Pilar Sarrión, a frequent traveler from Madrid, just told us her heartbreaking story. She thought she had booked a high-end short-term vacation rental in Barcelona, Spain. The Airbnb listing boasted views straight on to the city’s famed cathedral. Fired up by the offer, Sarrión then shelled out $568 each night for her lodgings. But when they got there, she and her friend were appalled. As you can likely guess, that promised view was all crystal-clear smoke and mirrors.
Sarrión and her partner goofed around on the beach, eager to show off their holiday snaps. They thought they’d found the perfect movie-set scenic backdrop. Instead, they found themselves up against a blank wall, and the hoped-for vista of the cathedral wasn’t even visible. This frustrating experience very soon became widely known when Sarrión posted her experience to the social media platform What’s The Jam.
Her video detailing the misleading accommodation has since gone viral, illustrating a growing concern among travelers about fraudulent listings with deceptive promises. You can read more about Sarrión’s story in this article by the New York Post. That further highlighted the point that she’s far from the only victim of these scams.
“Of course, we didn’t pay $568 a night. We were joking, we didn’t think the video would go viral,” – Pilar Sarrión
While the incident has raised new discussions from the platform’s own user base online, some respondents initially thought it was a joke. One remarked sarcastically, “I’ll rent you my place in Getafe, it has views of the Eiffel Tower,” while another quipped, “They never said it was going to be the real cathedral…”
Sarrión’s experience is extremely valuable, and it strikes a chord with everyone. That’s exactly what happened to flight attendant and author Angela Ruth Strong when she had a fake hotel picture experience on a work trip to Mexico. These examples show a larger trend within the travel industry. Unsuspecting tourists are easily seduced by flowery descriptions and photos that paint an unrealistic portrait of what they will actually see.
The increased occurrence of these scams raises some important issues. We should be measuring the impact and effectiveness of our existing and proposed regulations and consumer protections for short-term rentals. Travelers are more than ever flocking to alternatives like Airbnb. To protect consumers, it’s important that hosts and guests are accountable and transparent about what’s being offered on a home-sharing platform.
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