A traveller’s creepy Airbnb find has left Twitter stunned. It also adds more fuel to the argument (which did the rounds earlier this week) that hotels are due a come-back as we come out of this pandemic era.
The find? Twitter user @Britered66 claimed she found two cameras in her Airbnb, which she discovered after two days of staying there.
“My last AirBnB had 2 cameras, one in bdrm & one in living rm in front of sleep sofa where my son slept & dressed. Once discovered after 2 days I nicely blocked lens. Very chilling to know someone was likely watching us undress/sleep/sex. I don’t know if I’ll ever use one again.”
My last AirBnB had 2 cameras, one in bdrm & one in living rm in front of sleep sofa where my son slept & dressed. Once discovered after 2 days I nicely blocked lens. Very chilling to know someone was likely watching us undress/sleep/sex. I don’t know if I’ll ever use one again.
— Britered66 (@britered66) March 13, 2022
She said this in response to another Twitter user asking his followers: “Why are y’all still choosing AirBnB over hotels?” and claiming “Prices are no longer as reasonable as before; they cost just as much as hotels… Hotels provide housekeeping, room service, fresh towels, & better service” as well as no cleanup fees and no surprise guests.
It is illegal in any place where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, which generally means inside. Outside cameras ok, and garage is gray area. All inside areas are not a gray area.
— Russ Esq. – Practicing Tweet Improv – Typos Galore (@RussRyanLaw) March 14, 2022
Another Twitter user, Mylie Moore, claimed she had also found cameras in her Airbnb and that her host went through her trash, and then wrote a review about her trash.
Me too. In Porto last week and I had three cameras in my Airbnb. The landlord showed them to me and said I could cover them if I want. I was stunned. He was so nonchalant about it.
— Mary Grossman (@mindswide) March 14, 2022
The discussion didn’t end there. Another user said this creepy find could also happen in a hotel.
Unfortunately, this is not limited to Air BNB rentals. Be wary also when in hotels. Camaras are not always installed by owners.
— Andre (@1ndre75) March 13, 2022
Others said it wasn’t Airbnb’s fault…
I found cameras at an Airbnb and immediately contacted them to move to a new place and be refunded the remainder of what I’d paid for the 30 day stay. Thankfully, Airbnb saw this as a security concern, gave me authorization to move to a new listing, and reimbursed me.
— Dr. Diane Tober (@Diane_Tober) March 13, 2022
…and claimed Airbnb had given them refunds after they made similar creepy finds of their own.
You can sue the hosts for that, it’s not a feature of Airbnb, it’s a unique host bug.
— Caleb George (@whatupcaleb) March 14, 2022
Another provided a handy tip for checking if your room has any cameras. They wrote: “You can use your phone to detect cameras. Turn all the lights off and get it the room as dark as possible, turn the camera on your phone on and use it to the scan the room. On the phone’s screen, cameras show up as small lights.”
Cameras have been found in hotel rooms. My husband bought a device to detect them. We also frequent AirBnBs.
— The Lavatory Lady (@LavatoryLady) March 14, 2022
This isn’t the first time people have taken to the Internet to share their creepy Airbnb stories. On Reddit, one user, a couple of years ago, posted a super creepy looking room to the r/oddlyterrifying community with the caption: “Creepy place I found on airbnb a while ago. North of England. I seem the remember the description saying something like ‘amazing for couples or families.'”
Another, in a “what’s your creepy Airbnb story,” thread, said: “My fiance and I were staying at an AirBnB in Helsinki to visit family. When we got there and got settled, we were chatting about things we thought were missing in the apartment, specifically I remember saying I wished there was another towel hook in the bathroom (there was only 1 and obviously 2 towels being used).”
“The next day we went out and were out pretty much all day, and when we got back that night there was another towel hook in the bathroom…”
Reddit user 15sunflowers
Oh, and another shared the time they kept getting “checked in on” by their host (while another claimed to have found passports with blood on them).
Staying at a creepy Airbnb and found the passports of two old people with blood all over them… check my Snapchat story LOL 😅
— Millie T 🪐 (@milliet25) December 8, 2017
It can also go the other way, with some hosts complaining about creepy guests.
Though these kinds of creepy finds are quite rare, it goes to show – if you want the added freedom and ‘cool’ factor of staying in an Airbnb over a hotel, you have to take a slightly higher risk that you could end up with a weird or creepy host.
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