It's not a real holiday if you have to clean up when you leave (2024)

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For one brief moment, I thought housekeeping had forgotten to make up the room. The bed still unmade. A towel was cast across the back of a chair. And a coffee cup remained on the table.

Then I remembered. I was back home. Tidying up was once again down to me.

It plays this way often after returning from a holiday. Those few days away are not just about being somewhere different, seeing new sights, exploring unfamiliar territory, tasting exotic food.

They're also about taking a break from your everyday life - not worrying about making the bed, returning the towel to the bathroom or putting the used crockery in the dishwasher.

That's why I'll happily pay for a room in a quality hotel, where I'm spared the mundane chores while someone else makes a living doing them.

It's also why I've never warmed to the idea of staying in an Airbnb, where the onus is on me to tidy up after my stay - or risk a hefty cleaning charge. Why go all the way to Tokyo or Barcelona just to wash up, vacuum and sweep? One does enough of that at home.

Wringing the most from my holiday is not the only reason Airbnbs and other short-stay rentals don't appeal.

I live in a holiday town where too much of the housing stock is devoted for short-term accommodation, which drives up the rents for locals. While the number of short-stay rentals in Australia's cities has declined by about 15 per cent since the pandemic, the number has grown in the regions.

In coastal hotspots like Byron Bay, the lack of housing for the workers needed to sustain the local economy became so grim, some business operators took to buying up properties so their staff could be accommodated. In response the Byron Shire imposed a cap of 60 nights per year, to howls of protest from operators.

And in smaller places, like Currarong on the South Coast of NSW, the prevalence of short-stay rentals was so high, the village was essentially stripped of its permanent population. It became a great place to visit but no one lived there, which meant the local doctor had to pack up and leave.

Thankfully, most of the visitors to my town are respectful. Things can get a bit rowdy at peak times - and there are always morons who think setting off fireworks is a human right on hols. But it's in the off-season you realise how too many short-term rentals can turn a place into a ghost town.

In Victoria, the government has imposed a 7.5 per cent levy on short-stay rentals, which comes into effect on January 1 next year. Other states are considering similar levies, as well as reducing the number of nights properties can be rented out on a short-stay basis.

It's a difficult balancing act because many of the popular destinations rely on tourists to sustain their economies. But if there are no houses for workers, those economies suffer in other ways.

My preference for hotels over short-stay rentals has led me to some entertaining and eccentric establishments.

The Beresford Arms in San Francisco, where the person at reception was more pitbull than human - until she realised we were Australian and beamed a friendly smile - but the room was clean and comfortable.

The joint in Jodhpur, which looked like a Mughal palace in the photos - but was staffed by people who clearly would have preferred to be anywhere else but where they were working.

At the end of the day, staff attitudes didn't matter. Housekeeping came and went and I had that well-earned break from the mundanity of ordinary life.

HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you prefer hotels or Airbnbs? Would you be put off staying in a short-stay rental if you faced a hefty cleaning bill? Or are you one of those people who takes your accommodation with you - a tent, campervan, caravan or motorhome? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

- Former NSW Liberal premier Dominic Perrottet is quitting politics after 13 years in state parliament, taking up an overseas role with resources giant BHP. Mr Perrottet, 41, had also served as treasurer, minister for industrial relations and minister for finance, services and property in the former coalition government.

- Women could be better protected if domestic violence perpetrators were treated more like violent extremists, an Australian Institute of Criminology report has suggested. Even when high-risk domestic violence perpetrators are known to authorities, many go on to commit homicide due to a lack of communication between agencies.

- A relentless feed of disturbing stories fuelled by the news mantra "if it bleeds it leads" makes social media a breeding ground for despair and anxiety, a study says. A team of international researchers quizzed university students from Iran and the US on how often they 'doom-scrolled' through negative news, how anxious they felt about their existence, whether they believed that the world is a fair place, and how they felt about humanity.

THEY SAID IT: "No hotels have gone out of business because of Airbnb ... Airbnb is not a perfect substitute for a hotel. We excel at different things." - Nathan Blecharczyk, Airbnb co-founder

YOU SAID IT: Garry confessed a begrudging new attitude towards the softer Donald Trump, which emerged after the assassination but wondered whether a leopard could really change its spots.

Bernard writes: "Haven't changed my views about Trump, but worry that too many of us think the US is a democracy. And why do people assume that because Vance claimed Trump could be 'America's Hitler', that Trump would see that as a negative?"

"Shame, Garry," writes Peter. "There can be no admiration, begrudging or not, for Donald Trump. Being shot at does not stop him from being an egotistical buffoon who wants to be a dictator, and whose campaign is a Trojan horse for a far-right-wing takeover of our most powerful ally. In the wake of the assassination attempt, too many people seem to have forgotten that another Trump presidency would be a disaster for the whole world. Let's remember the 1930s, and what they led to."

Stuart writes: "The world is again back at the bottom of the leadership circle where we are desperate for strong leadership to replace the weak leadership. Trump is positioned as a strong leader. Here in Australia we are desperate for a Trump."

"My opinion of Trump has not changed," writes Elaine. "He has demonstrated that he is a liar, bragging about himself constantly. Self-praise is not an endorsem*nt. Trump is a great example why I remain a monarchist. Just imagine Australia with a copy of him in power."

Lee writes: "I haven't changed my view about Trump. He is simply playing a different role at the moment like any good actor. I think the Trump we got last time will be the Trump we get this time. I also hope we never end up with a Trump-like figure in our politics. He is an unstable narcissist sociopath."

"If anything, The Orange One's performative skills, post-bullet, have only consolidated my views on this man's utterly amoral existence," writes David. "He will say and do anything, act any part, whine and whinge about his 'unfair treatment' as long as the focus is on him. All of this would almost be comical if it were not for the danger he poses to his country and any state having anything to do with the US. Even as an atheist I have a greater understanding of spirituality than Donnie, the American Jesus. How people can fall for his propaganda and bluster is one of the great human mysteries."

Bill writes: "I assume you are just sh*t-stirring. Or, as my 10-year-old grandson says, 'Are you being sarcastic, Da?' Trump is just polishing up the old turd to appeal to independent voters, a deliberate and cynical compare and contrast exercise for inattentive voters worried about Biden."