Malcolm Henry
In a move similar to its shitty Halloween rule change, Airbnb is making it damn near impossible to rent a place on New Years Eve in an attempt to curb house parties.
The company announced it decision on Monday saying, in part, that unless you are a longstanding member with a zillion positive reviews that you can fvck off if you want to host a house party on New Years.
“Based upon their feedback, we’re announcing today that we will beef up this anti-party initiative even further and expand it to include three-night reservations as well,” Liz DeBold Fusco, a spokeswoman for the company, said in a written statement. “We are publicly communicating this initiative to help support our Columbus hosts and send a message to would-be partiers that we won’t tolerate that type of behavior on our platform.”
Airbnb announced some of these policy restrictions on Nov. 2 by banning guests without a lengthy history of positive reviews from making one-night reservations on Dec. 31, as well as preventing bookings for two-night stays in some cases.
Buzzkill.
Airbnb has now further squeezed more fun out of the night by placing restrictions on certain guests from making three-night reservations because the “may pose heightened risks for unauthorized parties,” according to the company.
Damn, you can’t rent an Airbnb for THREE NIGHTS if you want to have a party?
That is a lot of cash to throw around if you are getting a decent place.
According to the report, Airbnb used a similar — but less restrictive –rule over New Year’s Eve last year and it prevented nearly 250,000 people guests from booking rentals.
Airbnb has already began implemented limits on “party houses” after a 2019 incidcent where five people were shot and killed during a Halloween party in a California Airbnb.
Also, in August 2020, the company announced a global ban on “parties and events at Airbnb listings, with an occupancy cap of 16 people” — though who knows how they plan on enforcing that one…
Anyways, if you are still looking for a place to party on New Years it is looking like you need to find a friend with a shitty basement looking to get wrecked or a hotel. Unless you live in the South where the forecast is making a high school bonfire in the woods a real possibility.
Photo by Jonah Brown on Unsplash
