Thinking of throwing a wild party at an Airbnb this Halloween?
Think again.
On Oct. 2, Airbnb announced that customers will not be able to make one night-bookings for entire home listings on Friday, Oct. 30 or Saturday, Oct. 31 anywhere in Canada or the United States.
For previously booked reservations meeting the above criteria, Airbnb will cancel and reimburse the guests. Also, the company will fully pay for the guest reimbursements – meaning hosts who have confirmed bookings cancelled will still receive payment.
"The great majority of guests are respectful of our hosts’ homes and neighbours, and we understand that this initiative will disrupt many one-night reservations that might not have led to parties," states Airbnb in a news release.
"This action is designed to help protect our hosts and the communities they live in. We will also be introducing additional measures to complement the two-night minimum in an effort to stop as many large gatherings as possible."
As the Halloween weekend approaches, Airbnb says it plans to deploy more stringent restrictions on, "two- and three-night reservations that may pose a heightened risk for parties."
The company adds that it will "significantly expand the radius of its technology" that restricts certain local and last-minute bookings by guests without a history of positive reviews on Airbnb.
Back in August, Airbnb announced a ban on all parties and events at all of its listings around the world, until further notice.
As the spooky weekend approaches, the company says to will emphasize to guests that parties are not allowed in listings. Customers will also be required to attest that they understand that they may be subject to removal from Airbnb or legal action if they violate Airbnb’s rules on parties.
In case any individuals are able to avoid Airbnb’s defences and host parties, trained agents from Airbnb’s neighbourhood support line will be on call throughout the weekend to quickly respond to issues raised by neighbours.
When the pandemic was declared, the company says it updated its policies to ensure appropriate physical distancing by removing both the “event-friendly” search filter from our platform as well as “parties and events allowed” House Rules from any event-friendly listings. In addition, it introduced a new policy requiring all users to adhere to local COVID-19 public health mandates.
