Articles tagged “house parties”

New union leader Gwen Mills is preparing for tough negotiations as contracts between hotel groups and about 40,000 hotel workers are set to expire.

Life is often a series of tradeoffs, right? Such is the case for Airbnb, which is testing new anti-house party technology in the U.S. and Canada that would steer some…

Please check your pandemic-era assumptions at the door. Hotels have gained ground on online travel agencies. Also, the blockbuster summer travel season may be slightly less so.

On the road toward its IPO, Airbnb has engaged in nonstop publicity about its efforts to crack down on house parties. Another less-noticed part of that effort is when Airbnb blocks these bookings of whole homes, it encourages users to book hotels instead.

Airbnb banned one-night stays, but only around Halloween in the U.S. and Canada. An outright ban, as is the policy at Vrbo, would be harder for Airbnb because that would hurt its corporate travel business. Still, house parties are a problem that may keep on creating ugly headlines.

Airbnb looks to be cleaning up some overhangs before its anticipated initial public offering, including being fairly aggressive about promoting its crackdown on wayward house parties in its rentals. In case investors ask about the issue, Airbnb has an answer.

Wild house parties are certainly not in the interests of short-term rental platforms because of the brand hits and potential liability. Airbnb's limited steps won't end the problem, but it may reduce the volume — in more ways than one.

Airbnb has avoided these policies under the guise of being just a platform, much like the rest of the tech platform companies. We just hope at some point that tragedies are not the only way to propel change that lots of stakeholders have been asking for all along.

House parties and out-of-control guests are the scourge of Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms. The industry has to fix this — fast.