Slashdot Mirror
'My Airbnb Guests Threw a New Year's Party For 300 People' (theguardian.com)
"What's the worst that can happen?" thought Nicko Feinberg last December when he listed his house on Airbnb.
The listing explicitly said no parties. Then a request came through to book the house for one night on New Year's Day. It was from a young man, probably in his early 20s. He had one review but it was terrific.... I picked up my boys and we stayed down the road at my mother's apartment... When I got back [the next day] I saw three or four cars in the driveway. I threw my food down and knew I was screwed. Inside there were about 12 young adults, all trying to clean.
The floors looked like someone had poured Jagermeister and champagne everywhere and then danced on them. Everything seemed wrong: my artwork was not on the walls; there was furniture missing; the glass panel on my staircase was shattered; even the floor didn't seem level any more. Then I noticed they were using my best sheets and towels as mops....I told them no one was leaving and I called the police and Airbnb. When a police officer turned up, he said it was a civil matter, before adding: "We were here last night...."
Ultimately, it was just stuff and I knew it would be OK. But I felt a massive disappointment in humanity. That night, it wasn't hard for me and my boys to find Instagram pictures and videos of the party. It was horrifying to see so many people in the house, jumping up and down on the furniture and windowsills. They broke my hot tub and tiles in the bathroom; when I looked in the rubbish bags, I saw all my drinks bottles empty, as well as broken glasses and towels. I found an image online of the invite that said, "Mansion Party" with my address. There had been 300 people there. Boys were charged to enter; girls got in free.
While he won't disclose what Airbnb paid him for the damage, "a year later repairs are continuing. The floor is still uneven." But he told one local news channel that the damage was over $100,000, adding "There's footprints on my bathroom walls."
At one point more than 100 cars had been parked outside, according to a police report, and the 23-year-old was ultimately charged with "disorderly conduct". He also was banned permanently from Airbnb -- which said in a statement that "negative incidents are incredibly rare."
The floors looked like someone had poured Jagermeister and champagne everywhere and then danced on them. Everything seemed wrong: my artwork was not on the walls; there was furniture missing; the glass panel on my staircase was shattered; even the floor didn't seem level any more. Then I noticed they were using my best sheets and towels as mops....I told them no one was leaving and I called the police and Airbnb. When a police officer turned up, he said it was a civil matter, before adding: "We were here last night...."
Ultimately, it was just stuff and I knew it would be OK. But I felt a massive disappointment in humanity. That night, it wasn't hard for me and my boys to find Instagram pictures and videos of the party. It was horrifying to see so many people in the house, jumping up and down on the furniture and windowsills. They broke my hot tub and tiles in the bathroom; when I looked in the rubbish bags, I saw all my drinks bottles empty, as well as broken glasses and towels. I found an image online of the invite that said, "Mansion Party" with my address. There had been 300 people there. Boys were charged to enter; girls got in free.
While he won't disclose what Airbnb paid him for the damage, "a year later repairs are continuing. The floor is still uneven." But he told one local news channel that the damage was over $100,000, adding "There's footprints on my bathroom walls."
At one point more than 100 cars had been parked outside, according to a police report, and the 23-year-old was ultimately charged with "disorderly conduct". He also was banned permanently from Airbnb -- which said in a statement that "negative incidents are incredibly rare."
In a world where everyone reviews everyone, airbnb type places are a lot less likely to have negative reviews. It's not worth giving a negative review and getting negative effects in the future. So you start getting reviews like this:
"It was a great experience. I enjoyed looking at the interesting patterns the mold made on the bathroom tiles. Five stars."
Another thing: for a while, Agoda would ask you to rate a place, and if you didn't put five stars, would ask, "What was wrong with this place?" As a result, it was easier to just not review, unless you wanted to give them five stars.
Lately I've stopped looking at hotel reviews at all, and just sorting by cleanliness rating. If it doesn't get a top clean rating, it's probably not worth visiting.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
If you want to act like a hotel, be prepared for people to treat you like one.
Which hotel allows you to throw parties with hundreds of people?
Disappointing comment Michael, but far worse is being given a "score 3" on this site.
I moved to Melbourne more than 50 years and there's been a great tradition of vilifying each new wave of immigrants
However, it usually reflects more on the family of those doing the denigrating - in my experience at least.
(I was born from English dad & "Aussie" mum whose family was hugely racist against Australian aboriginals - I never worked out why.)
You rent your home full of your stuff to a total stranger. What do you expect?
The same as any B&B who rents out a room expects - someone who stays, behaves, pays, and leaves.
People like this should be sentenced to military conscription, with every paycheck going to the victim until all damages are paid off with interest. That should teach them some respect.
Indeed. The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.
Hotels also have a legal army behind them to keep people generally in line. Hotels have established case law precedent which will also side with them in case of having guests that behave like this. I am certain the large chains have successfully garnished guest's wages for repayment of property damage. I am honestly shocked that the police didn't charge the AirBnB guest with, at the very least, criminal mischief
Not all 20 year olds are fuckwits. But anybody renting a large place on New Years for one night should raise a red flag. At least enough of one to do a drive by or two, particularly if you're just down the street at your mom's.
I have an Airbnb, and have hosted hundreds of guests. I never had anything happen like what is described in TFA.
I once rented to a group of people that turned out to be a Harley motorcycle gang. When they checked out, the place was immaculate. All the laundry was done, the towels were folded, the dishes were washed and put away, and they left me a five star review.
We had a similar experience once with AirBnB. They'd cut holes in the ceiling to get the giraffe in, the walls were covered in copies of Shakespeare apparently typed by large numbers of monkeys, and we had to use a crane to get the Baleen whale out of the bathtub. Luckily this was just before the subprime mortgage crisis,and we unloaded the place on speculators before they discovered what was inside the pentagram in the basement.