There are plenty of horror stories of all the things the weird, nasty, and even potentially dangerous things that Airbnb guests and hosts have allegedly encountered.
One host admitted to not changing the code for the back door when a new guest arrived. There was another who had a “growling/charging” dog with them while addressing a guest. And another guest accused their host of spying on them.
Airbnb has standards and guidelines in place to protect guests and hosts. But how people behave is out of its control.
Airbnb gone wrong
In a series of viral videos with a collective 1.2 million+ views, Airbnb guest Sarah (@sarahsendsherlove) shares her story.
“I’m shaking. I’m so scared,” Sarah says as she takes deep breaths to calm herself.
“I think someone is living on our property. Like squatting or something,” she says as she hides in a closet.
Sarah explains that they’re supposed to have the house, which is quite ample, to themselves. And she says they’d already been there for over a week.
Well, that day, she says her husband went around to ensure all the doors were locked. Sarah claims that he came across a room that wasn’t listed in the Airbnb advertisement.
“It was clear someone was living in there,” Sarah says, adding that there was a bed and clothes and shoes “all over the place.” “The person has been here,” she says.
On other days that her husband did his rounds, the door had been locked, she says, so they assumed it was a cleaning supply closet or something of the sort. “We didn’t think anything of it,” she says.
The fact that it was now unlocked led Sarah to believe that the person had been in the house while she was there with her family and nanny.
She says they called the police, and Sarah remained outside the property in case the intruder tried to sneak away.
Now, Sarah says she did reach out to the Airbnb owner, and they told her that the only people who are ever there are those from the management team who “will stop by once in a while.” Even so, she says that he assured her that only the cleaning person and himself have access to that room.
Police arrive
When the first officer arrived, Sarah says he told her that they get a lot of calls to the address because it is often used as a party house.
Sarah says that once she explained the situation, the officer called for backup. When they entered the room, they didn’t find anyone, she says.
“So after all of that, the unlocked door, the hidden room, the police showing up—nothing,” she says.
An Airbnb told the Daily Dot that, “We take reports of safety concerns seriously, and we are in contact with the guest to support them with another place to stay. In the rare event of an issue during a stay, our teams are on hand 24/7 to help.”
Commenter theories
Viewers suspect there was someone in the house, and that person was the host himself.
“Yeah, I think the owner is living there – he rents out the house to make his mortgage and bills…he could say he was out of town but like how do you really know that he is actually out of town,” one wrote.
Technically, a host can stay at their property, but only if they disclose this and list the home as a shared stay. (These tend to be cheaper since you’re giving up having full privacy.)
Otherwise, the owner would have to ask for the guests’ permission to enter the property while it’s rented, or it would have to be an emergency situation, Airbnb states.
@sarahsendsherlove Police have been called. What if the squater is watching this?#scary#mildlyinteresting#airbnbhorrorstory#scarytok#scarystorytime#wtf ♬ original sound – Sarahsendsherlove
The Daily Dot reached out to Sarah for comment via Instagram and TikTok direct message.
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