Ban on one night bookings Halloween

[Colleen253]

 

Anyone know where/when this was released? I don’t see anything on the Updates page and I didn’t get this notification from Airbnb myself.

[Michelle53]

@Inna22  On Sept 9th, the city council passed a permanent ban which goes into effect October 17th.

http://chicagoagentmagazine.com/2020/09/09/chicago-targets-party-houses-in-new-str-ordinance/

"Starting Oct. 17, property owners will no longer be able to rent out units on a single-night basis, which was billed by the mayor’s office as a way to crack down on party houses. Also, the new rule gives city residents more power to oppose STRs in their neighborhoods. Neighbors can already petition to have these arrangements banned in their precincts if they’re in certain low-density areas (typically, zoning districts 1, 2 and 3). With the passage of today’s ordinance, registered voters in more areas can come together and create Restricted Residential Zones, with the new rule expanding this right to those in residential zoning districts 3.5 through 5. Such restricted zones require at least 25% of registered voters within the precincts to agree to the prohibition."

https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/09/09/you-can-no-longer-rent-airbnbs-for-1-night-in-chicago-as-cit...

https://www.newsbreak.com/illinois/chicago/news/2057631625388/some-neighbors-relieved-as-chicago-ban...

[Lawrene0]

I got the notification, @Colleen253 . I had a couple -- perfect-fit outdoorsy guests with great reviews and who read the listing! -- booked for the treehouse for one night, Oct 31.

The cancellation shows as "cancelled penalty-free for both you and your guest". The dates are blocked on my calendar.

The guests are unhappy. 

I'm safe from the party they weren't going to throw. 

You asked when this was released. Must have been today. My email arrived this afternoon and says "today we're announcing..."

[Colleen253]

@Lawrene0  Did Airbnb block the dates?? You could still get a booking in excess of one night! That is senseless.

[Lawrene0]

@Colleen253 , they are showing as blocked on my side. I just did a guest-side search, and they are showing there as open, but when you try to book either night, a popup says "2-night minimum". 

So I was wrong. They are not blocked. They can be booked if the guest wants two or more nights. 

Also my notification says "Hosts who have confirmed reservations for these dates will still receive payment for the cancelled reservations." 

So I think I am being paid regardless? 

This time it is unfair only for the guests. 

[Lawrene0]

Bit sad about the update to this. Today I received notice of a small "misc credit". 

Weird. I didn't think I was owed anything. I did have a same-day COVID cancellation from April that I thought should count for the half-of-25% or whatever, even with my flexible cancellation policy. Looked it up. It wasn't that.

I wrote to CS to ask, since there was no identifier on it at all. Got an answer within hours. Turns out it is my system-cancelled Halloween payout. It amounts to a third of what I would have received for that booking.

When they said we would be paid, they didn't say we would be paid in full. 

However, Halloween is still a couple of weeks away. Maybe the other two-thirds will show up on November 1? 

Oh, quit laughing right now! I mean it!

It's cool. It's something at least, and I don't have to enhance-clean anything for that night. 

Anyway, my poor cancelled guest rearranged her calendar and booked a new date and didn't yell at me at all, so that's a happier update.

This was interesting, though: When her original Oct 31 date was cancelled, I got three sketchy enquiries/requests (they couldn't IB, thank goodness!) for that date. One said, "I see there is a two-night minimum to get October 31. Please book just that one night for us ASAP. We are in need of a break." The second, "I just want October 31. Can I pay you for the two nights and you can reimburse me for one of them?" The third was similar. 

So my perfect-fit hiker guests got cancelled and the wolves circled. 

[Lawrene0]

@Colleen253 : The other two-thirds of my system-cancelled Halloween night booking fee arrived today! We were paid in full for those! Both arrived as misc credits with no explanation, and neither CS nor I knew the second one was coming. Just wanted to update again in case anyone else is waiting for one of these. 

[Michelle53]

The way it worked for us is that, if you allowed one night stays, you would see the blocking on the calendar, but you would be able to take 2 day stays, or more.   

I think they've been fine tuning how it works over time, since they've had a few months experimenting on us to get it working. 

I've now just set my minimum to 2 days, and don't see any calendar blocking.  But guests who search for one night don't get any results.

[Anonymous]

@Colleen253  I'm on the fence with this one. On the one hand, this is a really heavy-handed intrusion that completely denies the agency of hosts who already have party prevention measures in place, and further erodes the already-dwindling trust people have in their bookings being secure. If I hadn't visited these forums over the last months, I'd be furious.

But of course I have been here and reading almost every day a new complaint from a host who got their house wrecked by a party that was completely within their power to prevent. How many hundreds of big-ticket damage claims have to be processed because these hosts can't be bothered to take their own measures to monitor and maintain control of their own property? I'd rather Airbnb just be a listing service, but clearly they're serving a lot of people who are in over their heads and think it's also supposed to be their security service and their insurance policy.

[Colleen253]

@Anonymous  I get it.

Parties have never been and never will be an issue for me. Not a risk. Period. I have accepted one night bookings since day one and will continue to (as long as Airbnb LETS me) without issue. 

Incidentally, in the year I’ve been hosting, and in amongst the many one night stays, the ONLY time I’ve had a major issue with any stay, it was a SEVEN nighter (not even a party but an ‘issue‘ nonetheless)

The bad apples ruin the whole bunch.

[Anonymous]

@Colleen253  Your house is awesome,  I can imagine the listing might attract some party interest if the location was  a bit less secluded. But you also have some solid rules about extra guests and security cameras - so in the event that someone tries to sneak a party into there, it sounds like you're prepared to nip it in the bud.  I wouldn't go so far as to say it's "not a risk" just because it hasn't happened yet, but you've at least made some reasonable choices to reduce the risk. 

[Colleen253]

@Anonymous  Fair enough. In addition to the listing setup, we live next door. The risk is so low as to be nil.

[Stephanie365]

@Anonymous , I agree.  

While I understand they are doing damage control (there is a reporter in San Francisco who loves to report on AirBNB, both good and bad), they still need to give hosts the option to override their protocols.

I am at absolute zero risk for a party. My listing is a guest suite so it's listed as a separate entity vs shared space. There should be some way I can have the final say on who can and cannot book. Like a check-box saying, "I understand that AirBNB has implemented these restrictions to minimize the risks of parties. By checking this box, I assume all risk for a party in my accommodation."  This way I can allow one night bookings on Halloween and I can allow guests who are under 25 with no reviews to book my place.

I am not in the heart of a "destination location" where I am booked all the time. I'm in BFE where there are more cows than people.  My bread and butter is the weekends and 90% of my bookings are made within 48 hours of check in for people looking for a quick getaway. Most of my guests live within 1-2 hours of me. 

I lost a booking last weekend because AirBNB wouldn't let a 24 year old woman book my home because she had no reviews. I should be able to say, "It's ok. I approve."

As for people who do wind up having parties at their places, I do feel bad for them. But like you say, there are measures one can take to prevent parties. If they can't be bothered to take those measures, then they get what they deserve.

[Emilia42]

The crazy thing is that Airbnb pushes hosts to drop prices so low that an entire home listing for the weekend is basically free when split between 25 people. Guests will catch on. If the party is on Saturday, they might as well rent the Friday night too.

[Colleen253]

@Emilia42  Yes, BONUS! Why NOT party for two nights straight then, at bargain basement prices? 🙄

[Sharon1014]

@Colleen253 @Emilia42   Exactly what I thought.  A PR exercise but with the sly added benefit of compelling wanna be guests to book 2 nights instead of 1.  One for the main party, then the other night for the "before or after party" party. 

With such short notice, figure the invites had already gone out, so what is a guest hosting a Halloween house party supposed to do at the last minute?  Solution= book 2 nights at the same place.  Would be interesting to see what proportion of guests rebook the same accom for 2 nights instead of 1.