Airbnb to Blow the Whistle on Rowdy House Parties in Philly This Summer

You'll need to think twice if you want to throw an epic Memorial Day or Fourth of July weekend bash in Philadelphia while using Airbnb.

The vacation rental booking giant announced on Monday, May 19, that it will be cracking down on rowdy events using its anti-party detection technology to vet last-minute bookings for Memorial Day and Fourth of July weekends for the fourth summer in a row.

The platform, which officially banned such parties in 2020, rejected open-invite gatherings and property listing advertising rentals as perfect places for partying. It then began screening reservation requests during Halloween and New Year's Eve before it rolled out its policies to the summer holidays in 2022.

According to a Philadelphia Inquirer report, Airbnb's technology has been working. In a statement, the company said it has observed a 50% decrease in the rate of party reports since 2020. In 2024, less than 1% of Airbnb reservations in the United States led to a party. In Philly, that number was 600, about the same as it was in 2023, an Airbnb spokesperson confirmed for The Inquirer.

“Our anti-party technology is designed to help identify and prevent certain attempts to book one-to-two-night stays in entire home listings that could be higher risk for a disruptive party,” Airbnb reported in its statement.

According to Airbnb, its algorithm uses AI to study a range of factors to determine whether a reservation seems like a party. It considers the type of rental being booked, its duration, the listing's distance from the renter's primary location, and whether the reservation is a last-minute request. 

Airbnb is also encouraging neighbors to report out-of-control behavior with its Neighborhood Support Line. The 24-hour channel allows Airbnb community members to report issues like parties in progress and other concerns.