JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Airbnb has added restrictions for guests who want to rent a home on New Year’s Eve but don’t have a history of positive reviews. The company also opened up a hotline for people to report disruptive parties at Airbnb properties in their neighborhoods.
The company is trying to avoid loud parties, trashed rooms, ruined furniture and ransacked closets. It’s what homeowners Charlie Brim came home to after renting his house out to strangers.
“They took a bottle of red wine, and it looks like they just took the wine and spilled it all over the floor,” Brim said.
This is the kind of situation vacation rental platform Airbnb is trying to put a stop to, announcing additional crackdowns on hosts or visitors planning disruptive New Year’s Eve parties.
Ben Breit is the Trust and Communication Director at Airbnb. ″We know that last year, many thousands of people, in Florida alone were deterred from making bookings in the systems so we know there’s a meaningful impact,” Breit said.
The new rules are as follows:
- One night reservations – No positive reviews, no booking. Guests without a history of positive reviews will be prohibited from making reservations
- Two night reservations -Airbnb is “leveraging and amplifying” their technology to restrict certain bookings that may pose a party risk. This includes last minute bookings by people with NO positive Airbnb reviews.
- Airbnb has also set up a 24/7 urgent support line for both the hosts of the homes to use, as well as neighbors who are witnessing an unauthorized party,
″If they detect a potential party in progress, we want them to skip to the front of the line to get that urgent support so we can work with them, to prevent any disturbance,” Breit said. “You can access it at airbnb.com/neighbors.”
These New Year’s Eve restrictions are part of a larger worldwide effort by Airbnb to crack down on disruptive parties held at the short-term rental homes. Last year the company estimates they deterred nearly 250,000 parties globally. Locally, your also urged to contact your local police department if a party is getting out of hand.