House Party - Pool Party advertised on Instagram

[Xanthe3]

I am an experienced Airbnb Superhost with 21 years in the tourism industry. In August 2020 I accepted a booking from an airbnb'er with 8 perfect guests reviews. He had agreed to our 'over 25 year old only, no parties, no same sex groups' policies. It turns out there were 7 young men aged 18-20 and one 25 year old. As Airbnb only provides hosts with minimal primary guest details, I knew nothing until I accepted the last minute booking request, the house being available due to a late covid cancellation. 

The primary guest then advertised my house on Instagram for a 24hr/7day Pool and Sex Party with free alcohol for girls (we found advertising flyers in the house afterwards). Due to Covid, I was stuck 1000km away unable to travel and so oblivious to what was happening, until the third day when the Spanish Guardia Civil contacted me after a neighbour complaint. I involved Airbnb who did help and evicted the guests, although not quickly enough for the neighbour it seems. Airbnb told me that they would help with this as Airbnb House Parties were a big problem (shortly after this happened they introduced new rules to stop them, however our primary guest would still get through these !).

6 weeks ago the consequences of this Airbnb Pool /Sex Party became apparent, I am now being taken to court in Spain as I am held 100pct responsible for the Airbnb'er guest actions. We bought the house in Spain for our retirement (it was only on airbnb because we lost all our income due to covid), our own home in France is being sold and completes in October, but now, I cannot go to Spain as I will have to go to court to defend myself. If I stay out of Spain I cannot be taken to court. My husband and I will be homeless as we cannot pull out of our house sale without paying 70K Euro in compensation if we withdraw.

Even if our neighbour withdraws the court proceedings we will have neighbours who hate us for our retirement, which is not a pleasant thought. I have contacted him to discuss (having of course apologised profusely at the time), but his reply was that he was a 'civilised person who lived in a civilised country' implying that we were not. He gave no indication of what he hoped to achieve by this or if he actually wanted anything. It seems he has not realised that if we cannot live in our retirement home, because I have a police record and cannot apply for Spanish residency, then the house will remain a holiday home (albeit no longer advertised on airbnb but on sites which provide a better quality of guest).

Airbnb will not respond to my emails. I must now pay for a lawyer to help me clear up this mess.

This is just a warning of what can happen if you host and what does happen when things go wrong.

[Xanthe3]

@Liv

@Paul89

@Gregory525 

@Helen3

@Jillian115 

@Mark116 

@Paul8914 

Liv just to let you know that I sent the Court Documents relating to the Airbnb guests to CS but no one has ever contacted me. Each time I try to reach out to Airbnb for a reimbursement of my lawyer,  notary and travel expenses the case is closed by Airbnb CS before I get through to the correct department or person.  As far as the court case, is concerning it is still an open ongoing matter.

Gregory525 was correct in what he said. Thank you for sticking up for me. 

Aiden38 I think you have misunderstood what I was attempting to say. As far as I was aware there was nothing to indicate the sexual orientation or preferences of anyone who booked through AIRBNB for their illegal Instagram Advertised Pool and Sex Party. My personal objection is to being sued by my neighbour due to the unacceptable noise caused by the AIRBNB guests, not to anybodies sexual preferences & I do not discriminate against same sex groups based on their sexual orientation. 

Helen3 as @Paul8914 says there are more things that Airbnb can do to prevent things like this from happening to hosts. A guest age restriction limit only apply to the primary guest (unless this has been changed recently by airbnb), therefore it is easy for guests to get around this rule. Airbnb should not penalise Hosts in cases like these by taking fees etc from the Host when the stay is cancelled. Giving hosts the option to block 'same sex groups' from booking is advised by people working in the tourism industry in Spain, as it is a top destination in Europe for Stag and Hen Parties. This is not a discrimination thing, it is a logical thing; not all rentals are suitable for large partying groups of potentially intoxicated people; the same as not all properties are suitable for the elderly or for children to stay in. 

Finally, what is the point of the Host Insurance policy if it does not cover expenses when you are being sued because of an AIRBNB reservation? It does seem to be rather misleading.

Interestingly,  I have also noted that someone has changed the title of this post from the original. I wonder why this might be?