Airbnb To Crack Down on Guests With Anti-Party Technology

by Rich Thomaselli
Last updated: 3:50 PM ET, Sat December 28, 2024

Not that we condone this, but it’s one thing to grab a couple of bars of soap and a towel on the way out of your lodging establishment when traveling.

It’s quite another to cause widespread damage and try to cheat the system.

So Airbnb is cracking down on some of its unruly guests with more technology and more monitoring.

The plan will start with anti-party technology this weekend for New Year’s Eve.

“The problem you have is when people rent your house saying it’s 3 or 4 people, and it ends up being 30 or 40 people who are at the house, then you’re disrupting the neighbors,” Cortney Newmans who currently owns four Airbnbs in Metro Atlanta and Athens told WSBTV.com. “Especially if they know you’re doing Airbnb and are looking after your property,” Newmans added. “Then you have a party, then that’s going to deter them from saying ‘hey we want Airbnb in this neighborhood’, especially if you have an HOA.”

A crackdown actually began four years ago, but technology has only gotten more widespread and better since then.

Last year, Airbnb said the technology prevented "around 33,000 people from booking New Year’s Eve parties" around the country.

“While issues are rare, we want to do our part to help reduce the risk of unauthorized and disruptive parties. Airbnb is committed to supporting hosts and the communities they live in, and we hope these defenses allow guests, hosts and neighbors to celebrate the holiday with added reassurance,” said Tara Bunch, the Global Head of Operations at Airbnb.

Airbnb made the addendum to its contract and regulations earlier this year.