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Airbnb guest goes viral after claiming he’s staying in a large bathroom with a bed

‘Don’t forget to close the toilet seat for your nightstand functionalities,’ one person jokes

Amber Raiken
New York
Tuesday 11 July 2023 06:34 BST
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Related: Live Like Barbie — Airbnb Offers Overnight Stays At Malibu Mansion

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An Airbnb guest has gone viral after showcasing his alleged rental, which appeared to be a large bathroom with a bed in it.

David Holtz shared a photo on Twitter on Monday of his apparent Airbnb space, which consisted of a bathroom with the usual shower, toilet, and sink in. However, the room also appeared to serve another purpose, as there was also a white bed placed next to the toilet.

Holtz, who is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, proceeded to mock the space in the caption of his post. “Tfw [that feeling when] you arrive at your @airbnb and realise that the whole space is essentially just a large-ish bathroom that the host put a bed into,” he wrote.

While he didn’t share a specific link to the listing, he did claim, in a reply to the tweet, that the listing had “no reviews at the time” he booked, although it has a few now. He also alleged that the rental space was based in London.

The post quickly went viral on Twitter, where it has amassed more than 1.3m views, and where it prompted a response from Airbnb’s official help account. The company encouraged Holtz to send the “email address connected” to his Airbnb account in order for Airbnb to take a “closer look” at the alleged rental.

In response to the rental business, Holtz claimed that he spoke to Airbnb customer support “multiple times,” and that each time, the company had “no interest in helping resolve the issue”. As he asked if he could “expect a different outcome this time”, Airbnb’s help page responded again by encouraging him to send the company his email.

Meanwhile, other people responded to the tweet by poking fun at the apparent rental and the lack of space that Holtz had in the room.

“It’s the clear glass between the toilet and bed, like you couldn’t even colour it for a privacy partition,” one person questioned.

Another joked: “Don’t forget to close the toilet seat for your nightstand functionalities.”

“You’ve got everything you need within arm’s reach,” someone else helpfully pointed out, while another person claimed they’ve “always wanted to brush [their] teeth in bed”.

Other people went on to claim that they had similar experiences when staying at a rental space on the platform. “I’ve had one exactly like this in London. It was in 2016 I believe … left after 20 minutes (it was super dirty) and fortunately found another Airbnb …” one person wrote.

When contacted by The Independent, Holtz declined to comment. The Independent has contacted Airbnb for comment.

Holtz isn’t the only Airbnb guest to have gone viral on social media recently. Last week, an Airbnb host was called out over their extreme labelling of rules across their rental property, which a guest said took away the feeling of being on holiday. In a now-viral video on TikTok, Becky Navarro showed the abundance of labels across the home, with various laminated notes stuck to doors, walls, tables and cupboards.

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