Horrendous Airbnb Stay at Hong Kong Brothel

What a nightmare! First of all, I’m the kind of person who rarely complaints and would just let things be in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, but my experience with Airbnb at this particular “inn” was so bad I had to share so others can take precautions or maybe think twice before booking. We arrived at the place early and the host told us beforehand that if we did come early and if there was an empty room we could either leave our luggage there or rest in an available room first. We arrived early and found the building where the room was located very dodgy, but at that point we didn’t suspect anything. Then we went up to Level 7 which is where the so called inn is, and we saw several lots with pink neon lights and immediately thought that this looked somehow familiar – like where people look for prostitutes in dramas; we couldn’t confirm this as we never thought it would be that bad.

So we called up the host, Grace, and told her that we have arrived, and she just gave us the pin to the main door (mind you we hadn’t seen her until now). We then entered the “inn” and this is where the adventure begins. She told us to look for the keys under the tissue box and some other items that I can’t remember in the common area. We have two key cards and she told us to enter Room 1. So we entered Room 1. It was a very narrow room but we already expected that. The air conditioning did not work and we called the host again. She gave us instructions on how to use the air conditioning but it did not really work. So she told us to go to another room and said that we could switch if we preferred the other room (still communicating over the phone at this point). So we went to Room 5; the space and toilet there looked better than those in the first room so we switched rooms. Then we decided to freshen up and then head out but – guess what – we could not get the toilet bowl to flush! So we called the host AGAIN, and she instructed us over the phone again. We still could not get the toilet to work. She sent the cleaner in to check and the cleaner said that we should not dispose of toilet paper in the toilet bowl, as it causes it to clog (I mean, what kind of toilet bowl can’t flush toilet paper?).

Fast forward to the second day. As we were waiting for the lift outside, we saw advertisements providing sex services stuck all around the “pink houses”. We felt a little bit weird and disgusted but didn’t put much thought into it. We went down and then I remembered I left something in the room. So we went back up to the room. This time, a man entered the lift with us and gave us the weirdest look which made us so uncomfortable. He exited the same floor as us but didn’t enter any of the units and instead used the stairs, which was so weird. Whenever we returned, we would see different men leaving or entering the same floor as us. That’s when we realized something was really wrong: we were literally living on the same floor where people were seeking SEX SERVICES! I’m not going to talk in circles saying “special massage services” because it was literally a building of prostitution!

We couldn’t take it and left after two nights to go to a proper hotel as it gave us so much anxiety entering and leaving the building. I didn’t even bother telling the host and didn’t even ask for any refund because, as I said, I don’t like trouble. She didn’t even call and ask what happened but I’m actually glad she didn’t because I was so mad I don’t think any good words would have come out of my mouth. I definitely do not recommend staying here if you are a female or with a bunch of female friends for obvious reasons. In fact, just stay in a proper hotel even if it costs a bit more; there’s no point saving some money and risking your own safety.