Airbnb requiring 2-night stays for New Year's Eve to prevent house parties
Guests who hold unauthorized parties could face legal action from Airbnb
Airbnb doesn’t want any house parties this New Year’s Eve.
On Thursday, the vacation rental platform announced that it will not allow certain guests to book one night stays on New Year’s Eve.
Instead, guests who don’t have good reviews on the platform will be required to stay for at least two nights at a rental, if they’re booking an entire house.
The policy is meant to deter people from holding unauthorized house parties or large gatherings, which have a high risk of spreading the coronavirus, the CDC says -- at their rentals over the holiday.
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According to the announcement, the policy does not apply to “guests who have a history of positive reviews on Airbnb,” or to people who have already booked one-night reservations because people who book New Year’s Eve rentals earlier “very rarely” hold unauthorized parties, according to the company.
Airbnb will not allow certain guests to book one-night rentals of an entire house over New Year's Eve in order to prevent unauthorized house parties, the company said Thursday. (iStock)
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The restriction is effective starting Thursday and will apply in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Mexico, Australia, France and Spain, the announcement said.
If guests hold unauthorized house parties at their rental, Airbnb said it may pursue legal action against those guests and remove their accounts from the platform.
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“This plan marks the latest of a number of recent changes to our platform to meet this specific public health moment, prioritize safe and responsible travel, and do our part to try and stop large gatherings that can spread this virus,” Airbnb said in the announcement.
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This isn’t the first time Airbnb has put restrictions on one-night reservations to prevent house parties.
The platform banned one-night reservations in the U.S. and Canada over Halloween weekend, which successfully cut down on unauthorized parties, according to the announcement.
However, some hosts said they wanted guests with a history of positive reviews to be able to make one-night reservations, which is why Airbnb added the caveat to New Year’s Eve bookings.
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Back in August, Airbnb banned parties globally and capped occupancy at 16 people for all its listings as a way to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.