I’m a Superhost. A guest stole from my property — and I feel abandoned by the platform I trusted

[Stela260]

Hello everyone,

I’m a Superhost based in Tirana, Albania, managing multiple listings with care and passion. One of them is City Center Tirana Urban Condo — a property I’ve personally curated, designed, and maintained with dedication.

I put my heart into hosting: I welcome guests with warmth, cleanliness, thoughtful details, and I follow Airbnb’s rules strictly. I pay the service fees, state taxes, cleaning staff, and rent — all with the belief that I am part of a trustworthy system that values and protects its hosts.

But on April 22, I experienced something deeply upsetting.

A guest named Marius booked my apartment (reservation HMDTQ3JRKX) for one person. The night before checkout, he wrote to say he had given the key to a “girlfriend” to collect her things. The next morning, my cleaner found the apartment messy and discovered that several items were missing:

Two high-quality blankets

A professional hair dryer

A hair straightener

A coat-cleaning roller

At that moment, I was at work — I’m a full-time architect at the Ministry of Culture in Tirana. I had to leave urgently to handle the situation. Unfortunately, my superior marked the day as unexcused, which caused serious consequences for my professional role.

When I tried to call the guest, he ignored my calls. Later he replied, claiming she “must have taken the items” and that she was “a girl from England.” He then said he was no longer in Albania and that he would call me when he returned.
That call never came. Nothing was ever returned.

The story changed several times, and honestly, the whole situation raised red flags — it felt like the property had been used for something other than normal accommodation.

I submitted a full claim through Airbnb (case CLSF-04309175) with all the necessary evidence:

Before and after photos

Screenshots of our messages

Receipts and product links

Cleaning and replacement estimates

Since then, I’ve only received automated replies. I’ve lost hours of time trying to correct email formats and resubmit documents, but still no real human contact or clarity.

This entire experience has left me feeling stressed, offended, and unsupported.
As a person, and as a member of this community, I never expected to feel so alone when doing everything by the book.

I decided to share this here not to complain, but because I truly believed I was part of something more — a community that values fairness, transparency, and protection on both sides.

For any other host reading this: have you ever faced something similar? How do you move forward when trust is shaken?

Thank you for reading and letting me share this.

Guest: Marius
Reservation code: HMDTQ3JRKX
Property: City Center Tirana Urban Condo
Incident date: April 22, 2025
Location: Tirana, Albania
Status: Unresolved

[Ahmad141]

Hello Stela260, I’m sorry for what happened to you, but don’t worry, Airbnb doesn’t let anyone's rights go unnoticed. As I see, you are a superhost and have a 5.0 rating, which is excellent.!!! Regarding the incident that occurred with you, such things can happen, and theft and damage can be caused by guests even in the most upscale communities. Always anticipate that you might experience such incidents.

However, stay vigilant and keep all receipts for the items in the apartment, as you never know when similar incidents might occur and you might need to provide receipts for missing items or a damage assessment report from the support team. Just so you know, I experienced the same thing and was compensated by their ( AirCover ), but you need to submit all the documents they request, and you will be compensated, so don’t worry. Thank you!

[Francesca2589]

Hi Stela,

I've also recently had the same issue and it's really heartbreaking so I understand entirely.

A guest came with more people than agreed, caused a leak, complained about it, broke a bed, complained about it and I got suspicious he was breaking things to get refunds. (They were already 24 people for £400 per night, at £16 per person per night?). I said he was welcome to leave and I'd refund him the remaining two nights.

He stayed - so it couldn't have been that bad, right?

What I found when I got there reduced me to tears - and then I found a message from him requesting a refund for the whole trip.

Four times. Four times he requested money, to me, to Airbnb, who emailed me and called me. It was harassment and I said so. Meanwhile, I'm asking for £500+ in damages and theft and in two weeks, Airbnb have done nothing.

So I've taken it to the police.

He's now left me a bad review, and I've responded, but yes, sometimes the only thing you can do is involve the law. Airbnb seem very bad at helping hosts but very good at helping guests bully hosts.

"Over 100 photos sent to Airbnb and North Wales Police in support of my claim of over £500 worth in damage and theft (photos and crime reference number available). Brought more people than agreed. Caused a leak and complained about it. Left the Hall is such a state it was heartbreaking. I had to take two days off work to put furniture back in its rightful place; fix broken curtain rails, replace broken clothes rails, clean the kitchen. The cooker was so bad I thought I had to replace it, left rotting food in the fridge and burnt out pans. Chalk everywhere, food ground into the carpet, records and record player in such disarray they had to be removed, pictures taken off the wall, Henry Hoover blocked with a silver sweet wrapper, kitchen lino stained yellow with their cooking, didn't strip the beds, didn't clean, left rubbish everywhere and inexplicably threw the board games in the bin. Asked me for a refund. No money would allow them back".

This is him: Varun - https://www.airbnb.co.uk/users/show/68631882 

Good luck and yes, I agree with Admad141, receipts and photos of everything, but also, common sense - remove anything that can be stolen. Less to steal, less to break etc. It's sad for future guests but if our private property isn't respected and we're not supported by airbnb, you have to protect yourself.