Airbnb Canceling One Night Halloween Bookings To Deter “Party Houses” 

Airbnb is taking steps to prevent wild Halloween weekend parties at homes rented through its platform. New restrictions began on Wednesday and will last through the weekend that will limit large gatherings. 

For the second consecutive year, Airbnb has enforced temporary restrictions around Halloween to prevent parties. One-night reservations will be blocked this weekend for users without a history of positive reviews.

The vacation rentals platform also announced occupancy limitations to 16 and encouraged neighbors to report suspicious activity. 

Restrictions led to a 49% plunge in unauthorized parties for Halloween in the U.S. and Canada for 2020.

Last year, restrictions were first implemented after a Halloween party at a Bay Area Airbnb rental left five people dead in 2019. At the time, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said the company would examine measures to ban “party houses.” 

The company this year has published a set of rules for guests for this weekend: 

• For one-night reservations — Guests without a history of positive reviews on Airbnb will be prohibited from making one-night reservations in entire home listings.
• For two-night reservations — Airbnb will deploy more stringent restrictions on two-night reservations that may pose heightened risk for parties. For example, the company will use technology that restricts certain local and last-minute bookings by guests without a history of positive reviews on Airbnb and also block reservations within an expanded radius.
• Guests who have a history of positive reviews on Airbnb will not be subject to these restrictions.
• Guests making one or two-night reservations will need to attest that they understand Airbnb’s party ban and that they could face legal consequences for breaking the rules.

Airbnb expects their anti-party measures this Halloween weekend will deter “Project X” type style parties.