A TikTok creator says her Airbnb host left her a negative review and called her stay “messy,” despite the creator’s claim that she followed every checkout instruction she was given. The creator, who posts under the username @libramusings and goes by Bry, shared the story in a video that has received more than 1 million views and around 6,000 comments.
According to Bry, she and her travel companions stayed at a beachside Airbnb during a recent trip. She said the unit was close to the beach and that the stay was largely positive, aside from an ant problem they encountered but did not report at the time.
Bry said the host’s checkout instructions asked guests to put dirty linens in the bathtub, put away clean dishes, take out the trash, and leave the unit broom swept. She said she and her companions completed all of these tasks before leaving.
Guest says review contradicted her own account of the checkout
Bry said she left the host a 4-star review, citing the ants as the reason she did not give a full 5 stars. She said she then saw the review the host had left her, which stated that “even though we followed the house rules, the place was messy.”
Bry said she was confused by the review, since she believed she had left the unit in the same condition she found it. She said the only thing she could think of that she may not have done was wipe down the counters, which she said was not listed in the checkout instructions.
Per Bry’s account, the host also sent her a private message describing the property as “my shining jewel” and saying she would like guests to leave it the way they found it. Bry said the message reiterated the same checkout instructions she said she had already followed, and closed with, “sorry you didn’t feel the need to follow them.”
Bry allegedly responded to the host directly, telling her she was confused because she had followed the checkout instructions “to a T.” She said the host did not reply to that message.
Bry then sent a follow-up message telling the host that the review could affect her future bookings, particularly because the host had stated she could not recommend her to other hosts. Bry said she asked the host for proof of the mess.
According to Bry, the host’s only response was, “I spoke to my housekeeper and I believe her.” Bry said no photos or other evidence of the alleged mess were ever provided to her.
Bry said the host also referenced the 4-star rating in her message, stating that if she had known Bry planned to mention the ants, she would have told her that pest spray was available.
She considered reporting the host but ultimately decided not to, saying she no longer wished to continue using Airbnb. In the video, she questioned why guests are expected to clean before checkout when hosts also employ housekeepers, and argued that following checkout instructions should be viewed as a courtesy rather than an obligation.
Bry closed the video by saying, “Airbnb needs to be shut down because these people are getting ridiculous and out of pocket, and I’m sick of it.” In the caption of her post, she tagged Airbnb directly, writing, “@airbnb you gotta get these hosts under wraps.” As of writing, Airbnb has not publicly responded to Bry’s video.
Accounts of similar disputes have circulated elsewhere online. In a post on the r/Airbnb subreddit, a guest described a comparable situation in which a host allegedly left a negative review claiming the guest had left the kitchen “overly dirty,” despite the guest saying they had rinsed the dishes and left them in the sink because washing dishes was not listed in the checkout instructions.
In that case, the guest said the host had asked her, prior to checkout, “please don’t leave a bad review,” after the guest had requested a partial refund over an unusable amenity. Other Airbnb guests have separately described large disputed cleaning fees charged after checkout, including a case in which a guest said she was billed hundreds of dollars over claims she disputed. In a separate incident, a guest said she encountered a listing that turned out to be fake after finding the door codes she was given did not work.
According to Airbnb’s published reviews policy, reviews are expected to be “relevant, authentic, trustworthy” and must comply with the company’s content policy. The policy states that hosts and guests may file a “review dispute” if they believe a review violates these standards.
Airbnb’s policy specifically addresses disagreements over star ratings, stating that a review “won’t be removed solely due to disagreement or dissatisfaction with the star rating.” The policy gives an example nearly identical to Bry’s situation, noting that a positive-sounding review paired with a lower star rating does not, on its own, qualify for removal.
The policy also states that reviews containing “subjective opinions” about a stay, such as comments on cleanliness, are generally not eligible for removal, since the reviewer’s perspective “may provide helpful information to future guests.” This suggests that a host’s description of a unit as “messy” would likely fall under subjective opinion rather than a policy violation.
Separately, Airbnb’s policy prohibits “retaliatory” reviews, but defines them narrowly. Under the policy, a review is only considered retaliatory if the reviewer had committed a policy violation, was notified of it, and then left a biased review specifically because that violation was reported. Airbnb’s policy also notes that this determination “may be applied differently in different places to reflect what local law requires.” Bry’s account does not indicate that this specific sequence applies to her case.
The policy also bars hosts and guests from using reviews to “pressure” another user or to threaten a negative review in an effort to obtain “unwarranted compensation, refund, or other incentive.” Separately, Airbnb’s general ground rules for guests, as cited in the Reddit thread, state that cleaning fees are “only meant to cover the cost of standard cleaning between reservations,” and that guests are expected only to avoid leaving a listing in a state requiring “excessive or deep cleaning.”
Airbnb states that any review found to violate its reviews policy may be removed, and that, depending on the violation, an associated listing or account could face restriction, suspension, or removal.
Several commenters on Bry’s video described similar experiences. One commenter wrote, “Had the same experience in Paris. Huge cleaning fee and got a bad review because be hadn’t done enough, even though we had cleaned when we got there because they hadn’t. Unbelievable.”
Another commenter described a dispute over early check-in, writing, “I asked for early check in as I’m sitting in the driveway and they said no the cleaners are finishing up and I had already been sitting there for a hour 😂 got there earlier than anticipated and sat there for a hour to get the code.”
A third commenter wrote, “I no longer air bnb way to many rules and no matter how clean you leave it it’s never good enough.”
Published: Jul 2, 2026 10:02 am