Airbnb is once again cracking down on unauthorized parties on New Year's Eve in Orlando and Kissimmee with restrictions on some reservations.
People without a history of positive reviews won’t be able to rent Airbnb properties in Orlando and Kissimmee for one-night over the New Year’s Eve weekend.
Spokesperson Ben Breit says the company is also using technology to defer last-minute two- and three- day bookings around the holiday.
Breit says cracking down on unauthorized parties is better for guests and hosts especially with Omicron cases surging throughout the US.
“This initiative is, has always been focused on trying to stop, you know, unauthorized parties disruptive gatherings. With this new variant beginning to spread, if it has the added impact of, hopefully, stopping a big party where a virus could spread then that’s great.”
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Breit says customers can call a special hotline available on the Airbnb website to report rowdy parties at Airbnb rentals.
“We definitely want to know about that. Because the sooner that we can begin working with a host to try to shut that down and to get it under control and get any kind of unauthorized guests out, the better I think both for the sanity of that neighbor and from a safety standpoint as well. So we really encourage any neighbors to utilize that line.”
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Last year alone, Airbnb blocked almost 2,000 rentals in the Central Florida area over the New Year's holiday due to their guidelines around parties.
