A woman had her Airbnb booking cancelled after she claimed the "owner wanted more money per night" for Eurovision weekend.
Molly Enser, from Guildford, booked accommodation for the Eurovision as soon as Liverpool was announced in the hopes of being able to visit the song contest. She even saved different places for different weekends to maximise her chances.
Eurovision is being hosted at the M&S Bank Arena on Saturday, May 13, with semi-finals on Tuesday, May 9 and Thursday, May 11. When Molly received a message from the owner to thank her for booking, she believed her booking was secure.
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However, she was disappointed when no more than two weeks after the official date of Eurovision was revealed her booking was cancelled with no prior warning.
She said: “When I contacted the owner, they came back and said it was now being run by a third-party and the owner wanted more money per night.”
Molly was left without accommodation for the weekend despite being led to believe her booking was safe. Numerous people have taken to social media to express their anger at being let down by Airbnb owners looking to inflate their profits.
Molly said she believes Airbnb needs more future planning for events like Eurovision.
She added: “Airbnb need to build more of a structure in events like this and provide hosts with a calendar of popular events for the year. They knew that Eurovision was being hosted in the UK, yet they provided no support for hosts or people like me, meaning prices can be hiked massively. When this happened there was no support from them for me.”
Airbnb Support told Molly that the property was taken down, they said: “Airbnb has mechanisms to prevent and to punish hosts when this happens. For instance, this host got cancellation fees that he has to pay, also those dates are now blocked by the system and finally he got disqualified from superhost status.”
The competition is estimated to draw in an excess of £30 million in revenue into the city, according to the North Property Group. On any other weekend in May 2023, one night stay in Liverpool for two guests would set you back an average of £171 on Airbnb.
However, during the announced weekend for Eurovision, the cost increased to an average of £856. Other guests who already had the weekend booked in advance are finding that their bookings are being cancelled – only to be re-uploaded for far more than the hosts were originally asking. For example, a £168 apartment suddenly became £1,495, and a £104 apartment became £460.
Liverpool City Council announced advice for visitors coming to the city. They said: "Hang-fire on booking hotels, apartments and other places to stay. More accommodation will be available soon.”
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