Every Town - The Dark Side of Airbnb: Terrifying Vacation Rental Stories

Episode Date: October 10, 2025

Today we’re talking about Airbnb, VRBO and the dark side of the whole short term rental industry as a whole. This is The Dark Side of Airbnb: Terrifying Vacation Rental Stories 👀 Watch This Episode On Youtube: ⁠https://youtu.be/pdxNWXFyTAY 👁 Check out our movie AN ANGRY BOY for FREE! ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvtlOlODQ8g&t=5238s⁠ ⁠https://tubitv.com/movies/100029672/an-angry-boy⁠ International & Other Ways To Watch: ⁠https://www.anangryboy.com/⁠ 💀 MERCH: https://scary-mysteries-merch.dashery.com/ 💀 Scary Mysteries SECRET VAULT: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/scarymysteries⁠   🎧 Our Other Podcast Scary Mysteries: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/3ZooEZMoZ421WdsOVJhVkT⁠ 👁 X: ⁠https://x.com/ScaryMysteries1⁠ 👁Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/andrew.fitzg⁠ 👁 TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewfitzgerald⁠ 👁Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/scarymysteriesofficial⁠ 👁 X: ⁠https://x.com/ScaryMysteries1⁠  🗣 Business Inquiries, questions and comments hit us up at ⁠[e-mail]⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Into the dark, where true crime meets the eerie unknown. Every town has a dark side. Across North America, police have seized thousands of images from hidden cameras at Airbnb rentals, including people's most intimate moments. I got email from the strata saying that my unit has been used for short-term rentals. They came upstairs and knocked on the door. They found a couple visiting from Airbnb.

Muncie, a homeowner running his house on Airbnb comes home to find it was apparently the scene of a shooting. Criminals are using fake listings to steal people's money and they're using Airbnbs to do it. Hidden cameras and locked doors that lead to nowhere and even strangers lurking in the house they paid to stay in. This is the business model millions of us now trust for our vacations. Before this, for generations, travel was pretty straightforward.

You need a place to stay, we'll book a hotel. Professional staff, clean sheets, front desk service. And if something ever went wrong, well, there was a manager to complain to. Hotels weren't perfect, but at least you knew what you were getting, right? Then somewhere along the way, we collectively decided that was boring, corporate, and authentic. So instead of paying for professional hospitality, we started handing over our credit cards to sleep in complete strangers' beds.

We began showering in their bathrooms, using their kitchens, and, as it turns out, Maybe that wasn't such a great idea after all. Hey guys, it's Andrew, and thanks for tuning in to another episode of Every Town We're today. We're talking about Airbnb, VRBO, and the whole short-term rental industry as a whole. So, let's dig in and find out what's really happening behind that Reserve Now button. This is the dark side of Airbnb, terrifying vacation rental stories. And to start, let's rewind to where it all began back in 2007. And two guys in San Francisco, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebia,

like a lot of young people, were having trouble keeping up with their rental payments. So they got creative. They bought a couple of air mattresses and tossed them in their living room, and then rented the space out to people attending a design conference. They called it airbed and breakfast. And that was it. Two broke guys with air mattresses who had no idea they were about to change the world. By 2008, they brought in a third founder, Nathan Blacharzig, and officially launched Airbnb.

The pitch was simple, let everyday people rent out their extra space to travelers looking for something cheaper than a hotel. It was really targeted at the younger generation as an affordable way to travel, so it sounds like a pretty savvy concept. Until you remember that not everyone in this world is exactly normal. But hang on because we'll get to that. Now fast forward to today and Airbnb is more than 7 million listings worldwide. VRBO, which actually started even earlier in 1995, as hundreds of thousands more. These platforms have completely redefined travel as we know it, convincing us that staying in a stranger's home is not only safe, but somehow better than traditional hotels. I mean, here you get a whole place to yourself and you typically don't even have to talk to anyone in person.

Just roll on up and open the door. We all get into ubers with strangers, so when you think about it, it's a logical next step. But should it be? Take what happened just last year in Arkansas. Elliot Young and his family booked an Airbnb in Scottsdale to catch some MLB spring training. Totally normal vacation. But the first night lying in bed, Young, Young noticed something odd about the smoke detector right above him.

It just didn't look proper. Suspicious, he then Googled it, and sure enough, the exact same model showed up online, only it was advertised as a hidden camera. When he pulled it down, his fear was confirmed. It had an SD card slot, Wi-Fi access, everything. He and his wife had been filmed in what was sort of technically their own bedroom. But here's the real messed up part. On the car, Young found explicit footage, not of him, but of previous guests, completely unaware they were being recorded.

Now, police were called, and Airbnb suspended the host, but that's just one property. And how many others out there are hiding that same kind of setup? And how many people have already been filmed without ever knowing it? The story of what happened to Elliot and his wife is far from an isolated case. In France, I found another recent example where another guest had an issue with a bathroom lock. A friend got stuck inside for a few hours until they could pick it.

And so when it was done, they left a poor review. And the owner of that house reached out, demanding they'd take down the review, threatening further that they had video footage of the person slamming the front door too hard. That's when the guest discovered they had been recorded. Now, this camera was set up the front door, but how many more cameras were in there?

They could never find out, of course, because they had already left. And if you're plugged into the culture, you've probably heard of similar stories like these. In fact, you've probably experienced what many had, which was an initial excitement about Airbnb when it first became a thing. If you used the service, you liked it at first. It was cheap. But then the rules started coming in. Leave the trash and the bin out back.

Put the linens in the dryer when you leave. Make sure all the dishes are cleaned and put away. The prices went up, and then the stories of cameras. And suddenly the comfort of a hotel started seeming like a great idea again. And that feeling that it might not be worth it, is because of all the rules and regulations the guests were given. A host could get away with a lot. In fact, the wild thing about this whole camera situation

is that it took Airbnb until March of 2024 to ban indoor cameras completely. March 2024. I bet you didn't know that. But yes, the company announced they were prohibiting the use of indoor security cameras and all of its listings worldwide, effective April 30th. So let me ask you something. When's the last time you stayed in a respectable hotel room, never worried about hidden cameras?

Probably never, right? Because that would be insane. Hotels don't put cameras in rooms because it's a massive violation of privacy and probably illegal in most places. So then why did it take Airbnb nearly two decades to figure out what the hotel industry is known forever? Before the ban, Airbnb actually let hosts put cameras inside common areas. Hallways, living rooms, that type of thing. As long as they disclosed it in the last. listing. The new policy, the company said, was made in consultation with guests, host, and

privacy experts to simplify rules on cameras and prioritize guest privacy. The translation, the old rules were so convoluted, and even seasoned hosts weren't sure what counted as okay. And try explaining that to a guest. Yeah, they can record you in the living room and hallway, just not in the bedroom or bathroom, and only if it's buried somewhere in the listing you skimmed while booking. Airbnb admitted that most listings don't have cameras, but the update still impacts thousands of properties worldwide. In other words, thousands of guests have been illegally spied on in their rentals until now. An Airbnb rep said 35,000 customer support tickets about security cameras or recording devices had been documented over a decade.

Airbnb told CNN a single complaint can involve multiple tickets. And a CNN investigation found Airbnb not only fails to protect its guests, it works to keep complaints out of the courts and away from the public. Cameras are just one issue. And look at what happened to a family in Iowa. Melanie Lee, not she'd booked a VRBO home and counsel bluffs for a few. family getaway. When they arrived, there were no check-in details, but her mother found an unlocked side door. And they let themselves in and started picking out bedrooms. The problem? The listing was a scam.

The real homeowner, Scott Porter, was out of town, and a friend, checking on his place, found strangers already moved in, and Porter had never listed his home anywhere. Lee's family had unknowingly broken in to a stranger's house and stayed there. Porter later told reporters he felt violated, but he also made a chilling point. What if they had picked a different homeowner's house who had a gun, and he thinks they're trespassers? That family could have easily been shot, all because of a fake listing that looked legitimate. VRBO eventually took down the fake listing and refunded Lee's money, but the damage was already done. What it really

showed is how weak some of these platforms verification systems actually are. And people can list homes they don't even own, and families are left to deal with the fallout. The Better Business Bureau even called Lee's case shocking and

warned that they've logged thousands of vacation rental scams across the country. So cameras, and then scammers gaming the system, the kinks, I guess, are still being worked out, but What happens when the listings are real and still turn into a nightmare for the guests? Take Alicia and Nate, aka the passport couple from social media.

They wanted to give Alicia's parents a dream trip to Thailand, so they splurged on what was advertised as a luxury villa, pool, barbecue area of the works. Except when they got there, the dream turned out to be a hazard zone. The pool had exposed electrical. wires, the fridge was full of mold, and the carpets, stained with ground-in food. The glossy photos in the listing, turns out they were from a renovation done over 10 years ago. And they discovered all this late at night after a long international flight.

Instead of walking up to a perfect family getaway, they spent their first day in Thailand arguing with Airbnb customer service just to get their money back. Alicia later said the money wasn't even the worst part. What really stung was that this trip, meant to be special for her parents, ended up being as she said, one of the worst travel experiences we've ever had. And this kind of thing, it's not rare either. Stories like this are everywhere.

Over and over, travelers are finding out the hard way that their rentals look nothing like the pictures. One Reddit user showed up at their Airbnb, punched in the electronic door code and walked into what looked less like a vacation rental and more like someone's lived in home. The fridge was crammed with food, personal items cluttered the kitchen, and it felt like the actual owner had just stepped out for work and strangers had broken in.

When the guests contacted the platform, they were told the host had planned to clear things out, but apparently never did. And the official advice was just pushed the old occupations, belongings aside and make yourself comfortable. But while moving items into a closet, the guest discovered something chilling. Half-used bottles of cancer medication and paperwork showing the owner was receiving treatment for stage four cancer. And based on the documents, they're almost certain the owner had died, and that his children

had rented out the home for some quick cash without ever clearing out his belongings. So this family spent their vacation essentially living in a dead man's house, sleeping in his bed and cooking in his kitchen, surrounded by his medications and personal effects. The platform's only solution was push his stuff aside, and it doesn't stop there. Another guest in Paris reported having $300 stolen from their belongings inside an Airbnb. In a strange part, their $2,000 laptop was left untouched. which meant whoever did it wasn't a random thief looking to grab what they could. They had a key.

When the guests complained, the host brushed it off saying, that's not possible. Maybe you misplaced it. The stories only get weirder and much scarier from here. Zena Habashi was planning on traveling over to the windy city of Chicago with her family and looking to save some cash. They booked a basement apartment through Airbnb. She made her way from O'Hare and eventually arrived at around 4 a.m. Only to find strange, unlisted doors throughout the entire place.

When she finally managed to open one, it revealed a dark, cellar-like room with wooden doors, heavy locks, and chains scattered across the floor. Abashi said it looked exactly like the basement from Barbarian, the horror film about a rental hiding a nightmare below ground. At night our family listened to tapping noises, echoing through the walls, and they ended up barricading the door with furniture just to stay safe. Airbnb letter claim, the unit posed no safety concerns

and described it as a spacious basement with good reviews. But if that's the case, why are there hidden rooms with chains that guests can stumble into? And why wasn't that disclosed from the start? over in Melbourne, Australia, right in the heart of downtown, another person settled into their Airbnb for the evening with their boyfriend. At first, the place was all good. Nothing special, but nothing wrong that stood out. At around 9 p.m., they heard a noise, then the jiggle of a handle, and...

When the door opened, a maintenance man just walked on in while they were naked in bed. They had no warning about any of this. When they complained on the app and the reviews, the host called them stupid and left a fake negative review against them, claiming they'd broken furniture. And then there are the flat-out dangerous situations. Multiple guests have reported bedbug infestations,

including one person whose legs were covered in bites that they initially thought were from bedbugs but turned out to be fleas. Another group arrived at a Palm Springs house to find every bed infested with bugs. The owner refused to refund their $2,400 because they said the guests vacated before they could determine the house wasn't habitable. I mean, really, the logic is pretty flawed here.

They're essentially saying the guests had to sleep with bugs to prove there were bugs or until the owner could prove the place wasn't habitable. Either way, we got a bug problem. As a side note, most of us can handle a bug or two in our own home, but there's something extra gross about someone else's bugs. In Madrid, 19-year-old Jacob Lopez thought he had booked a safe, well-reviewed Airbnb. The host was even kind enough to meet him at the subway and escorted him to the apartment to make sure he found the place without any issues. They exchanged pleasant trees while heading there, the usual how was the flight, and check out this rest. restaurant type of thing.

But the moment Jacob stepped inside the apartment, the man locked the door behind him. And the atmosphere shifted immediately, no more Mr. Nice host. This person then began pressuring Jacob. Essentially, he was trying to take full advantage of the teen, if you know what I mean. Panicked Lopez then called his mother, who immediately contacted Airbnb for help. But she says the company refused to give her the location. of the Madrid home where her son was and wouldn't even call police. The company handed her a disconnected number for Madrid police.

When she tried again, her calls just went to voicemail. And meanwhile, Jacob said his host was rattling knives around in the kitchen drawer and threatening him from the other room. At night, Jacob was assaulted. As mother later told reporters, it's hard to imagine any human being, including the multiple employees I spoke with, not being willing to intervene under those circumstances.

The host, of course, denied everything, insisting it was consensual. But as the New York Times pointed out, if that were the case of filing police reports and going public with the story would be an unlikely way to bury a regrettable experience. An Airbnb's response, well, they pointed out that out of the 70,000 guests in Spain, that weekend, Jacob's situation was quote-unquote unique, as if to brush it off and say, crap happens sometimes, and that's just the way it is, not our fault. But here's the disturbing

truth, and this story also isn't unique. Other victims have told similar tales. In Budapest, two women booked what looked like a safe apartment. The profile photo showed a young blonde woman. that's who they assume they would be meeting up with. When they arrived, they were met by a man who greeted them with an ear-to-ear grin saying, I like to play with my profile pictures. Exhausted from travel, the women stayed. Before the night was over, they'd been intimidated, drugged, and barely managed to escape. And who knows what would have really gone down if they hadn't gotten out of there in time.

In the end, though, like a lot of these cases, what could they really do? tangibly proved. But once again, the story doesn't get much traction in the news. One terrifying case that has been proven, though, is this one. It happened to a group of friends in France who thought they'd scored the perfect spot for a birthday getaway. A seven-bedroom 19th century home in Palisou, just outside of Paris. The Airbnb listing promised a pool in a lovely forest with a jogging trail.

sounded idyllic and everyone was excited to go have some fun and explore there. Once they did, well, their story literally turned into the plot of a horror film. And they got there and picked their bedrooms, explored the layout, and then headed outside, where there, in the garden, right at the edge of the property, lay the badly decomposed body of a woman. And she had been hunched over and placed into a shallow dugout hole, With her head pressed against the dirt, her body had been cruelly concealed beneath branches, deliberately piled on top. This woman was fully dressed and barefoot and still wearing a ring with a large stone.

Authority said she had been there for at least a couple weeks. But of course, for the unsuspecting guests, their fun weekend rental had become a crime scene, a murder investigation, having them questioned about the whole thing, which, by the way, has been conveniently swept under the rug. You have to wonder why that is, and if Airbnb had anything to do with it. This specific story took place in 2016 and was written about in Time magazine,

and yet today, there's no public record indicating the victim was identified, no criminal charges or arrests have been reported in relation to the case, and there were no follow-up news stories or public updates offering closure on the investigation. And while guests can find themselves in terrifying situations, obviously, don't forget that hosts aren't always safe either.

I got email from the strata saying that my unit has been used for short-term rentals, which I have no idea. They found a couple visiting from Airbnb. Kim called Airbnb and customer service asked her for a link to the fraudulent listing. So then I came here to ask the kid. asked about the link. And so they provided the link and who the host was, which wasn't my tenant.

Kim gave that information to Airbnb, along with proof she owned the unit and didn't authorize the listing. But she says the company would not deactivate it. For the past few months, Malcolm Tanner has rented out this home on Airbnb. Several times. And never a

problem. So the key was sitting right here in the lock. That was until he came home Sunday to clean up after a renter and discovered a crime scene and clear evidence of an out-of-control party. You got liquor bottles here, still liquor bottles. You got box of condoms, used condoms. His smoke alarms unplug, clothes left behind, and drugs on the table. One property owner recalled tenants who smashed electronics, urinated on mattresses,

and caused thousands in water damage after destroying bathroom tiles. Another walked into a rental to find toned. nail clippings scattered across the sheets and dirty socks abandoned at the foot of the bed. Some hosts have encountered far worse. One discovered her home had been transformed into a makeshift brothel, with strangers, mostly men, streaming in and out at all hours. Even after the supposed guest checked out, men continued knocking on her door every few hours for nights on end. And in Brooklyn, one woman returned home to find a stranger asleep in her. her bed. Her roommate had secretly been listing her room on Airbnb when she was out of town.

When she contacted the company, Airbnb brushed her off, saying it wasn't their problem since she was a third party. So in what other industry would we accept this level of chaos and danger? Imagine if hotels regularly had hidden cameras and rooms, or if you showed up to a Marriott and found someone else's belonging still there. Or if hotel, hotel guests routinely broke into the wrong rooms because of fake bookings, and we'd lose our minds. And somehow, because these are home-sharing platforms, we've just accepted that this is part of the deal. I mean, we've normalized the idea that staying in a stranger's house comes with risks you simply have to swallow. I'm not saying every Airbnb is a horror story. Millions of people book them and

walk away with nothing more than a few good memories. But when you look at it, you look at it. But when you all the incidents side by side, it's unsettling. Airbnb began as this quirky little idea, a budget-friendly alternative to hotels, a way for travelers to save money, and for hosts to make some easy cash. When you zoom out for a second and think about what this whole industry really is,

it's strangers opening their doors to strangers. Our homes have always been our last line of safety, the place we lock ourselves away from the dangers of the outside world. I mean, that's what home is. Let me ask you, if a random person walked up to your front door right now, rang the bell and asked if they could crash for a night or a weekend, would you let them in?

Of course not. It sounds absurd. And yet, if that same stranger books through an official-looking website, suddenly it feels acceptable. So that's a wrap on a day's episode. episode of Everytown. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you want more from us, check out our feature film called An Angry Boy, which is available on all rental platforms right now. It's a dark revenge thriller that I know you guys will enjoy. Remember to come on back here next week. Same place,

same time, another episode of Everytown filled with strange and mysterious stories. Because you never know. Maybe your town will be next.