Prostitution

Answered!
Justin144
Level 1
New York, NY

Prostitution

I've encountered several instances where i've put my apartment up for rent and after some research it becomes apparant that some last-minute bookings are being made by prostitutes.

 

I've come to this conclusion after cross-checking their stories and asking questions about odd arrival times and wide-gaps between message response time.

 

I understand it's not right to accuse someone of this, but how can i decline a booking based on the fact that i've become uncomfortable with the guest without violating discrimination policies.

 

 

1 Best Answer
Stephanie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

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38 Replies 38
Donald28
Level 10
Lithia Springs, GA

You should NOT use instant book and then you have an opportunity to vet your guests better. If you approve them, whatever they're doing in the privacy of your property is not your business. Assuming it is not damaging your property. 

 

I don't think you can cancel a paid reservation without severe consequences. 

Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

Nonsense, @Donald28 ! Hosts CAN cancel an  Instant booking without penalty if they are uncomfortable with the reservation. It absolutely IS the host's business what goes on in their house! Hosts are entitled to object to prostitution for all the reasons people do! And anyway, Airbnb's are suppose to be RESIDENTIAL, not BUSINESS premises. You should not book an airbnb to conduct any kind of business, eg film shooting.

 

My house, my rules!

a host might be able to cancel 1 or 2 paid reservations because "they are uncomfortable" but try that too many times and you'll find your listing delisted and surely your superhost status gone. Hosts really have no idea what is going on in the unit. If you think it's prostitution, how can you prove that solidly enough to warrant having airbnb kick them out after they've paid? 

@Donald9 

Send them a text message through a different phone number. Pretend to be a customer and have them text you the address (which is your home). Not only will they kick them out of your house but they will kick them off the platform.

Francis55
Level 2
England, United Kingdom

I have recently sent AirBNB a list of 10 properties used by the same group prostitutes recently. I gave them their real names, general, and exact dates of bookings, and links to their sex profiles, and screenshots. They are currently telling me that I have not provided them with enough information to find the users. Go figure!

Francis55
Level 2
England, United Kingdom

I can shed a great deal of light on this topic, just … ahem, don’t ask me how I know! 


okay okay, on 3 occasions, I have been socially acquainted with prostitutes. I have followed the full life cycle of their Airbnb activities.

 

Now where do I start? First off to say that Airbnb prostitution is rife. Every active prostitute, but for the abject low class ones use Airbnb to host sex work without the hosts knowledge. If you live in a major city, and host an apartment 1 bedroom to 3 bedrooms, I would bet the car, but not the house that commercial fornication has occurred in your premises. 

 

The signs:

——————

 

1. From booking history, you will notice a flurry of short term stays, all within the same general area or cluster of several areas and cities ; watch out for them doubling back to cities that they have already stayed in within a month or so. Your wishful head probably thinks that these are travelling students , but I hate to break it to you ! 

The reason for the relatively short term stays in the same area , despite the lack of cost saving is because these women start off with zero, and housing is their biggest overhead. They make money daily, and so goes their expenses. By the end of the week, they can only afford another short term stay, but low and behold your places is booked up for the following week. 



2. it’s possible that it could be a single woman , but usually in groups of two or more. Watch out for those who appear to be taking some type of gap year away from their home country, but don’t quite fit the student mould . The reason they usually travel in groups is for safety and cost sharing of their biggest overhead. Imagine working flat out on your back for one week, and 60% of your take goes to pay for an Airbnb in some upscale neighbourhood. I hate to break it to you, but it is much more rife in upscale neighbourhoods because they seek rich clientele. 

 

3. Desperate groups of Prostitutes often pick the exact same apartment, I guess it’s a case of great minds think alike. So if your place has been used once, it’s been used on other occasions by others. 

 

4. Time to take off your rose tinted glasses. There are various economically unstable counties where the majority of these women come from . I am writing from the perspective of the UK, but here is a small non exhaustive list : 

 

Brazil 

Albania 

Columbia 

Russia 

Ukraine 

UK ( special case will explain below).

 

 

Especially the Brazilians. If you are far down in the chain of their history of contiguous or close to contiguous bookings, ask yourself if it is possible that these women from place where the average salary is £300 a month can afford to spend £15,000 or so on Airbnb during a holiday. It reaches these sorts of sums because they use up the maximum length of stay on their visa, some over stay . In the uk it’s 6 months , so do the maths of 6 moths stay in Marleybone / Mayfair / Chelsea , and the same if you live outside of the UK for equivalent areas. 

 

5. Its actually VERY easy to confirm whether they are , but due to the way Airbnb works, you can only do that after they have booked and you know what they look like. See, their trade depends on high visibility on various digital market places for sex. All you need to to is trawl some of these sites, filter for the general age / appearance , and you will be surprised how quickly you stumble upon your suspect….sorry, I meant guest. Once again from the perspective of the UK, here are some major websites where you can view them . I will write the general name and leave you to search the rest. Use DuckDuckGo because Google filters these sites , there is some international cross over, but if you are not in the uk 🇬🇧, research equivalent websites for your country: 

 

adult work 

kommons 

viva street 

secret hostess 

 

These are the source of most Airbnb prostitutes for reasons that would need to be covered in a separate post. 

 

5. I saw someone write that short stay / short notice bookings is the key give away ; how innocent! The short notice / short stay bookings are mostly from home grown prostitutes; they can do this easier at hotels, but sometimes Airbnb. These don’t need your Airbnb for accommodation during times they are not working, they go home to their own homes In between. The ones from elsewhere have to live where they work. 

6. They come in all age groups, but the main perpetrators are between 18 and 30.  Do not fall for the sad story narrative,  most of them do it for Gucci handbags , boob jobs, veneers, and Loui Vuitton. Trust me, the ones strung out on drugs , with an abused history are not in a position to pay you 8 times the monthly rental value of your property; for various reasons. Take my word on that.  These types or on the streets, or in accommodation provided by pimps. 

 

 

7. This is a small one, but watch out for abandoned bookings or early terminations; taking into account the above 6 points. This occurs when they move to a new area, and business comes to a grinding halt. They move because they cannot afford to not make money for days on end. They often miscalculate the economic calendar of a foreign country: for example Christmas through February is the worst time for them. They will also move if they turn up at your apartment, and realise that commerce is untenable, you may be hosting right next ti a mechanics garage with no intercoms system and a flight of stairs to get to your Place for example. 

8. This one is for the super sleuths. If it is in. Your power, check water, and power consumption. With the water you will notice much more used that it would be usual for the given amount of guests. Each of their clientele takes a nice hot shower , and the women take a shower after each guest. With the power, you will see clear evidence of them having spent 90% of the stay inside your apartment without any attempt at tourism. 

This one is for sneaky. Most of them have two phones. Again, ask yourself why this young woman has two Iphones. Find some pretext to get their  British pay as you go number, and add them to your WhatsApp. Take a look at their profile pictures  which will be provocative; designed to bait customers. You can also use a burner phone to call / text Jen where the immediate response will be a price list , followed by your postcode should you feint the wish to contract. 

9. The obvious: check your bins, it will be full of user condoms,  used lube, and baby wipes ; a ridiculous amount of them much beyond some holidaying lass getting lucky whilst on holiday. 

10. They are in some Airbnb in every town in every  city. The more upscale the area, the better looking they are. I will list a few of the most active areas in London uk , and you can use this as a cypher for your own country: 

 

Canary Wharf 

Chelsea 

Kensington 

Marleybone / Edgeware Road 

Fullham 

Croydon 

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Sorry that's just not true . @Francis55 

 

I host in a major UK city and have never had prostitutes using the whole listings I co-host in six years .

 

You only tend to have prostitutes staying if you take fairly last minute bookings and don't vet your guests properly. 

CCTV is a good deterrent . 

 

airbnb already provides its own useful guidance on signs to look out for to minimise your chances of having your listing used by orostitutes/drug traffickers/fraudsters . 

Francis55
Level 2
England, United Kingdom

Helen,

With great respect, you are living in a fools paradise. Take from a person who knows. Take it from a man who has dated ...ahem, working girls. I actually do mean dated as in dated, and not dated as in a paying customer.

 

Where do you get this 'last minute booking' thing from? It is utter tripe. They will book within all types of time scales.

 

You also talk at cross purposes because you said that CCTV is a good deterrent. Helen, what do you think two Colombian prostitutes are going to do when they rock up, and find that you have   your Ring Door camera on a direct feed to your bedroom TV? I covered this in my post:they will abandon the booking, or do it until they are caught.  With vetting: well this is the whole point. Most do not / cannot vet , and my post provides some tools to be able to do that.

Stephanie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

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