Airbnb Encourages Hosts to Buy Party Pooper Devices

Airbnb is encouraging hosts to buy smart "party prevention" devices that can cost over $100 in an attempt to stop parties that could get out of hand. — *Image: Airbnb/Victor Tangermann*

Party Pooper

Airbnb is encouraging hosts to buy smart “party prevention” devices in an attempt to stop parties that could get out of hand.

The smoke detector-resembling sensors, by smart home companies Minut, NoiseAaware and Roomonitor, can detect changes in the noise level, temperature, and even humidity. They frequently cost $100 or more.

Plug & Play

All hosts have to do is plug ’em into an outlet. Then, if anything out of the ordinary is going on, the narc devices will send them an alert.

It’s an arguably weak solution to what has turned into a major issue for Airbnb: In December, company decided to crack down on parties after a Halloween shooting at a San Francisco suburb Airbnb claimed the lives of five people.

Starting today, we are banning “party houses” and we are redoubling our efforts to combat unauthorized parties and get rid of abusive host and guest conduct, including conduct that leads to the terrible events we saw in Orinda. Here is what we are doing:
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) November 2, 2019

Don’t Invite Your Friends

The new rules: no more “open invite” parties, and stricter guest behavior rules surrounding noise levels, unauthorized parking, and smoking. Repeated violations could cause guests’ accounts to be booted from the service permanently.

But will smart devices sold for a hefty premium — not to mention an additional subscription fee of up to $10 a month — really stop parties from getting out of hand? That seems doubtful.

More on Airbnb: Airbnb Claims Its AI Can Predict Whether Guests Are Psychopaths