I just have to share this... I couldn’t stop laughing each time I thought of it today...
A few weeks ago, my wife and I learned (finally) which of our neighbours were running an Airbnb. We knew someone in the street was, but couldn’t for the life of us work out who. The mystery was finally solved the other day with the help of another neighbour.
It turns out a retired couple have an Airbnb listing just a couple of doors down, in the basement of their house. My wife thought it would be neighbourly to reach out and meet them, over some scones. We figured it would come in handy knowing a fellow host nearby, particularly ones far more experienced than ourselves! There isn’t any issue with competition in our area - it’s just all one big shortage, so figured there’s no need to see them as the local enemy.
Anyhoo, our other neighbour says today “oh... you heard the story about their Airbnb right?” Confused, I said “No, what happened?”
He laughed the whole time he told this story...
Apparently, the ole timer likes to toy with modern gadgets, so he outfitted the door to his basement Airbnb with an electronic keypad lock. He was so happy with it, he then installed one on his own front door, just upstairs. For reasons we cannot fathom, he then set the codes to both doors “the same”.
Soon after, one fine evening some of his Airbnb guests (2 young German girls) arrived around midnight to let themselves in.
You guessed it. They used the wrong door and let themselves into his house!
But that’s not the best part...
The ole timer (in bed) hears someone banging around in his lounge... gets out his shot gun (not loaded)... launches himself into the living room in his underwear (it’s hot in NZ right now), shouting and waving his shot gun around! He scares the living hell out of these girls and, naturally, they run for their lives! They don’t even realise this is their host chasing them, they just run out the front door and leg it down the street, screaming their heads off! The whole neighbourhood heard them running down the street (even us, but we didn’t realise what it was about at the time!).
Now, we don’t know entirely what happened next, but at some point both host and guests worked out what was going on and the girls returned to the actual Airbnb. Apparently they saw the funny side and all had a good laugh. The ole timer must have worked some old school hospitality magic too, because he even got a 5 star review out of it.
To have this this actually happen and still get a 5 star review... I couldn’t stop laughing all day. How the hell did he manage it? I plan to drop round for a cuppa and find out.
We all need to learn from this guy!
