Airbnb suspends listing after ‘totally absurd’ house party in Stoney Creek

More than 150 people hastily jetted out of a home in upper Stoney Creek last weekend as police tried to break up what one neighbour described as a totally absurd" house party.

The massive function was held late Friday night and into early Saturday morning at an Airbnb property on Dolomiti Court, just south of Rymal Road East and west of Highway 56.

Airbnb said in a statement that the listing - advertised as a Lux & Commodious" full house - has been suspended indefinitely.

Airbnb bans parties and we are deeply concerned about this reported behaviour," said spokesperson Ruthie Wabula.

The short-term rental website said the property's guest has been removed from its platform.

It's unclear if the host attended the party or violated company policy.

Hamilton police responded to the home at 2:04 a.m. on Saturday after multiple noise complaints.

No tickets were handed out or charges laid.

The crowd dispersed rapidly," said Const. Inderjit Bharaj in a statement. Due to the number of occupants and officer safety, police did not issue any tickets."

Andrey Beskrovnyi, who lives across from the home, generally has no problem with young people having parties.

But this was a different story.

We're just finishing this shift from grey zone into red zone," he said. We're still in lockdown, small businesses are still closed, we can't have people over ... and here you are, having a party of more than 100 people. It's totally absurd."

Beskrovnyi said a sizeable number of partygoers were without masks and the home - which boasts five bedrooms, nine beds, 2.5 baths and space for 10 guests - is no stranger to in-person pandemic functions.

He first noticed the party around 1 a.m. while taking one of his two dogs out for a walk.

The street was overrun with cars, he said, and two groups of about 20 people were walking toward the already-busy Airbnb.

Ten minutes later, on a walk with the second dog, he saw another dozen people filter in.

That's when I started paying attention, sort of just watching from my house," he said. People kept filtering in over and over."

Beskrovnyi called police three times between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. He said he was shocked by how the situation was handled.

The lack of police response and their attitude for resolving this upon their arrival is completely unacceptable," he said. They just let the kids go. There were no tickets, no contact tracing, no message sent to people throwing parties."

In November, Peel police charged 29 people under the Reopening Ontario Act after a party at an Airbnb in Mississauga.

That's what I thought would happen here: an example set," said Beskrovnyi. But there was nothing."

Const. Krista-Lee Ernst said in an interview that the sheer number of partygoers posed a threat to officer safety. The majority in attendance not only flouted public health measures, she said, but also quickly fled into neighbouring streets and an empty field that backs into the fenceless Airbnb.

There was only two officers who responded and, for officer safety, they're not going to chase and stop people and ticket them," she said.

As for police's response time - their arrival came a little over an hour after Beskrovnyi's first call - Ernst said police responded to 106 calls for service on the Mountain from 6 p.m. on Feb. 19 to 6 a.m. on Feb. 20.

A noise complaint, no matter if it's COVID or not, is still a lower priority on our priority sequence for calls," she said, noting calls such as a report of an assault take precedence.

Sebastian Bron is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbron@thespec.com