I list my place in London on Airbnb when I go out of town. Because I can’t see my guests in person, a concierge checks their IDs and releases the keys. Guests often take advantage of my absence by turning the house into hell: a haven for his party activities, smoking all illegal stuff, drinking, leaving chicken bones all over the house. The guests often refuse to checkout and don’t even know the name of person who booked for them… all young guys with their pants down. The house is a scene of carnage: three full bags of rubbish, up to ten used bath robes, ten towels, all of my toilet rolls, all spare towels and robes, bed linens, etc. Some even ripped open my sealed packages stored in my cupboard after their second week, but that’s a different booking and completely different person with a different background; nevertheless, the end result is the same.

I asked the guest to vacate and he ran way with the building keys. I have to replace the set with my own money. My apartment has been shortlisted by these guys for these activities, and they use different a person’s account every time they book, making up a new seemingly valid story which is difficult to doubt. If Airbnb had taken stern action on the first guest who did this, then second and third times would not have happened. As Airbnb isn’t taking any action, I asked for the guests’ details so that I can report them to police and authorities, but they didn’t give me anything. Airbnb declines to cooperate with hosts, so now I have stopped taking any Airbnb bookings. I can’t be sure who is real, good guest and who is from this group of people. The first booking request came from someone who claimed to be a corporate MD of a company needing a weekend stay, the second request came from a girl who posed as coming with her parents and needing a weekend stay, and the third request came from a guy who needed a place for the weekend with his friend. They have a big group. Every time someone from the group makes request they use my place for these party activities. I stopped using Airbnb and would suggest people check their guests’ profiles very carefully and check them personally before handing over any keys…