Parties at vacation rentals sometimes raise the ire of neighbors when holiday revelry gets out of hand.
Airbnb announced this week it is rolling out “anti-party technology” across the U.S. this summer, including in Atlanta. The system will be in effect for two upcoming holiday weekends: Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.
The goal of the system, which is being deployed for the fourth straight year, is to uphold Airbnb’s Community Disturbance Policy, which bans “disruptive parties, events, noise, or other disruptive behaviors and actions,” by looking at a range of factors to identify and prevent attempts to book one-to-two-night stays in entire home listings that could be higher risk for disruptive parties.
Parameters looked at include the type of listing being booked, the duration of the stay, the distance to the listing from the guest’s primary location and if the booking is last minute. If an attempted booking is flagged, the user is either blocked or redirected to alternative listing options.
According to the announcement, this anti-party technology led to 51,000 people being blocked or redirected from listings over the same two holiday weekends last year. This includes approximately 900 people in Atlanta and 2,400 across Georgia, according to Airbnb.
Despite these measures, Airbnb notes that disruptive parties are a relatively rare occurrence but are nonetheless “committed to working to reduce the risk and helping hosts promote positive experiences in their homes and local neighborhoods.”
Since introducing the party ban in 2020, the company has seen a 50% decline in the rates of parties reported at U.S. bookings; in Atlanta, that number jumps to a 57% decline. Only .15% of Atlanta reservations resulted in party allegations in 2024, according to Airbnb.
In addition to the screening, Airbnb offers other resources, including tips for hosts, free noise sensors for hosts and support and safety lines for hosts, guests and neighbors.
Vrbo, a similar short-term rental business, has a “strict no-party house policy,” but has not announced a plan similar to Airbnb’s for the holiday weekends. Vrbo’s website, however, includes expectations for both guests and hosts, noting that if someone causes or fails to handle a disturbance, respectively, they will not be allowed to be involved in the rental process in the future. Vrbo also offers Stay Neighborly, which allows neighbors of rental sites to report any nuisance concerns.
Memorial Day weekend is the launch of the summer travel season for many, and auto club AAA says some 1.4 million Georgians will travel at least 50 miles from home this holiday weekend.
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