Airbnb is clamping down on people booking party houses for Indy 500 weekend.
Airbnb banned large or disruptive parties two years ago. It’s now adding extra precautions for Memorial Day weekend. The company will block you from booking a single-night rental that weekend unless you have a history of positive reviews from hosts. Two-night rentals without a track record will get extra scrutiny before they’re approved.
Spokesman Ben Breit says the new policy debuted nationwide over Fourth of July weekend last year. In Indianapolis, it resulted in 360 rejected bookings. Breit acknowledges some of those probably had no intention of throwing parties, but says that’s a tradeoff the company is comfortable making.
The new policy will be in effect again for Fourth of July weekend this year.
Rentals of three nights or more are unaffected. Breit says Airbnb has found those longer bookings typically aren’t where the problems come up.
Airbnb’s website includes a “neighborhood support hotline” for neighbors of Airbnb homes to report complaints about suspected disturbances.
