A Queensland mum has had a nightmare Airbnb experience after a guest threw a party in her apartment and trashed the place.
Mandy Leitch told A Current Affair that the 24-year-old professional AFL player to whom she rented her Varsity Lakes home seemed “trustworthy” and “lovely”.
But his true colours were quickly revealed after he invited over a group of people and laid waste to the property.
Ms Leitch was horrified when she arrived home the next morning to find the door open with beer bottles and bowls of marijuana strewn around the place.
The whole house was trashed. Picture: A Current AffairSource:Channel 9
“It was just in the biggest mess … there was urine all over the balcony, the TV was on, the airconditioning was full blast, all the windows were open,” she said.
“It was just horrific.”
The damage was so bad that she vowed never to put her home on the popular short term rental site again.
And it’s not just Ms Leitch who has had a horror experience with out of control Airbnb guests.
Drugs and alcohol were left strewn around the apartment. Picture: A Current AffairSource:Channel 9
Another mum, Natalie Mitchell, told the program that she doesn’t feel comfortable letting her kids play outside anymore due to the constant stream of strangers staying in the Airbnb across the road from her house.
The property offers rooms for as little as $25 a night, with Ms Mitchell saying it attracts a very rough crowd, who often sit out the front smoking and drinking.
The mum believed the cheap price was partly to blame for the out-of-control guests the short term rental attracts.
Ms Leitch says she was horrified when she heard about what happened. Picture: A Current AffairSource:Channel 9
It has gotten so bad that she has considered moving.
“We’re really, really worried and frightened. We’ve considered moving,” Mrs Mitchell said.
“I am really worried about my children’s safety.”
A survey by Australia’s largest general insurer IAG found of 1000 Australians, one in six had broken or damaged something in their accommodation while on holiday and one in five had hosted or attended a party at a holiday rental property.
Men were found be more likely than women to cause damage while staying in an Airbnb property, and young men, those aged 18 – 34, were the most likely group to cause damage, injure themselves, or host a party at a rental property.