In Sedona, vacation rentals are neighbors — and that’s…

June 7, 2025
by RJ Hamster

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Fri Jun 6 2025

Steve Kilar | Associate Director of News

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I’m Steve Kilar, The Republic’s associate director of news.

Leading up to the Memorial Day weekend, Airbnb’s PR team emailed me about what the company was doing to stop people from taking over whole houses to throw parties. They know parties can be a problem for neighbors of the company’s short-term rentals and presumably were trying to get ahead of expected holiday weekend criticism.

Airbnb has “proprietary anti-party technology” that blocks people from booking a house if it seems like they might throw a party, the email said. Their system considers the type of listing, how long the stay would be, how far the listing is from the potential booker’s location and whether it’s a last-minute booking. If the right combination of red flags is raised in the proprietary tech? The booker’s attempt is thwarted, the company said.

Last year, the technology blocked 1,960 attempts to book an entire house over the Memorial Day and Fourth of July weekends in Arizona, the Airbnb email said. Of those, 630 were in Phoenix and 350 in Scottsdale.

As a homeowner living next to a property undergoing renovations, which makes me worried I’ll soon have a rotating cast in the new pool on the other side of my fence, I was interested in Airbnb’s attempts to stop rowdy gatherings. But I’m also aware that short-term problems are not the only issues created by short-term rentals.

It was the broader effects of short-term rentals that sent senior real estate reporter Catherine Reagor and photographer Cheryl Evans to Sedona.

Some residents have positioned their city’s challenges, including trouble finding workers because of a lack of affordable housing, as a conflict of values. On one side are the supporters of tech-fueled financial gain who prioritize making money. On the other side are people who say Sedona has lost its sense of community.

The housing-related problems Sedona faces are caused by more than vacation rentals. The market changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic are another factor.

Even so, Catherine told me the most illuminating part of her trip with Cheryl was driving around with Mayor Scott Jablow as he pointed out blocks where house after house was a short-term rental. He introduced them to a longtime homeowner who bemoaned parties at weekend rentals, and old neighbors who moved because they were fed up.

“Sedona is a stunning and special place, but not a place that many people want to or can afford to live anymore,” Catherine told me as she relayed her visit.

Steve Kilar is the associate director of news. Reach him at skilar@gannett.com.

Higher prices, fewer neighbors: How vacation rentals have changed Sedona’s housing market

How short-term rentals have changed Sedona’s home market

“We’ve always been challenged with workforce housing,” said Sedona Mayor Scott Jablow. “But over the past 10 years … it’s gotten worse.”

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In Sedona, vacation rentals are neighbors — and that’s a problem

In Sedona, vacation rentals are neighbors — and that’s…

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In Sedona, vacation rentals are neighbors — and that’s a problem

In Sedona, vacation rentals are neighbors — and that’s…

Your Week with AZCentral

Steve Kilar | Associate Director of News

How short-term rentals have changed Sedona’s home market

Fear of Trump should cost 2 Arizona reps their jobs

No tax on tips isn’t as seismic as it sounds. Here’s why

Shawn Raymundo: Meet our Phoenix and Scottsdale reporter

At the Bar happy hour is coming to one of the best bars in the US

Metro Phoenix streets through the years

Sign up for the news you want

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