A woman who booked a “glamorous villa” in Bali on Airbnb arrived to find an eerie, overgrown derelict villa.
Bree Robertson, originally from New Zealand, had booked the rental for one night, after reading a few reviews of the place, to celebrate her and her travel partner’s one-month anniversary of moving to the island.
The listing stated that the rental villa had an infinity pool, onsite restaurant and views overlooking the rainforest.
In a TikTok video that now has over 4.4 million views, Ms Robertson said the villa had cost her $80 (£41) for the night.
However, when she and her partner arrived at the property, the villa was completely abandoned, with smashed windows and an overgrown, algae-filled pool.
“When you book an Airbnb in Bali and it’s an abandoned building... smashed windows... no-one home,” says the voiceover on her video.
“The place was $80 dollars and had some great reviews. Airbnb also said the host had a response time of an hour so I assumed it was still open,” Ms Robertson added in the comments.
The restaurant was shuttered, the windows were smashed, and there were stacks of chairs outside the building, and there was not a single person on the property.
“All we could do was laugh. We were so exhausted and so tired. It was the perfect end to not a great day,” Ms Robertson told Insider.
To make it worse, she added under the video, “it started pouring just after this and we didn’t have any sleeping bags”.
The video has since raised many questions from many TikTok users who question how an active Airbnb listing could end up being an abandoned building.
“You just booked without communicating with the host?” said one commenter, to which Ms Robertson responded: “Ahaha that is generally how AirBnb works.”
The listing included photos of the villa before it had been abandoned.
“It was sad to see because it was definitely the place in the photos, just all in disrepair!” Ms Robertson commented.
“It looked like a stunning place and had previous reviews, I’ll know for next one though,” she added.
“At least you can stay as long as you wish, I guess,” quipped another follower.
“Move in, fix it up and live there,” suggested another.
Ms Roberstson reported the listing, which has been taken down by Airbnb; the pair also received a refund.
An Airbnb spokesperson said: “We were disappointed to learn about this experience and provided our support to the guest at the time, including a full refund.
“We hold Hosts up to high standards and the listing is no longer on the platform. In the rare event something isn’t as expected on arrival for a stay, our Community Support team is on hand 24/7 to help.”
