New Year’s Eve hell: I was supposed to be staying in a cosy loft apartment to welcome in 2025 – after seeing it I’d prefer to sleep in my car
A young couple’s New Year’s Eve plans have been ruined after they turned up to their ‘lovely little airbnb’ to find it felt more like a ‘derelict crack den’.
Posting to Facebook a young paramedic said she was excited to find the ‘cute and cosy loft’ apartment near Melbourne’s CBD available over New Year’s Eve.
The best part- it was pet friendly so they would be able to bring their two pups on the short holiday.
But problems started popping up immediately after she had booked, and handed over $1000 for a few nights stay.
‘As soon as I booked it I got a message from the host saying there was an error on the website and the loft actually wasn’t pet-friendly,’ she wrote.
‘She wanted to swap us into a another house that was ‘much bigger’ and ‘more suitable’ for us and out two dogs.’
The host also claimed she was overseas so there could be delays to alter the booking.
The paramedic said she asked the host questions about the new place, including where it was located and what the parking situation was like – only for the owner to get frustrated.
A young couple’s New Year’s Eve plans have been ruined after they turned up to their ‘lovely little airbnb ‘ to find it felt more like a ‘derelict crack den’
‘She was beginning to argue with me because I had so many questions.’
The host then asked the woman if she would be staying at the place alone.
She said no, that her female partner was with her and they were exhausted after travelling interstate.
within 20 minutes the couple had received their alteration request.
‘The new listing looked like an actual s**thole. Like a garage with cemented walls and an old bed.’
The couple said they would take a look at the new accommodation but added if they didn’t like it they would take their first choice – as at the time of booking it did say it was pet friendly.
The second booking location gave the young woman the creeps.
She said there was a ‘suss as’ white van parked in her spot and that the location was isolated and behind the docks – near the shipping containers.
‘Our entrance was a little mesh fence with a long hallway entrance to our room. I told my partner I was not happy there and needed to get the hell out of there,’ she said.
The told the owner they weren’t comfortable staying there and wantged to go to the original place.
She gave them the information to get into the p;ace they had first booked.
They arrived and somehow things went from bad to worse.
‘We get there and the front door is unlocked. Unlock the front door and know for certain it is a rooming house,’ she said.
She added she has seen a lot of them ‘on the job’.
As they opened the door the smell of weed and cigarettes hit them but they were so tired they continued on to their room.
‘I have travelled the world and I have never seen something like this before,’ she said.
‘It was barely big enough for even one person to stand in, the window was screwed open and there were spiderwebs across the ladder to get to the bed.
‘Then out of nowhere we hear people running up and down the corridor yelling and banging things, they were clearly off their chops,’ she said.
The young woman was feeling so scared she was holding the door handle to stop any of the yahooing neighbours from getting in.
‘We were both freaked out and I told my partner we needed to get out of there. We called the owner and told her the place was cooked and we wanted a refund.’
The host said she would need to amend it to cost $100 otherwise they would cop the cleaning fee – the paramedic agreed.
But then only $100 was reimbursed.
She called airbnb support who gladly gave her back the full amount.
‘I have booked and stayed in so many airbnbs in my life but this was something else,’ she said.
The property is still live on the booking site – and available for just $88-per-night.
The woman said she had seen it had a five star rating and positive reviews, but on further inspection five out of six of the reviews came from the same person during a one-month period.
Some people had similar nightmare experiences.
‘This sounds like my son he booked something and then was told there was an error and offered a different place,’ one woman said.
‘This sounds exactly like a ‘hotel room’ my partner and I booked in Melbourne. The room was tiny and dirty and it sounded like people were running up and down the hallway is a trolley all night,’ one woman said.
