Amsterdam tourist unwittingly pays for shipping container during Airbnb booking | world news
A British tourist in Amsterdam received a shock when he arrived at his Airbnb accommodation to find he had booked a stay in a roadside shipping container.
Londoner Ben Speller paid £100 for a single night in accommodation described in the Airbnb listing as a ‘clean room with private bathroom’.
But what he actually discovered upon arrival was a freight container on the side of the road near Amsterdam’s Amstel station.
“We booked a hotel once we saw it,” Mr Speller said on Facebook.
“To be fair, I got my £100 worth of comedy,” he added.
Inside the roadside abode, Mr. Speller found a mattress and blanket, with a gate attached to the “bedroom”.
Speaking to Sun Online Travel, Mr Speller said the host, Jacob, warned him shortly before his arrival that there was a problem with running water, before giving him the option of to cancel.
Mr Speller said he had no other choice and therefore decided to keep his original booking.
‘When we arrived we drove past the container three times in the taxi because I couldn’t believe it could be that,’ Mr Speller told The Sun.
“I then checked the listing again and he had changed it to a container house.”
Ben Speller said he booked a hotel as soon as he laid eyes on the container
Airbnb has since refunded the £100 listed, and a further £230 for the hotel Mr Speller eventually stayed at.
The company also removed the host’s profile and its listings, which included a second container across town.
In a statement, Airbnb said, “Distorted or fraudulent listings have no place on our platform, and our team works hard to constantly strengthen our defenses and stay ahead of bad actors.
“Over half a billion people have traveled on Airbnb, and with over 2 million guests checking into an Airbnb every night, issues like this are incredibly rare.”
At least one of the shipping containers was swept away after it was discovered to be unlicensed. Credit: AT5
Jacob has so far not been found, but at least one of his shipping containers has been towed.
According to Dutch outlet AT5, local authorities discovered the container did not have a permit to be located where it was, leading to its eventual removal.
Such incidents of rogue Airbnb listings are not unheard of.
An infamous case in 2016 saw a Londoner listing a ‘private bedroom in a public place’ on the site, which turned out to be a mattress, rug and bedside table strategically placed outside some garages in Peckham.
Other odd cases include the numerous tents erected in the hosts’ back gardens which have also been rented out in previous years.
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