Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
“2 Different Hidden Cameras”: 35 Airbnb Horror Stories That Are Not For The Fainthearted
Interview
If you are a frequent traveler, then chances are you've spent a night or rather countless ones in Airbnb. From a cabin in the woods to an apartment in a city center, there’s an accommodation for virtually every type of tourist.
While pretending like you own a whole place in an area you've never been to before sounds awesome on paper (and sometimes in reality!), the truth is, you may encounter something you were not ready for. After all, you’re staying in someone else’s home, so hey, it’s not you who decides the location, the decor, the vibe, the rules…
Or the spookiness! Turns out there are countless Airbnb horror stories surfing around on the internet, so just in time for Halloween, we wrapped up some of the most spine-chilling ones.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
My host lied about having wifi and a king-sized bed. Then, I was woken up by her sneaking into the apartment in the middle of the night and snooping in my bag. I had to call the police... That was fun.
RELATED:
#2
My hosts were friendly in the beginning and kept offering me drinks throughout the entire day. It was fun til it escalated to her yelling at me about not having gone through any pain my entire life and how her life was filled with it and then led her to trying to throw punches at me whilst her husband was trying to hold her back which led to me leaving the AirBnb at midnight in a foreign country and finding a hotel for the night.
#3
We woke up in Hawaii to a maggot hatch covering the floor. I had been up twice before it was light enough to see it, so tracked it back into the bed. It looked like the floor was covered in rice, but the rice was moving. Thousands of little wiggling maggots coming out of the door jamb.
While many things can ruin the holiday when staying at Airbnb, there’s one that most travelers particularly dread. We have all heard stories about people spotting hidden cameras in Airbnbs they stayed in, and that may give you mixed feelings.
So to find out whether this common Airbnb scenario is something we should really be scared of, we reached out to Daniel Markuson, the cybersecurity expert at NordVPN who happily shared some insights about it. “There is no reason to be paranoid about finding a hidden camera in your Airbnb,” Markuson said and added: “especially if you are renting a place with numerous positive reviews in the past.”
#4
We found 2 different hidden cameras with feeds going into the wall. 1 in the bedroom facing the bed/closet. 1 in the bathroom vent facing the mirror. I cut the cords and took the cameras with me as evidence and reported it to the police. They were unable/unwilling to do anything since it was his property, he had the right to record anything. They were unsure of the legal grey area and made an intimidating visit to him. We no longer use Air bnb and I always check for cameras in hotels now.
The worst part was that they had a playground in the back yard and advertised it as "kid friendly". I sometimes want to go back and burn it to the ground. I settled with notifying all of his neighbors of the cameras
Shyla Bouche 2 years ago
Being morbidly obese, I think the best thing for me would be to sit in front of the camera nekkid. I'd scare the jerk so badly he'd never do it again!
#5
My friends and I booked a big house for a weekend near Wrigley Field in Chicago for a Bachelorette party. We had decorated the whole house with uh... inappropriate banners and things like that - you know how bachelorette parties go.
We spent Saturday morning brunching and pre-gaming before the evening's festivities and by 1pm or so were all certainly well on our way to party town. While we were sitting there the bachelorette gets a call from the AirBnb owner saying he was "in the midst of listing the place" and that he "forgot to tell us he had scheduled showings all weekend". She told him that was absolutely not going to fly - there were women napping in rooms, women getting ready, alcohol bottles everywhere, not to mention the decor.
He replied by saying he was already outside with the first showing and was giving us a courtesy call to let us know he would be coming in. We look outside and he is standing on the sidewalk with a family including 3 little kids. He brought them inside to give them a showing and we just had to sit there awkwardly, drunk at 1pm, surrounded by blow up penises, while they walked around and viewed the house. He even went into the rooms where women were napping and turned on all of the lights to show them the bedrooms.
Luckily we left soon after for a cubs game but he proceeded to show the house for the rest of the day. We contacted AirBnB and they refunded half our money, but there weren't any other available houses in the area for them to move us to that weekend so we just had to deal.
Samantha Power 2 years ago
The absolute cheek of this is jaw dropping and makes me never ever want to stay in an AirBnB
#6
Had to book somewhere in a rundown town with zero notice. Found somewhere in an inconvenient location but there was nothing else. Ignored the red flags when the host / owner contacted us, before confirming the booking, about having a tiny baby and that our visit would have to fit around it’s feeding time. Said we just needed somewhere to crash for the night - we’d dump our bags and head straight to dinner, then leave early in the morning. We got held up in awful traffic (huge accident, roads blocked) which pushed our arrival time to 6pm. I kept in contact with the host the whole way but she got increasingly agitated. I said we’d make ourselves scarce and would head straight out. Arrived and were told we couldn’t use any other area of the house (due to said baby). Headed straight out. Started receiving texts at dinner asking what time we’d be back (we’d be given a set of keys to use, so as not to disturb them). Asked if we could be back by 11pm. Arrived back at their house to find a door chain lock on the door - even with keys we were locked out. We then met the husband who greeted us with a grunt before walking off. As we were confined to the bedroom, we had no idea where the kitchen was and didn’t want to explore in the dark so we lapped water from the bathroom tap like a dog. We were then awoken by a knock on the door at 6am - she was headed to work and we’d mention we’d be leaving early, didn’t we need to be off soon? The whole thing was so uncomfortable and a waste of $$
Having said that, the cyber security expert argues that it is always better to be safe than sorry, “especially if you find your host somewhat suspicious.”
Markuson’s best advice is once you arrive at the property, take some time to check it for unwanted stalking devices. In fact, spotting a hidden camera in your room is not that difficult, and you don’t need any sophisticated spy gadgets — a phone with a camera is usually enough,” he explained.
#7
While searching for an apartment in a new country I stayed in an Airbnb until I found a place. Explained this to the host and she was cool with it. Then one day as i was out apartment hunting i got a phone call from her. she had been in my room and seen that i had used her address on one of the forms i was filling out which had asked for the address of the place i was currently staying. had thought nothing of it, had to fill out loads of forms when trying to get an apartment. she flipped that i used her address without her permission. i got back and all my stuff was left out the front door. so i had to go to a hotel. so a week or two later i get a message from airbnb saying rate your stay so i obviously give 1 star. she then sends a request for a huge amount of money for 'loss of earnings, pyschological distress, abusive behaviour etc' and says if i dont pay she will pursue it in a court of law. absolute lunatic.
#8
Was woken up at 3 am to loud bangs & screaming. Someone yelled that the host was “on speed and assaulting them, and to please call the police”. Police came and settled the dispute. We never left our room because of how scared we were. The next day we cancelled our stay & checked in to a hotel, only to have to host message us & ask if we left because the shower was broken.....? Uh no lady the whole being woken up to a drug binge/assault thing would be it...lol.
#9
booked the coziest/cutest airbnb in Rome. A little 1 bedroom apartment in the heart of Trastevere in a beautiful old building. Apartment was stone/wood/classic roman. Everything was great until the apartment started to shake as the upstairs unit was being renovated. For hours after my arrival, the jackhammering didnt stop. Phone calls to the host went unanswered. When they finally answered, they let me know it was their other unit and they would ask the workers to stop. As one could guess, it did not stop. It would start and stop for the next few hours. When I finally contacted airbnb to relocate me, the owner showed up and was furious I was getting my money back. Credit to airbnb, they booked me into an even nicer apartment a few blocks away!
The first tip to spot a hidden camera is to try shining a light on the lens of the suspected hidden camera. “Camera lenses will reflect a red or blue color when hit by light. First, try shining a light on places where you suspect a camera might be hidden. Some of the popular hiding places include shower heads, smoke detectors, and alarm clocks. But we also recommend checking other electronic devices present in the room,” Markuson said.
#10
Arrived and entered the house by way of the provided code for the electronic door lock. We had stopped to pick up groceries and some needed refrigeration so we carried those in first. Which is when I discovered the fridge filled with food. Looked around and saw more food and personal items in the kitchen. Called out to no answer so we walked around a bit. Imagine if you left your home for the day for work and a stranger walked in. This is exactly how it all appeared.
Hurried back to the car afraid we were going to get the cops called on us and called the company who reassured us and told us the house owner had said he was going to get things cleared up which apparently hadn't happened. This seemed like something the company should have checked, but they assured us it was fine to just push things aside.
In the process of clearing things away into a large closet we found half used bottles of cancer medications and some paperwork which indicated the owner had been being treated for a stage four cancer. Between these and other paperwork found in the house we are fairly certain the owner died and his children had the body transported back to where his wife was buried in a northern state. We guessed they arranged to rent the place out without ever coming to clear his belongings.
#11
I'm currently solo traveling through Denmark and have been staying in different AirBnBs. Just yesterday, I arrived in one I'd booked near Copenhagen. All the others were great, very hyggelig. This one isn't great looking - which would be fine, it's cheap and I'm only here for sleeping.
When I went to bed, there was a spider on the ceiling (bedroom is right below the roof, ceiling is very low so you can't stand upright). I thought "one spider won't eat me" and went to sleep. Then, just as I was drifting off, I felt something crawling on me. Turned on the light, sure enough, a spider. I smacked it dead, turned on my back and the whole ceiling was covered in spiders. Some tiny, some bigger, they were everywhere.
I'm really scared of spiders, so I don't know if someone who doesn't mind spiders would've reacted differently, but the though of hundreds of spiders dropping from the ceiling and crawling over me was too much. Slept on the sofa downstairs, leaving for my next stop a day early to get away from the spiders.
#12
I was staying in an Airbnb to celebrate a friend's birthday - it was actually nicer than the apartment my friend lived in, so we invited people there instead. Late afternoon comes along, and we're sitting around a table drinking. It's pouring outside. I hear a weird gurgling from the bathroom, so I go check it out, and find that the toilet's started to back up a bit. I call the landlord; he tells me that this happens from time to time when the rain is heavy (the apt is actually below ground level). I plunge and flush the toilet, and it goes down fine and I rejoin my friends in the common room. All is well.
About 15 minutes pass. I suddenly hear a much more aggressive gurgle coming from the bathroom; I run over to find that not only is the toilet backing up at a worrying rate, but that dirty water is also erupting up through the ground where the toilet is screwed into the floor. I turn off the water valve to the toilet, but it just keeps coming. I toss some towels in an attempt to slow this poop waterfall, and call the airbnb host who says he'll be over ASAP.
At this point, the shower/bath is filling with a rank, deep brown liquid, and the water from the toilet is spilling over the bathroom threshold into the hallway. Our host arrives with a shopvac and starts using it to suck up the mess with my help while my guests are huddled on the couch in fear, trying to find alternative lodging. I'm standing next to the host with towels when the shopvac lets out this ratchet mechanical noise which is also accompanied with a blast of raw sewage through the exhaust vent, covering me in aerosolized waste. Turns out that this shopvac isn't actually equipped to handle liquids, and doesn't now seem to be working. We then flee to my friend's place, where I take a very long, very hot shower. Not really the airbnb host's fault, but certainly my worst experience to date.
tl;dr - stayed in an airbnb, had toilet issues, end up covered in s**t.
Stephanie Did It 2 years ago
Definitely the host's fault. He knew about the problem but rented to you anyway. He knew it was raining and rather than warning you, waited until you complained before bothering himself to come over. What a jerk.
Another way is to switch off the Wi-Fi router and see whether you get a call from the owner complaining that someone has disabled the Wi-Fi. “If you do, then there is a serious red flag that there are cameras hidden around,” Markuson said.
Moreover, you should also always check for one-way mirrors. “Try putting your finger up against the mirror. If there’s a gap between your actual finger and its reflection, then the mirror is real. If there’s no gap, you can also try shining your flashlight at it, and once you get the angle right, you should be able to see the camera behind the fake mirror.”
#13
One guy rented my place for a night. Showed up with 2 extra people but told me they weren't staying over, just showering and changing before they went to the wedding at the hotel nearby.
Ok, no problem.
11pm, I heard screaming kids. There were only 2 of them but I thought there were 6 at first, judging from the noise they were making. The guy was back, but with 4 different people and the 2 kids. The kids refused to take their shoes off, even though it is an Asian country where everyone takes their shoes off indoors.
The boy tried taking home my Captain America tsum tsum plushie. His parents asked him to return it, but he screamed, "NO!" and had tears in his eyes.
Everyone was looking at me expectantly.
I took the plushie out of his hands. It's mine.
My husband and I had a talk that night and decided to delay having kids another year.
#14
I'm gonna try and share my AirBnB horrorstory, using just three words:
Bedbugs crawling everywhere
Kayjunmoon 2 years ago
That’s the problem with Airbnb, they are not regulated like hotels re hygiene inspections etc. This is not to say hotels can’t be a disaster but most countries have regulations regarding standards for hotels.
#15
Cuzco, Peru in high season (most places booked) . Lodging for 4 people. We find a great big place for a good price. Apparently it was too good to be true, it was a hostel who was happy to host us (in hostel dorms for a much higher than advertised price) , but denied having a reservation. When i showed him the reservation and called airbnb (whose staff was very helpful) he said he had to check something. After waiting for about an hour, I tracked him down hiding in is office. The look on his face was priceless, was obviously hoping if he hid for long enough that he would get the double payment out of us. I called airbnb again and they canceled the reservation and we left
#16
I stayed in exactly one AirBNB in Hollywood. It's the only time I ever stayed, and AirBNB's support was 100% unhelpful. I needed an AirBNB because I had some major cardiology appointments about a possible heart transplant. So I found someplace close to my hospital (Sunset). First one canceled, at last minute with like 12 hours to go. So that was fun, ended up having to pay way more to get a close room by the hospital. But, found one.
The owner was racist, didn't like I had a black friend stayed with me, despite the fact I rented out the entire apartment. She claimed we stole lightbulbs, left feces everywhere, stole her parking passes, dishes, etc. We made sure we locked up. We cleaned the apartment before leaving, did all the dishes (despite the fact there were dirty dishes when we got the keys). I'm glad I took photographs right when we arrived and before we left.
I never again stayed with AirBNB. The host kept trying to contact me off AirBNB so I blocked them. She kept trying to get me to PayPal her more money.
#17
The host was an avid flat earther who sat me down with his buddy to watch youtube videos about it while he condescendingly explained to me that outer space wasn't real.
Shower was so grimy and clogged it didn't drain so even showering for only two minutes left me standing in a 3 inch puddle of water and bathtub scum.
He told me I could store anything in his fridge if I wanted, so I put some leftovers in an opaque container in there. Another guest told me later that he complained to her that my leftovers had dairy in them (he was a frutitarian) which meant he had actually opened and gone through my leftovers.
All the same host from my very first ever solo travel lmao.
#18
The host was out of town on the day we were arriving, so he said he'd hide the key in the garden. Ok, no problem. We assumed that the key would be somewhere near the door, or hidden under a rock or something. But no, the host had buried the key in a random spot in the garden, and it took over an hour of searching and digging with help from random passerby to find the damned thing.
Wood Carver 2 years ago
This is so much more convenient than going to a concierge at the front desk of my hotel. Not even an offer of a treasure hunt there.
#19
Not even that bad but my family and I stayed in an airbnb in Bushwick, NY last Christmas. We’ve stayed in lots of airbnbs but never ones with fake cops trying to break in. They were super aggressive and started using racial slurs after we refused to let them in. We were pretty shaken considering my sister’s pretty young and I ended up calling 911 to double check nobody had been dispatched to our area at the time. Was a pretty memorable Christmas indeed!
Nea 2 years ago
I was in the field researching human trafficking in one of the god forsaken districts of India. That day we had interacted with a few survivors of sex trafficking who were helping us track the route of trafficking in that area. Came back, my colleague and I were consolidating notes in my hotel room. Five women and men (traffickers) pushed in dressed as police threatening to arrest me for being a sex worker. I knew they were fraud because I was the guest of the police chief there. Having my male colleague around helped but I still get chills thinking how threatening it was. Thankfully, They were arrested next day.
#20
In Denver, I arrived at a house. The host showed me my room - it was an air mattress. No sheets, dirty clothes strewn across the bed. Dirty dishes, ashtray, dirty carpeting. Quite a gross place. "Sorry I haven't been downstairs recently." Took pics, left within 10 minutes and filed a complaint. ALWAYS make sure there are pictures of the sleeping area.
#21
I was staying in an Airbnb apartment in Paris looking for a room to rent somewhere in the city.
The apartment wasn't very good; creaky floors, cr**py bathroom etc. What made it worse was the apartment next door was being renovated throughout the day from 7AM to 6:30PM. Non stop drilling and hammering all day, everyday. On top of that was the couple upstairs had a newborn baby, and the ceiling was paper thin so during the early hours of the morning I would hear this screaming child hour after hour.
So the worst part was after I'd returned to the Airbnb from interviewing for a room to rent that afternoon, I'd noticed that my clothing in my suitcase had been rifled through. Immediately I check my secret compartment where I'd kept my extra cash and of course everything was gone!
300€ Stolen from my belongings
But here's the thing; my $2000 laptop was on the table right next to it as well as other expensive belongings and nothing else was touched in the apartment. I'd also made sure I locked the apartment everytime I left and it was locked when I returned.
I'm sure by now you've put it together that someone with a key let themselves in.
Immediately I call the host to discuss the problem and her response arranged from "That's not possible" to "Maybe you put the money somewhere else". Naturally I was furious but I restrained myself and didn't accuse. She said she'd come in the morning to inspect the apartment because I'd decided to rent the room I'd found in the city.
All she did was look around, checked the lock on the door and never said she was sorry or offered to refund my money for the stay.
I left that place so angry I still think about it and clench my fists. At least the people I moved in with after weren't total d**ks.
RyanRyanRyan 2 years ago
One danger of an Airbnb is any past renter could have made a key. Really Airbnb is a security nightmare.
#22
Stayed in a ground floor flat in Paris with a few friends. On the first night there, we sat at the kitchen table having drinks, and I kept seeing movement in the corner of the room in my peripherals. I thought it was just the alcohol, so I ignored it.
Turns out, the flat was crawling with mice, which we realised when we opened a kitchen cupboard and saw a whole family making their home among the bowls.
We got in contact with the owner, who said "oh yeah, sometimes when it rains outside, the mice flock inside. You'll find this with every Airbnb in Paris". Uhhh no thanks
#23
My family and I were on a road trip to San Francisco. On the way we booked this cute little cottage in a very historic town. It was perfect, white picket fence and all.
The second day I was eating breakfast in the kitchen and noticed a weird smell. I couldn’t place it and figured it was just something in the garbage.
After breakfast I showered and got myself ready for the day. Once I was out of the bathroom my husband hopped in the shower and a few minutes into it all I heard was some jumbled words and “OH S**T”.
Apparently the place had a septic problem and there was literally human waste coming up through the drain in the shower.
My husband jumped out and turned on the sinks faucet, it was brown. I can’t remember how it all unfolded exactly but if I remember correctly the toilet started overflowing at this point as well. It felt like we were in a movie or something.
We got out of there as fast as possible and later I realized that’s what I was smelling when I was eating my breakfast!!
All in all it was a pretty sh**ty experience.
#24
"Pls no anal sex on the bed" is the title of my worst AirBnB experience. There were these lovely notes from the host all around the property, about their life struggles and how they didn't want us to have anal sex or period sex on the bed.
The wall to the bedroom (booked as a "private room") was paper thin and didn't go all the way up to the ceiling - and there were several bunk beds in the living room and another bedroom, and we all got to share 1 bathroom. The bedroom itself was a small space with two thin mattresses (smaller than normal single beds in size). The room was so small the door could only open when the mattresses were on top of each other. My partner at the time was unable to lie down fully stretched. The AC was so loud we had to choose between lack of sleep due to heat or due to noise.
It was in DC a couple of years ago. Since they had a rule of not leaving reviews (and thus also not getting reviews) they managed to stay on AirBnB for about half a year before they were removed.
#25
While staying in Colombia, around 700usd cash were stolen from my airbnb. It was a private house, and after looking at a hotels camera across the street, a man came with keys, open the door, and took my stuff. The owners said it was a handyman that used to work for them. Neither owners nor airbnb did anything at all
Mario Strada 2 years ago
Even in hotels, I either use the safe or take all the money with me in a money belt. Trust the landlord? No way.
#26
Staying in Spain heavy rainfall caused the ceiling the fall in meaning we had to run out of the building in the middle of the night after grabbing as much of our stuff as we could and alerting all the neighbours in the building.
#27
Was staying in a mini house in someone's backyard with my gf. Heard a helicopter a couple times fly overhead and just assumed a hospital was nearby. Was watching TV before bed and heard a loud knock on the door. It was a cop telling us there was a suicidal man running around the neighborhood with a gun that had already threatened multiple people and broken into a house. Thank god it was the cop and not the guy as the door was (stupidity) left unlocked. The helicopter was part of the search.
#28
Booked a houseboat in Belgrade. Looked amazing in the pictures, near the river clubs etc.
When we got there we found it to be on a 30 degree slant since the river was lower and so was half beached. Also after waiting for several hours we found that the owner had lent it to their family instead that weekend and so wasn't even available.
Hilarious now, back then was not impressed.
#29
a place in ikebukuro, tokyo was advertised as an apartment. Photos looked pretty decent. Small, but just enough for one person.
Arrived there on the day of, realised it was a love hotel (charged rooms by the hour), room was smaller than I thought with absolutely no floor space (you walk in and the bed and sink were right there, no space to put any luggage), and a musky stench. The wallpaper had stains from god knows what. Read some reviews that weren't on Airbnb and people mentioned having dried up bodily fluids on their mattresses and blankets.
Final straw was the fact that they had no hot water in the middle of a winter night.
Left there pretty fast, contacted the owner, and she was nice enough to give me a refund.
#30
Host lied and tried to get my friends and I to pay a $250 cleaning fee, even though we did everything he asked before we left. I declined the payment, reported him to AirBnB, and never contacted him after that. We rented his house for spring break (we're in college) and did not throw any parties or trash the place, cleaned it pretty well before we left. I have a feeling he pulls that s**t every time he rents to college students and just pockets the extra cash because most groups are probably afraid of getting in trouble
#31
Host lied about air conditioning. It was August in Barcelona. Also the ceiling, which was purposely not pictured, was covered in dry mold.
#32
My work wanted to go cheap so instead of putting me up somewhere in new york city they got me an airbnb in east Rutherford, NJ. It was some guys art studio, the walls were paper thin, so I heard the host yelling at possible art dealers or whatever all night while trying to sleep on a cot which had one dirty pillow on it (also for some reason it had a single rose on it).
#33
Staying in New Orleans in July with no AC probably tops my list. There were roaches everywhere as well. The worst thing we found was some super faulty wiring. One day it rained and water was leaking out of the electrical socket. Staying at this place totally ruined New Orleans for me.
Chris Eaton 2 years ago
And it could’ve been worse! Be thankful you didn’t get shot through the wall by a stray bullet.
#34
Stayed with a dude and his wife when I went to Singapore. The guy was super friendly, he took me around town, and even let me hang with his dogs. I got home and decided to send him a friend request on Facebook. The picture on Facebook was with his wife and two dogs. I was planning on returning to Singapore that summer and wanted to stay with him again because of his hospitality. When I tried to message him I saw that he no longer had Facebook. I typed his name in on google to try to find him again and was met with a news article that the guy was currently wanted for sexually abusing two minors and used roofies to sedate them while he attacked them. The article said he was on the run from the authorities. I have never been so disgusted and frightened in my life. I haven’t used Airbnb since especially because they refused to refund me and didn’t conduct a background check on that monster.
Tl;dr: Nice guy I stayed with turned out to be a sexual predator. Airbnb sucks because they refused to refund me and did not do a background check.
SewingStaffy 2 years ago
I can't believe this person actually thinks they'd get a refund after they've stayed and had no issues. What kind of idiot are they
#35
Rented a cabin in the middle of nowhere for my birthday a couple of years back.
Everything is going fine, until the creepy neighbor showed up and started to hit on the ladies we brought. When I say creepy, I am talking Hills Have Eyes creepy.
Had to finally tell him to go f**k off after we caught him stealing beer and cigarettes and bringing them back to his house.
What do you think ?
Alex Martin 2 years ago (edited)
All the ones I've stayed in over the past couple years have been the rented apartment converted to AirBnB with Ikea, Amazon, and TJ Maxx purchased furniture. Bland and uncomfortable. It finally dawned on me that someone took these apartments away from the housing market and made housing more expensive. When I used Airbnb years ago for vacations we stayed in back houses and basement apartments with the family upstairs. You'd have notes saying to watch out for their dog because he likes to come in the cabin or be careful of the ducks near the pond because they were protective of their nests. Now it's impersonal emails, electronic locks, and properties the owner/manager rarely sees because he pays for a cleaning company to maintain the apartment. It's like watching little Anakin growing up to be Darth Vader. I'm done with Airbnb.
Mitchell 2 years ago
Do none of these people read reviews before they book? Or were there no reviews? Or fake reviews? I’ve stayed in hundreds of AirBNBs in about 7 different countries and never had a single problem. I’m not affiliated with AirBNB. Well, sometimes the decor was dated, occasionally something was not working, but nothing like these horror stories. Always read the reviews, always write a review.
Tams21 2 years ago
I stayed in one and after paying an extortionate cleaning fee and being expected to keep the place spotless, I found toenails from the previous occupant... In the bed. It was my first and last time using Airbnb.
Load More Replies... 
waddles 2 years ago
i know it’s not THAT bad but the whole concept makes me feel so weird
Load More Replies...
Stylishsidewaysbird 2 years ago
I really don’t want to victim blame because you SHOULD be able to keep cash in your belongings and not have it stolen where you are staying but why do people take so much cash and then leave it unattended. I’ve traveled extensively and I made it a rule to never carried or have more cash on hand than I could afford to lose.
Holly Stevens 2 years ago
I've heard so many bad things about airbnb especially all these ridiculous cleaning fees I don't think I'll ever use them
Jordi Sharpe 2 years ago
You couldn't pay me to stay in an AirBnB. At least in a hotel, you can demand they clean your room again if you find questionable s**t.
Jackie Lulu 2 years ago
My friend rents her spare bedroom on Airbus. She has the room professionally cleaned after each guest, and fills the room with amenities such as bottled water, snacks, coffee pot, little refrigerator refrigerator. The best way to navigate Air Bnb is to only book places with a 4 or 5 star rating and be a nice guest so that you too have a good rating. My friend wouldn't think of charging a fee for cleaning, except in certain circumstances, which hasn't happened to her yet. There's no accounting for crazy, but sticking with the highest rated properties cuts down some on the danger. Granted
Demongrrrrl 2 years ago
My family will be staying in an Airbnb in Los Angeles for a week next year. These stories are scaring the cr@p out of me.
One Jame 2 years ago
I'm surprised how many people haven't had negative experiences with AirBnB the company. I've only had a special circumstance once (host smoking weed in my room, would not stop), and AirBnB did bare minimum and didn't even give me a full refund even though I hadn't even stayed one night.
Adam Leviness 2 years ago
I don't understand how people can have such terrible experiences. Even when I DO use airBnB it's only ever to find a guest house, and actual bed and breakfast, or a hotel. I'm not.just going to go stay in someone's apartment or random spare room. I'm definitely not going to stay at a place that doesn't have reviews on several different websites. I stayed at the DreamCatcher Guest House in San Juan PR and a small hotel in the Dominican and both times I had a nicer stay than a big corporate hotel franchise and I didn't feel like I was just a guest in someone's extra room. That's what couchsurfer.org is for and there you don't have to pay so no greedy owners, just people that want to meet cool interesting people from around the world.
Carolina Machado 2 years ago
O negócio é ir somente em airbnbs confiáveis: https://www.guiamundomoderno.com.br/viagem/conheca-os-melhores-anfitrioes-do-airbnb/
Bex 2 years ago
My family has lived on a tiny, dead end street w a water view for over 100 years. It has 9 houses on it, and in 5 of the houses, 5 families have been raised through 3 generations at the same time, so its really a family street and quite unusual. A few years ago one of the houses was bought by someone from a city an hour away and he turned it into an Air BnB. Nothing but problems on the street since - loud parties, people walking through the other yards, leaving trash in other people's yards, not parking in the driveway but instead on the street so they block the only fire hydrant, one of the neighbors driveways, etc. The owner doesn't live there and when someone tries to talk to him about the problems, he just says he can't control what his guests do. He even had it open and was hosting guests from out of state at the height of the pandemic. Everyone on the street has been trying to get it shut down for the last year or so.
FatLipsMcCool 2 years ago
It's not 61 stories if you keep repeating the same ones over and over...
Alex Martin 2 years ago (edited)
All the ones I've stayed in over the past couple years have been the rented apartment converted to AirBnB with Ikea, Amazon, and TJ Maxx purchased furniture. Bland and uncomfortable. It finally dawned on me that someone took these apartments away from the housing market and made housing more expensive. When I used Airbnb years ago for vacations we stayed in back houses and basement apartments with the family upstairs. You'd have notes saying to watch out for their dog because he likes to come in the cabin or be careful of the ducks near the pond because they were protective of their nests. Now it's impersonal emails, electronic locks, and properties the owner/manager rarely sees because he pays for a cleaning company to maintain the apartment. It's like watching little Anakin growing up to be Darth Vader. I'm done with Airbnb.
Mitchell 2 years ago
Do none of these people read reviews before they book? Or were there no reviews? Or fake reviews? I’ve stayed in hundreds of AirBNBs in about 7 different countries and never had a single problem. I’m not affiliated with AirBNB. Well, sometimes the decor was dated, occasionally something was not working, but nothing like these horror stories. Always read the reviews, always write a review.
Tams21 2 years ago
I stayed in one and after paying an extortionate cleaning fee and being expected to keep the place spotless, I found toenails from the previous occupant... In the bed. It was my first and last time using Airbnb.
Load More Replies... waddles 2 years ago
i know it’s not THAT bad but the whole concept makes me feel so weird
Load More Replies... Stylishsidewaysbird 2 years ago
I really don’t want to victim blame because you SHOULD be able to keep cash in your belongings and not have it stolen where you are staying but why do people take so much cash and then leave it unattended. I’ve traveled extensively and I made it a rule to never carried or have more cash on hand than I could afford to lose.
Holly Stevens 2 years ago
I've heard so many bad things about airbnb especially all these ridiculous cleaning fees I don't think I'll ever use them
Jordi Sharpe 2 years ago
You couldn't pay me to stay in an AirBnB. At least in a hotel, you can demand they clean your room again if you find questionable s**t.
Jackie Lulu 2 years ago
My friend rents her spare bedroom on Airbus. She has the room professionally cleaned after each guest, and fills the room with amenities such as bottled water, snacks, coffee pot, little refrigerator refrigerator. The best way to navigate Air Bnb is to only book places with a 4 or 5 star rating and be a nice guest so that you too have a good rating. My friend wouldn't think of charging a fee for cleaning, except in certain circumstances, which hasn't happened to her yet. There's no accounting for crazy, but sticking with the highest rated properties cuts down some on the danger. Granted
Demongrrrrl 2 years ago
My family will be staying in an Airbnb in Los Angeles for a week next year. These stories are scaring the cr@p out of me.
One Jame 2 years ago
I'm surprised how many people haven't had negative experiences with AirBnB the company. I've only had a special circumstance once (host smoking weed in my room, would not stop), and AirBnB did bare minimum and didn't even give me a full refund even though I hadn't even stayed one night.
Adam Leviness 2 years ago
I don't understand how people can have such terrible experiences. Even when I DO use airBnB it's only ever to find a guest house, and actual bed and breakfast, or a hotel. I'm not.just going to go stay in someone's apartment or random spare room. I'm definitely not going to stay at a place that doesn't have reviews on several different websites. I stayed at the DreamCatcher Guest House in San Juan PR and a small hotel in the Dominican and both times I had a nicer stay than a big corporate hotel franchise and I didn't feel like I was just a guest in someone's extra room. That's what couchsurfer.org is for and there you don't have to pay so no greedy owners, just people that want to meet cool interesting people from around the world.
Carolina Machado 2 years ago
O negócio é ir somente em airbnbs confiáveis: https://www.guiamundomoderno.com.br/viagem/conheca-os-melhores-anfitrioes-do-airbnb/
Bex 2 years ago
My family has lived on a tiny, dead end street w a water view for over 100 years. It has 9 houses on it, and in 5 of the houses, 5 families have been raised through 3 generations at the same time, so its really a family street and quite unusual. A few years ago one of the houses was bought by someone from a city an hour away and he turned it into an Air BnB. Nothing but problems on the street since - loud parties, people walking through the other yards, leaving trash in other people's yards, not parking in the driveway but instead on the street so they block the only fire hydrant, one of the neighbors driveways, etc. The owner doesn't live there and when someone tries to talk to him about the problems, he just says he can't control what his guests do. He even had it open and was hosting guests from out of state at the height of the pandemic. Everyone on the street has been trying to get it shut down for the last year or so.
FatLipsMcCool 2 years ago
It's not 61 stories if you keep repeating the same ones over and over...
Related on Bored Panda
