6 Airbnb Horror Stories That Might Make You Re-Think Your Next Trip Away

With millions of users hosting and renting properties all over the world, Airbnb has totally changed up how we vacation.

Why shell out for a three-star B&B miles from where you want to be when you can rent a five-star worthy apartment bang in the centre of town for the same price?

But even Airbnb (well, its users to be exact) have to get it wrong sometimes…

There’s the horrific, like this “insane orgy party”

Mark and Star King rented their Calgary, Canada home to a group they were told was four adults in town for a wedding. In reality, their guests held a party for “upwards of one hundred people,” leaving the place covered in “vomit, urine and semen.”

Mark says he and Star were left in total shock. “I couldn’t process it. This is our home, this is our sanctuary. We’ve got a five year old and a one year old.”

Thankfully Airbnb were able to pay out for all damages with their host insurance policy.

 

And the guests who overstayed their welcome… by a month

Cory Tschogl rented her Palm Springs condo to Maksym Pashanin and his brother for six weeks, but they stopped paying after four. When she attempted to evict them, they cited Californian tenant law, which made them official “squatters” after 30 days. They refused to leave unless Cory paid them a relocation fee.

After a month of back and forth, Maksym and his brother disappeared in the “dead of night.” For their part, Airbnb agreed to pick up Cory’s legal fees.

 

There’s the scary, like this surprise Rottweiler

When Mark Silverman booked into an Airbnb house in Salta, Argentina with his wife, the description didn’t mention any pets. So he was unprepared for the Rottweiler that greeted him on his third morning.

Clearly believing Mark to be an intruder, the dog bit a six-inch gash into his forearm, leading to a two-night stay in hospital. Ouch.

“I looked down, and I knew instantly it was bad,” he told the New York Times. “I could see my artery, the tendons exposed and the muscle. There was blood everywhere.”

Originally Airbnb refused to pay the medical fees as the incident occurred outside of the US, but changed their mind after being contacted by the New York Times.

 

And the ‘do you mind sharing’ requests, like this apartment/hostel nightmare

A cheap night’s stay in a shared room in downtown New York sounds fine in theory, but remember to clarify exactly how many people you’ll be sharing with.

One Airbnb user in NY ended up in an apartment “with 22 bunk beds spread across two bedrooms,” for which he was being charged $35 (€30.60) a night. The weirdest part? The host asked for a 30-day minimum stay.

 

The there’s the just plain rude, like this olive-lover

“Some guy told us how stupid vegans are and how vegan food is gross,” Reddit user leetendo85  says.

“He ate lots of the vegan lasagna that I made and was like ‘I can’t believe this is actually good.’ I don’t mind that so much but then he ate ALL OF OUR OLIVES – that b*****rd! Seriously that was the worst thing to every happen. Everyone [else] has been great.”

 

Or this guy, who was clearly very hungry

“People really get comfortable eating you out of house and home,” says Redditor 50X1.

“One guy left a review saying that the coffee cake was great. Another time, I made cornbread for a work potluck and he dug into it in the morning thinking it was fair game.”

 

 

Tags:

• airbnb
• holidays
• Online
• rentals