Airbnb Makes Its Party Ban Permanent (cnbc.com) 73
Airbnb on Tuesday announced a global ban on parties, following a temporary restriction it put in place two years ago. CNBC reports: The company is permanently banning "disruptive parties and events," which include open-invite gatherings. "Party houses," which people book to throw a large event for just one night, will stay banned as well. Airbnb placed a ban on party houses and rolled out several safety features in 2019 after five people were killed in a shooting at one of its bookings. In 2020, the company instituted a global ban on all parties as the pandemic hit.
Airbnb said that since it implemented its policy in August 2020, it has seen a 44% year-over-year drop in the rate of party reports. "The temporary ban has proved effective, and today we are officially codifying the ban as our policy," the company said in a blog post. Airbnb said guests who attempt to violate its rules will face consequences varying from account suspension to full removal from the platform. In 2021, for example, more than 6,600 guests were suspended from Airbnb for violating its party ban.
Airbnb said that since it implemented its policy in August 2020, it has seen a 44% year-over-year drop in the rate of party reports. "The temporary ban has proved effective, and today we are officially codifying the ban as our policy," the company said in a blog post. Airbnb said guests who attempt to violate its rules will face consequences varying from account suspension to full removal from the platform. In 2021, for example, more than 6,600 guests were suspended from Airbnb for violating its party ban.
Just Parties? (Score:5, Interesting)
My wife tried to book an AirBnB for an academic symposium with a bunch of old professors and post grads. Absolutely not allowed. I wouldn't describe it as a party ban. It's an "any gathering" ban.
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Anyway, I rent my country domain often for all kinds of parties. I just ask for a sensible deposit equivalent to about half the cost that would incur to rebuild the whole thing. Business is profitable so far.
Never once did it cross my mind to do business with airbnb although.
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BnB is an abbreviation for Bed and Breakfast. Renting places for gatherings would definitely be feature creep. (Also feature creep: the use of the word "symposium" for something which isn't a party).
Re:Just Parties? (Score:4, Insightful)
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It's not even cut rate anymore.
It's just as, if not more, expensive as a hotel
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My wife tried to book an AirBnB for an academic symposium with a bunch of old professors and post grads. Absolutely not allowed. I wouldn't describe it as a party ban. It's an "any gathering" ban.
As it should be.
AirBNB is not renting out convention centres, it's renting out lodging.
Face it, we use AirBNB because it's cheaper than a hotel, but it's pretty much the same type of product with a few less frills that we don't need. I like AirBNB because it's easy to find entire apartments in many cities that is a lot cheaper than renting a serviced apartment, but the service is not quite as good).
With AirBNB, ask yourself "would an ordinary hotel put up with what I'm planning" and if the answer i
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If I'm going to be staying away from home for a few days, I'd rather have somewhere with a kitchen where I can cook for myself.
I've stayed in several Air BnB's, and about 30% of them didn't have legit kitchens; a microwave and a sink isn't a kitchen.
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If I'm going to be staying away from home for a few days, I'd rather have somewhere with a kitchen where I can cook for myself.
I've stayed in several Air BnB's, and about 30% of them didn't have legit kitchens; a microwave and a sink isn't a kitchen.
The airBnB we used to host certainly didn't have a kitchen and was priced accordingly.
That didn't stop someone staying there for 9 months, working on a contract at the large employer a short distance away. The pizza boxes were numerous.
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My wife tried to book an AirBnB for an academic symposium with a bunch of old professors and post grads.
TBH that sounds like something a party host would say, to try to talk their way into renting my house (I'm a former owner of an anrbnb) so that hey can throw a wild party there. You are probably completely honest about your intent, but I'd be very skeptical and would have turned you down if you gave me that reason.
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I'm a former owner of an AirBnB too, so I've seen it from both sides. But ours was akin to a hotel room. Not a whole house.
The host was OK with it - the rooms were big enough to host a few people during the day. My wife asked and explained the use - that's when AirBnB kicked in and said no way.
Lesson - Don't ask through the AirBnB interface.
This is why we can't... (Score:3)
Re: This is why we can't... (Score:2)
Because people are phy$ically destructive(slam..click)
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Because people are overly risk-averse. Unwilling to accept any chance of anyone being (gasp) unsafe ever. In other words because of petty tyrants addicted to whatever shred of power they get into their greedy hands. In short, Karens.
You truly fail to understand the problem here.
In my major metropolitan area, most AirBnB locations are run by absentee owners that never check on the property until the rental is over. So the places get out of control and sometimes require police intervention.
The problem with out of control AirBnB locations has forced the city council to consider a city law requiring all AirBnB locations to be considered as 'hotels' and must therefore be located on property zoned for 'hotels'.
So...out of control renters..
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What you're saying is that you want owners to have to be present. You present no evidence this is necessary.
>So the places get out of control and sometimes require police intervention.
In any greater numbers than other places? Large enough numbers that special intervention is actually necessary? Do you have proof of this?
>The problem with out of control AirBnB locations has forced the cit
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Apparently you've never had to clean up after a massive open party at your own property before.
I have not, fortunately, but we know of at least one person who helped clean up after a toddler had a temper tantrum [cbsnews.com] and threw his meal against the wall leaving ketchup stains everywhere.
Re: This is why we can't... (Score:4, Interesting)
No its your place - they have right to book if they accept whatever contractual terms you see fit to impose. Just like AirBnB has right to set the terms of what you may list on their platform under what terms.
There are facilities and venues that allow open parties. They are not unhappy about the clean up or repairs required after either. They have people or sub contractors for that, they contracts with whoever did the booking that make that party liable for the repair costs and clean-up if the property is left in some worse than prearranged condition. AND most importantly they have collected a large enough security deposit to cover the bulk of those costs should the be incurred ahead of time.
Equally importantly such places have plans and facilities in place around state and local requirements for things like fire code related occupancy limits, sanitary services, security, safety equipment like AEDs etc.
So here is the problem for AirBnB they have no facility to make sure a property meets any sort of legal requirements for hosting large semi-public events. They don't know if an owner considered the costs which could be incurred and difficulty in collecting if the renter ends up being a dead beat and refusing to cover damages. AirBnB does not see these problems as their problems but they darn well KNOW various counter parties WILL try and make them their problems if something happens; a property is seriously trashed, someone is hurt or killed, etc. So they have decided they simply don't want to permit these types of rental agreements to be marketed on their platform. There is noting wrong with that at all, and its a reasonable/responsible call to make on their end because the alternative would probably be both a lot of additional and very costly due diligence (not without its own risk or someone accusing them of discrimination or something) and some really expensive umbrella insurance policies.
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I said nothing like that. Nothing even approaching that. Take a breather dude. My argument is that AirBNB shouldn't be forbidding legal uses of the property. If you're renting out your own place you're free to put whatever restrictions you like on it.
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Re: This is why we can't... (Score:2)
People binge on AirBNB disaster stories like they do watching Youtube videos of anchor chain fails (this is actually a thing).
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Actual owners of property will tend to keep things reasonably under control since they actually have to live there and face their neighbors. They also have the limitation that the more often the police have to respond to an out of control party they are hosting, the higher the fines go and eventually fed up cops just haul everyone away and THEN decide to release them.
That limits how often the neighbors will face problems from out of control parties.
Absentee owners that just lease out to random people every
Re: This is why we can't... (Score:2)
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You call it a panic and call for evidence in areas where it's inappropriate.
What we have here is a simple rule that can prevent a lot of problems. Little is lost in having the rule. There's no need to hire a detective to dig up evidence; it's clear that the rule is precisely targeted at problem behaviour.
There may be other rules that could do the job, like "make things opt-in for the owner for parties/gatherings". So what? AirBnB decided to pick a low-fuss way to resolve it, and leave the "party rentals" ma
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Its obviously such a problem that AirBnB put a complete stop to all parties.
Re: This is why we can't... (Score:2)
There have been a lot of shootings at AirBNB parties. Yeah, your neighbors are bound to get pissed off when there are bullets slamming into their sleeping child's bedroom.
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It's not just a problem with parties getting out of control - it's more a problem of the neighbours having to live next door to a house that has parties every weekend - which even if they are well controlled is still bloody annoying and generally disruptive of the local neighbourhood, especially if parking is already tight in the area.
Because of this, AirBnB is getting increasingly tightly regulated by local councils, so they have to take thi smeasure to protexct their own business, least it become complete
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Who the heck are you white knighting here?
Himself? It's the "I have a right to do whatever the fuck I like, fuck you asshole" attitude. Note this attitude is absolute: it doesn't matter who owns or even pays for the stuff or who is hurt by the actions.
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The people who own the property should be required to have proper insurance to cover parties. Not just the damage to their own property, but compensation for any disturbance to neighbours.
Being a landlord should not be cheap. It should come with many responsibilities.
Good now how about we ban Airbnb (Score:2, Insightful)
I keep saying this and I know it doesn't go over well but if we keep screwing over gen Z to the extent that we're doing
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By renting out residential properties? How do these zoning laws benefit the community and how is violating them hurting the community?
>They're massively driving up the cost of housing and rent
How, other than people choosing to rent out their houses for more money where high rent, short term tenets are available? If it's only that, why should it be forbidden?
> rent-seeking
Rent seeking is the practice of standing between two parties in a potential relation
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And rent seeking is just what it sounds like it means seeking rent. It means trying to get paid for owning things instead of making things or doing useful things. It can be tolerated to a point because there are some cases where rentals are desirable. We are far enoug
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We are far enough path to that point where we're going to start seeing Mass homelessness.
No, what ends up happening is a greater number of people will just get priced out of the "middle class lifestyle". Taking the bus and living in subsidized apartments will just be the norm for an ever increasing percentage of the population. People aren't going to rise up and revolt, because we've got this great indoctrination program going on where we start telling new citizens right from childhood that it is your own fault if you don't become successful.
Why do you think there's such a big push from conse
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Re: Good now how about we ban Airbnb (Score:2)
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As for reasons for the laws banning short term rentals, I could come up with a few, but it doesn't matter since in USA any type of businesses can absolutely be banned from an area where residents want it banned. As long as the law is n
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By RENTING.
Seriously, how difficult is this to understand?
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I keep saying this and I know it doesn't go over well but if we keep screwing over gen Z to the extent that we're doing so well, let's just think about what that's going to mean. They're on to the teeth and we're about to make large swaths of them homeless. That seems like a really really bad idea.
If that's the case, then subverting zoning laws sounds like a good thing. Homelessness is overwhelmingly caused by high housing prices [twitter.com] which in turn is caused by restrictive zoning laws. [mercatus.org] Maybe we should just get of the zoning laws altogether, not defend them.
Re: Good now how about we ban Airbnb (Score:2)
Where did you live 100 years ago if you were poor? You could live in a crappy apartment in the city, but you'd only do that if you had a job there.
Otherwise, you'd just build a shack in the woods somewhere and get by on your own, maybe with a small farm and some animals.
This is impossible now. We've made too many laws to p
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The problem you are describing is ultimately with zoning laws and permitting in general, not AirBNB. Let people build on property they own at cost if they intend to live in the house and rezone all property along major roadways as multifamily residential. Right now in California it is more expensive to build a house than to buy one.
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I finally tried Airbnb recently, for a weekend trip out of town. I traveled with a couple of friends to visit with other mutual friends and to get a mini vacation out of it.
The house we booked was perfect for us... We each got our own bedroom and there was a full, and fully stocked kitchen and dining area. They even provided everything needed to grill (except the food) on a back yard BBQ grill, as well as a treadmill in the living room for anyone wanting to use it.
The owners put out a 3 ring binder full of
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Youâ(TM)ve gotta fight (Score:2)
That's entirely reasonable (Score:5, Interesting)
I love Airbnbs because I hate hotels. I don't like the sameness or the emptiness of being in that sort of space. I think it's cool to be in a space where someone lives, but I'm always going to respect that it is their space and not mine.
That being said, one of my favorite Airbnb adventures was booking one in Chicago's Lakeview (Boystown) neighborhood, where I was supposed to get a $28 bedroom in a large single-family home.
The owners of the place saw my home address in Indiana and my funny colored hair and left their entire place, which could credibly called "Fuck Palace" empty for my use. They left mid-tier liquor out, told me to take the master bedroom (home to a discreet bowl of condoms and lubricating products) and left a very, very sweet note suggesting that I visit two specific bars down the street and drop their name in the name of a likely good time. I'm not even joking. It was heart-melting.
I was truly only staying there because I knew I'd be out at a comedy show later than the trains run out to where I actually live and thought the overnight stay in the gayborhood would be a fun novelty, but I've never had anything like that level of "Please have a party, get laid and godspeed" kind of vibe. That couple gave me love and support I never even knew was an option.
I did not have a party or get laid, 'cause that's just now how I am. I did go to a place known for its brunches the next day though.
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Did you heck for cameras in the light fixtures and alarm clock? It seems likely, and it's been a big problem at a number of Airbnb sites.
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Imma go out on a limb and guess that a pair of well preserved 50something physicians who live three blocks from the biggest bathhouse in Chicago PROBABLY have easier ways of getting off than checking out whatever the fuck I might be doing.
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I love Airbnbs because I hate hotels.
Staying at someone's house makes me feel obligated to keep things tidy and not disturb anyone by getting up for a Taco Bell run at 1AM. If I'm on vacation, that's not something I want to contend with.
It's moot though, I'm broke as fuck, so "vacation" isn't in my vocabulary. Plus, I already live near one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, so there's also that.
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I did not have a party or get laid, 'cause that's just now how I am.
I hear you bro. I too am perpetually two girls shy of a threesome.
BS (Score:3, Interesting)
Neighbor house is now AirB&B after retired guy passed away. Winter storm? Out of state folks blocked the street. Plow couldn't get through, took pics. Cops came, made 'em move.
Snowing, they made a beer run. Blocked driveway of guy across the street so he couldn't snowblow. They didn't answer the door. Cops called.
They lied to the cops about not knowing whose car their out of state plates belonged to. *rollseyes
Then in the AM honked horns parading up the street shouting to each other "happy birthday, great party!"
Neighborhood wrote the owner. Changed his listing.
I'd estimate every third booking is still a party despite his demand for none and their policy.
With no way to enforce such, people will keep abusing it.
How did we miss such a simple solution? (Score:2)
Incredible to think that the solution to stop all these mass shootings was just to ban house parties all along!
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Really, the shootings are just one extreme way a party can go out of bounds.
Party? (Score:2)
What is a "party"? Does it require going out of my basement?