AFbnbSober-friendly stays, certified.
AFbnb certifies vacation rental hosts against a simple sober-friendly standard, so travelers know what is waiting for them before they book.
The certified promise
- No alcoholic welcome gift
- Alcohol left by past guests is found and removed
Register your interest in about five minutes. Nothing changes on your booking platform.
Three steps, start to finish
Host completes the form
Two commitments and a link to your booking page. Optional sections let you add local recommendations.
Property is certified
Your rental meets the AFbnb sober-friendly standard and is added to the certified list.
Travelers find you
Certified listings appear in the AFbnb navigation tool, launching soon.
Listings tell you about the hot tub. Not about the bottle on the counter.
For most guests a welcome bottle of wine is a nice touch. For a guest in recovery it can be the hardest moment of the trip, and it is waiting for them the minute they walk in. Certification answers the question before they book.
of U.S. adults now abstain from alcohol. Today none of them can filter a rental search for a stay that is ready for them.
For travelers
Know before you book. No guessing, no awkward message to the host. A certified stay means no alcohol is left for you, and someone has looked for what the last guest left behind.
For hosts
Reach guests no one is serving. Sober and sober-curious travelers are a growing group with no way to find you. Registering your interest takes about five minutes and changes nothing about how you list or take bookings.
For everyone
A better default. Families, pregnant guests, people on medication, people who simply do not drink. A stay that starts without alcohol on the counter works for all of them.
What hosts agree to
Required for certification
1. No alcoholic welcome gift. Hosts may leave a non-alcoholic welcome gift instead. Our advice is to make it locally inspired.
2. Remove alcohol left behind. Use best efforts to find and remove any alcohol left in the house by a previous guest.
Optional, and worth doing
Hosts who complete any of these are noted in the navigation tool, which may make the listing more attractive to guests seeking sober-friendly stays.
- Why your property is a good fit for an alcohol-free trip
- Restaurants with good non-alcoholic options
- Sober-friendly activities nearby
- Recovery resources such as meetings and recovery centers
AFbnb is a certification program of Recover Hospitality. Same team, same standard of care.
Who is behind this
The founders met in the same MIT Sloan EMBA cohort and worked together on projects in two classes and in the MIT IDEAS Social Impact Challenge incubator before founding AFbnb.
Alexander Brown, LICSW
Clinical social work plus hospitality ownership and operations. Leads strategy, partnerships, and customer discovery. MIT Sloan EMBA 2027.
David Gurzick, PhD
Information systems plus applied AI development. Leads product, platform architecture, and engineering. MIT Sloan EMBA 2027.
Search for a certified stay
The traveler navigation tool is in development. It will let you search certified rentals and see the local recommendations hosts have added. Tell us who you are and we will keep you posted.