do you manage your own home?
If you're not sure where to start, we can review your listing with you and let you know what needs to be changed before November 20. Get in touch with us—it's free and there's no obligation. If you're comparing several concierge services, our seven criteria for making the right choice will save you time.
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