- Some Airbnb hosts decided not to welcome guests during Donald Trump’s inauguration weekend.
- They worried about safety or supporting a political agenda. Others, though, had no issues hosting.
- Demand for DC-area short-term rentals in 2025 is on par with Trump’s 2017 inauguration, AirDNA said.
Washington DC Airbnb host Stacy Kane blocked her calendar for president-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
Kane and two friends contacted community members and city councilors urging other hosts to join in, saying in an email that it would “show Trump supporters who are coming into the DMV that we do not welcome hate, misogyny, or intentions to take over DC,” according to the Washington Post.
A handful of other hosts have removed their short-term rentals from the market. One Airbnb owner — who lives in the same property as the apartment she rents out about three miles from the Capitol — told Business Insider that she was concerned for her own safety given the language and actions of Trump supporters on January 6.
Other people who have said they run Airbnbs have posted on Facebook and Reddit forums for hosts that they not only kept their homes open to book — but added premiums to their rates.
“I’m charging $1,200 a night with a four-night minimum,” one Redditor posted in November.
It appears that the conflicting opinions over how to treat inauguration weekend have had little effect. Demand from guests looking to stay in short-term rentals in the DC area this year is similar to Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, according to Bram Gallagher, the director of economics and forecasting at AirDNA.
“In the DC metro area, the number of available listings has remained stable, and search trends and average nightly rates are typical for periods of increased demand,” an Airbnb spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson also said that the company “connects guests and hosts of all political perspectives” and is “committed to ensuring that this is their experience on the platform. Our policies and Terms of Service make this clear, and if we learn of instances where these are violated, we take action.”
Are you a Washington DC Airbnb host renting — or not renting — your home this weekend? Email Hana Alberts at halberts@businessinsider.com to share your thoughts for a future story.
DC’s rule that Airbnb hosts rent out their primary residence made one feel at risk
The Airbnb host worried about her safety, who asked to remain anonymous due to the same concerns, said DC’s rule that short-term rentals for stays under 30 days must also be the owner’s primary residence makes her feel more vulnerable.
“If something happens, these people can forever just target me,” she told Business Insider. “It opens you up to way more than what it’s worth for a few nights of rental income. I just could never see myself putting myself out there for that.”
Because of the law, many Washington DC hosts live in the homes they rent out and have strong connections to their neighborhoods.
“From my perspective, it’s not about the money,” she added. “I love hosting. I love meeting people and helping people enjoy my city, but I couldn’t possibly be somewhere where people are using hate speech and targeting people and being violent. Those aren’t the kind of folks that I want to host, and I would just rather be safe than take that risk.”
Bookings for inauguration weekend are close to 2017 figures
Every four years on January 20, people from all over the country regularly stream into Washington and brave inclement weather to see the president get sworn in outside the Capitol. Trump announced Friday that his 2025 inauguration would be held inside the Capitol Rotunda instead due to expected freezing temperatures.
Gallagher, of AirDNA, broke down how short-term-rental demand in 2025 is on par with 2017’s.
AirDNA data shows that the peak day for short-term rental demand for the 2017 inauguration — as measured by the total number of nights booked — was 6,796 as of January 13, 2017. As of the same date in 2025, the total number of nights booked was 8,100.
Gallagher noted that AirDNA did not start tracking Vrbo data until later in 2017; the 2025 figures reflect Airbnbs and Vrbos booked.
In the Capitol Hill neighborhood, where the Capitol is located, demand was 1,191 nights booked in 2017 and 1,189 in 2025 — almost the same.
“I was surprised by how close these demand figures are — it was a pretty big event in 2017,” Gallagher said.
So far, the data also suggests that major price hikes haven’t occurred. The highest average daily rate in 2017 during the inauguration was about $363 a night. In 2025, it’s about $304.
“I think people just became very, very cost-conscious in 2023, and that’s still sort of going on,” Gallagher said. “We saw prices decline all through 2023 on average nationwide. It might just be kind of a hangover from that.”
He added that some hosts care more about getting bookings than about securing the most profitable rate.
“It may be also too that the short-term-rental operators just prefer to fill up rather than have the highest possible price,” he said. “I can imagine if you’re a management company or if you’re a small manager, you go to your owner and say, ‘Well, I’ve got this DC apartment in Capitol Hill, but we couldn’t rent it out on inauguration,’ they’ll be pretty mad.”
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