Airbnb renter ‘does €10,000 worth of damage by leaving flat covered in excrement and urine’
A woman who rented out her Parisian studio flat on Airbnb for three weeks says she returned to her home to find it strewn with excrement, urine and rubbish.
The homeowner, identified only as Laurie S, posted photos of the damaged flat on Facebook.
She said the front door had been jammed, the shower and toilet had been damaged and the floor left warped out of shape by the Canadian renter.
“The charming studio had literally been transformed into a ‘squat’ full of excrement, urine and an impressive quantity of empty alcohol bottles,” she wrote in the Facebook post.
“I was really shocked and devastated to find my studio in that state when I returned.”
Laurie said the damage done to the apartment is worth around €10,000 (£9,100), according to an estimate by a building firm.
Although she had not met the renter in person, her neighbours said he seemed “nice”.
She later learned he was suffering from alcoholism.
Laurie contacted US company Airbnb to request for compensation and was told by the French branch that they would get back to her.
The firm finally got in touch after French media began to publicise her case last week, saying her claim was being examined.
Laurie told The Local she was still waiting for an Airbnb representative to evaluate the damage.
The company told France 3 television such damage was rare - with only 0.009% of 30 million flats rented on its site last year seriously damaged.
Airbnb offers a “Host Guarantee” which allows a homeowner to be reimbursed for damages up to £600,000, a scheme it describes as an “unmatched level of protection in the travel industry”.
