Airbnb Blocked 11,000 People in Arizona from Throwing Big Parties in Your Neighborhood

Daniel Tocora walks the fine line between giving customers what they want and keeping the peace with neighbors when vacation renters want the whole house for a party.

Tocora founded Scottsdale-based AZ Getaway Rentals LLC in 2019 and rents properties across the Valley, in Sedona, and the Mexican border state of Sonora.

Some of his properties are also for rent on the global booking website Airbnb, which has cracked down on homes rented for parties during the coronavirus pandemic, especially when the renter is younger than 25.

“I think all hosts would agree that they don't want to be the one to host a party,” Tocora said.

Thousands of people in Arizona who are old enough to drink alcohol but have no place to party tried to rent entire homes during major holiday breaks but Airbnb boasted that it blocked them all last year — 11,000 reservations statewide to be exact.

Tocora doesn't know how many of his potential customers were not allowed to book his rentals because of Airbnb's new rules which parse out guests before they show up based on the likelihood they might throw a party on the property. Airbnb is big business in the Valley.

There are more than 5,300 Airbnb listings in Scottsdale alone, which average $292 per night. Next month, the average cost of a Scottsdale rental will climb to $320, which is more than double the national average, market analytics show. More than 94 percent of Scottsdale listings are for entire homes, not just rooms.

Tocora doesn't consider the new rules to be so onerous that his business isn't thriving. It’s a service that Airbnb automatically rejects any last-minute “high-risk” rental requests, a standard his own company already sets for reservations. A property with security cameras or noise monitors is likely to deter potential raves, he noted.

“We really do not want to disturb any of the neighbors,” Tocora said, adding that nipping a party in the bud is not just about the “headaches” to repair damage or clean up.

The concept of not allowing parties is a routine practice used by local hoteliers for decades. Hospitality experts advise owners to not rent rooms to people who live in the same town because chances are the room might get trashed during a raucous party and the guests don't have to clean up afterward.

It's no secret that people trek to Arizona for parties.

At one time, back in 2002, Arizona State University was Playboy’s No. 1 party school in America.

Before the coronavirus pandemic swept across the world, Lake Havasu marketed itself as "the West's biggest Spring Break party."

Lake Havasu is more than a three-hour drive from Phoenix, a five-hour drive from Los Angeles, and just under three hours from Las Vegas.

Demand for house parties spiked during the pandemic because there are typically more restrictions — such as masks or COVID-19 vaccine cards — when visiting entertainment venues, restaurants, and clubs.

There's no shortage of places where partiers can gather. Lake Pleasant Party Cove in Peoria is a hot spot for speedboats and bikinis on sunny days. Scottsdale's Maya Dayclub allows revelers to have fun late into the night or early morning.

Airbnb began the indefinite ban on parties by young renters in August 2020, citing a need for social distancing amid worsening public health conditions.

Before the party ban with Airbnb, the vast majority of hosts already prohibited parties, about 73 percent globally.

Airbnb canceled the most potential parties on Independence Day, Halloween, and New Year’s Eve totaling 8,000 potential rentals in 2021.

“We believe it worked,” said Aaron Swor, spokesperson for Airbnb in a recent email. Those weekends were generally quiet, and these initiatives were well-received by our host community.”

The widespread ban included innocent reservations where parties were not planned but it was a “tradeoff we’re willing to make," Swor said.

Phoenix was No. 6 on the list of the places with properties “most-blocked” for potential parties nationwide, even more so than hubs like Las Vegas and Miami, Airbnb data shows.

Airbnb took its enforcement one step further when it suspended 70 properties from being listed on its website in Phoenix, Paradise Valley, Scottsdale, Sedona, and Flagstaff in February 2021 for breaking the rules.

That doesn’t mean all parties or complaints about noise have subsided. The issue is still contentious, especially in Scottsdale which has been enforcing noise limit rules since 2019. But the city’s legal options are limited because state law has barred any municipality from regulating short-term rentals directly since 2016.