You want to know how to throw a party using Airbnb if you’re looking at having a little below or more than 16 friends. And Airbnb is very clear about restricting loud parties or related activities.
Even a super bowl get-together makes a party, even if you or your friends don’t plan on doing anything messy or loud, just drinking, playing music, and, perhaps, staying up late. But it’s still a party.
Airbnb will not check if you’re throwing a loud party or not. But if you get caught by your host or a neighbor reports you, your account could get banned. Airbnb may also take legal action against you.
Does Airbnb allow parties?
Generally, Airbnb’s community standards do not allow members to throw parties. Parties create a nuisance, which disturbs the next-door neighbors or surrounding neighborhood.
However, you may meet Airbnb’s standard by informing your potential host to make sure your expectations align for gatherings. Airbnb will not allow “disruptive parties and events”.
Airbnb now allows hosts with capable listings to host more than 16 people comfortably.
If Airbnb determines that a host’s listing has authorized a party that violates Airbnb’s party policy, which prohibits disrupting the surrounding community, the host may be contacted to update their rules or suspend the listing. The host may also be suspended indefinitely if they go ahead with the booking.
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How to throw a party using Airbnb
It’s almost easy to find an Airbnb that allows you to throw a party. Do the following:
1. Have a great profile
Your Airbnb profile says a lot about you. If you have excessive bad reviews, hosts will never want you to occupy their property, even if you don’t need it to throw a party.
Your review record with other hosts needs to be great too. If your profile shows you’ve been unfairly giving negative reviews to other hosts, no Airbnb host will want to associate with you.
Make sure to have an attractive and complete Airbnb profile. You should also complete your details as much as possible and add a clear profile picture of yourself.
2. Choose a listing suitable for events
Airbnb website features a filter search, which you can use to find a listing that suits your criteria. Just select the “Suitable for Events” filters under “House Rules”.
This filter shows that the host and the property are okay for guests to have an event or party that is not destructive and loud. However, most of the listings are not suitable for events and parties.
3. inform your potential host about the party
Don’t hide the fact that you need the listing for a party. Besides, if you’re more than 5 people, a host will already suspect that it could be a party gathering.
Hosts have their policies and house rules, so it’s left for you to inform them beforehand. They may make an exception, if they are strongly against partying or if they believe that your kind of party will not constitute a nuisance. Also, Airbnb does not interfere with personal hosts set up for their apartments.
Besides, if you lie to your host about throwing a party, and then proceed to party, they will leave you a bad review and still report to Airbnb who may:
- Suspend your account
- Ban you from the community
- Or take legal actions against you
Don’t even think of lying about your number of guests, even though Airbnb will not stop by to verify that. But the neighbors can report or if the host finds out that the number of guests is more than you specified, hosts can evict you.
4. Don’t give too many details
While you need to focus the discussion on Airbnb, don’t go into too much detail about the party. However, make sure to honestly answer any question the hosts ask regarding the party. Do not try to sneak extra guests into the reservation.
The host knows you would be hosting a party but you need to be sure your party won’t be disruptive.
Ask for the house rules to be sure about what you can and can’t do and how to avoid trouble with neighbors.
5. Let the host make the decision
Don’t force the host to approve your booking or try to please the host by making too many promises (you may not be able to fulfill). If the host’s apartment won’t make a great fit for your party, then it’s not worth it—you don’t want neighbors calling the cops or ending up with a bad review from the said host.
You may consider other options such as booking a party-friendly hotel or hostel to avoid problems during your stay.
6. Book with the host
The types of places to stay on Airbnb include:
- Entire place
- Private rooms
- Hotel rooms
- Shared rooms
If the host listed their apartment as anything other than “entire place”, there is a workaround and the host has a little work to do on their end. Both you and the host need to be on the Airbnb app/desktop at the same time.
The host will then change their listing to “entire place” for you to complete the booking.
However, if the host already set their place type to “entire place” but Airbnb thinks you want to throw a loud party and won’t let you book, discuss with the host to change it to “private place”. You have to be online in your account to book them immediately. Note that this is lawful on Airbnb.
7. Do not be loud or disruptive
Throughout your stay, make sure to be in control. Do not allow your friends or other members to ruin your Airbnb reputation since they may not know what you staked to make the party possible on Airbnb.
The host may be keeping in touch often to make sure everything is going smoothly. You do not want to disturb the neighbors. Besides, some neighbors will not hesitate to shut down the host’s Airbnb or even have you and your friends removed from the property for causing a nuisance.
When leaving the apartment, make sure to keep everything in place. Avoid breaking anything. But in events where anything is damaged due to the party, inform the host and offer to cover the cost, if you can.
The point is to treat the Airbnb place like your own. Remember that you’re also using this booking to build your Airbnb profile.
8. Leave a generic review
When it’s time to write a review about the host, you want to leave a simple and concise generic review without mentioning “party”. Otherwise, Airbnb may be tempted to look into the host and suspend or ban their account.
Your generic review could be something like:
Mr./Mrs. B is a great host. They have a clean apartment and will make sure you have a homely experience. I will recommend his/her property at any time.
Before then, follow this guide to know the likely review you would be getting from your host after the stay. Also, if you potentially miss the Airbnb 14-day review window, you may consider these review options.
What happens if I throw a party at an Airbnb?
If your host reports you for throwing a disruptive party (especially without their permission) or violating Airbnb rules on gatherings (of more than 16 people), your account can be suspended or removed from Airbnb. Also, your reviews left as a guest may also be removed.
Airbnb won’t know or check the number of guests that show up to a booking. It’s the host who reports after finding more than specified number of guests than booked for on their property. Thus, it’s important to talk things out with the host and make sure to stick to the agreement.
Meanwhile, make sure you do not cause any damages with your friends. In some cases, an unscrupulous host may lie about Airbnb damages, so make sure you take photos and videos of the apartment before and after the reasonably hosted party.
Conclusion
The whole idea is to keep the party noise as minimal as possible after the host’s approval. You do not also want Airbnb to think that you had a bursting party at the host’s apartment.
Keep it simple. Inform other guests about your agreement with the host and Airbnb’s party standard. Get them to be reasonable and treat the property like it also belongs to them.
See my exclusive publication: what to do if Airbnb restricts you
