Airbnb’s (Unintentional) Reinvention of the House Party

For those of you who thought that house parties the likes of Jay Gatsby or Project X were confined to the Roaring Twenties or the parent-free weekends of high school — think again. 

Since its founding eight years ago, Airbnb has quickly reinvented the accommodation game but the company has recently been credited with the reinvention of of the common house party. For prices ranging from a mere $56 to an exorbitant $3,000, you can rent accommodations nicer than your own and play host to extravagant parties reminiscent of ones seen only on the silver screen. The clincher: you don't have to deal with the aftermath, unless you get sued for destroying someone's property. By throwing a house party in someone else's house you ensure that your belongings don't get trashed and you can charge a cover fee to pay for the entire event, maybe enough to buy yourself some Advil.  

But what about the people who come home to your mess? A quick Google search will bring you to pages filled with Airbnb horror stories: Homeowners finding groups of people having drug-induced sex on their rug and even returning to find property damages estimated over $75,000. This past New Year's Eve, a party that spun out of control has revived a continuing debate on how Airbnb will be able to continue to maintain its simple house letting exchanges, while adding rules and regulations that will ensure the protection of the host's property.

Fortunately for partiers, there are some hosts taking advantage of the house party culture by listing their homes explicitly as 'party houses'. These are places that have been pre-approved by their owner for you to hold your next rager, in the hopes that the profit will outweigh the damages. It seems this could be a 'win win' situation for Airbnb where the customer gets their carefree party and the homeowner gets their house trashed, while making some money as well.

Airbnb does not currently promote 'party houses', hindering party hunters by making these properties pricey and often times difficult to find. They have to protect their reputation as a wholesome house exchange site if they want to continue to flourish, and clearly parties would not help.

If you plan on throwing a party in an Airbnb rental that is not specifically designated for parties, please make sure that you run your plans by the owners. This will ensure that you both remain a decent human being and avoid being roped into a lawsuit you can't afford. And if you'd like to attend, check out this site for upcoming parties. Bonne Fête!