We arrived at the flat in Palermo at the agreed time to be met by a co-host whose English was extremely poor and found it difficult to communicate with us. The host, whose name is on the listing and with whom we had been communicating, was too busy at work.
We were shown into the apartment and shown into the sitting room where there on the unit in bright red boxes were 30 hardcore porn tapes. Some of these were in the unit and some were on top where the picture could be seen by all. I was just grateful that my children were not with me. The co-host said they were not porn but one could hardly get away from the fact that they had titles such as ‘whore’.
In addition there was a review by a guest written in May 2019 that says “we just had a few small issues (some people may not find these problems relevant): there was a large amount of video pornography on display and within the lounge area. This was quite distasteful and could make some people feel uncomfortable.”
Despite this review, Airbnb does not seem to have taken any action with regards to this. We left the apartment and went to a local cafe where we contacted Airbnb as we did not want to stay or be associated with such material. They were less than helpful. They managed to get some money returned to us, but less than a third of what we paid for the apartment.
Airbnb help contacted me through Twitter with lip service. Despite many conversations, they say they are not responsible for what the host has in his apartment. Something I disagree with, especially as the issue had been flagged some four months earlier. In a nutshell, Airbnb has taken no moral responsibility for the business they are promoting even though in their T&C’s it says you must not bring the company into disrepute.
OMG, too funny. They are all arthouse classics. Risque yes, but hardly porn, let alone ‘hardcore’ porn. ‘Whore’ is a fascinating film starring Theresa Russell and directed by her husband, renowned film maker Nicolas Roeg.
As well as your absurd, knee jerk, faux-outrage, the words you use in your post tell us a lot about your inherent cultural inflexibility, that verges on xenophobia, e.g. …”met by a co-host whose English was extremely poor and found it difficult to communicate with us.” No, it’s you who couldn’t communicate with him. You’re in Italy, it’s his country, YOU’RE the ones with the communication problem.
In future, just stay at home.
Why not just put the tapes (who has tapes anymore?) on the shelf under the TV with the others where you can’t see the covers? I think every hotel I’ve ever stayed at offered erotic video channels on the TVs in their rooms for a fee. Most show photos similar to those covers, or even video previews before you pay. I would just continue changing the channel, but apparently, you would pack up and check out of the hotel, right? It’s hard to imagine you would inconvenience yourself the way you did when you could’ve taken just a few seconds to move those tapes out of your view.
this is not hardcore porn. Im sorry you are from America and thus a prude.
oh dear oh dear! Just a quick cursory glace at the directors of these movies and you can quickly gleen they are NOT in fact hardcord porn as you suggest. They fall into the category of soft porn or simple erotic film.
What you have to appreciate is that you are sharing a space in a country who might see it as as very tame.
Even if the host is proud of his/her collection I have to agree it was a maybe a little culturally insensitive of them to have it on display as they are hosting for people around the world but again what might seem the norm to them in their own home has to be taken into account.
Maybe the host will learn to keep their private collection elsewhere and you might be a ltttle more understanding before wagging the accusatory “hardcore” porn version of events.
Interesting that Leonardo (the host) has 11 listings total on Airbnb. What happened to the “sharing” part? Presumably they are all whole house listings (ie: apartments) in a very popular city. Is it any wonder that in popular cities young people cannot find a place to live (or one they can afford)? They can thank people like Leonardo (who is making a fortune. )And of course the beloved Airbnb corporation.
Of course the minute they are questioned Airbnb drags out the commercials of a struggling family trying to stay in their home and how the extra income helps blah blah blah. The reality is that short term rentals are BIG business and the majority of hosts are not sharing and in many cases you won’t even see/meet them.
Entire YouTube channels are devoted to how to make six figure incomes, rental arbitrage etc etc. using short term rentals.
And it isn’t limited to Airbnb either. There are many other websites doing the same thing.
Might as well choose a reputable hotel next time rather than taking your chances on Airbnb. Time off is too precious to risk having a bad time all the way across the world.
I had a similar complaint back in the spring. When I contacted AirBnB, I was told that they are aware their hosts may be using sex to attract bookings. In addition, their belief is that what goes on behind closed doors is none of their business. So let the renter be aware.