Airbnb host turns bathroom into a guestroom with a bed

The Airbnb appeared to consist of a bed fitted into a bathroom. Photo / Unsplash

London City isn’t exactly known for its spacious accommodation but one man’s room took cosy and convenient to a whole new level.

David Holtz revealed just how far some hosts push the definition of a “room” by sharing a photo of his accommodation; a bathroom with a bed fitted into it.

In the photo, which Holtz posted to Twitter, the white subway-tiled bathroom is shown to contain a glass-door shower, sink and toilet. Fortunately, guests wouldn’t have to worry about any splash back, as a small pane of glass separates the toilet from the bed pushed up next to it.

Holtz claims he found the accommodation on Airbnb.

“tfw you arrive at your @airbnb and realize that the whole space is essentially just a large-ish bathroom that the host put a bed into,” Holtz wrote in the caption.

The bizarre attempt to monetise the bathroom as a guest room quickly gained attention online and had 2.7 million views and more than 2000 comments within hours of being posted.

Holtz, who works as an assistant professor at UC Berkeley, later joked that surviving in the bathroom-guestroom proved he could survive on the hit television show, Survivor.

tfw you arrive at your @airbnb and realize that the whole space is essentially just a large-ish bathroom that the host put a bed into pic.twitter.com/ImlxVWtAXF

— David Holtz (@daveholtz) July 10, 2023

“After sleeping for 2 nights one foot away from a toilet, i’m ready to sleep for 26 nights in the jungles of fiji,” he wrote, tagging Survivor’s twitter account and the show’s presenter, Jeff Probst.

Located in London, the accommodation did not have any reviews when Holtz booked.

Holtz did not reveal the details of the listing or the link and some said he knowingly booked the unusual room and then pretended to be surprised.

“They have images in the app for a reason. You are free to book or skip,” one person wrote.

“Did the listing not have any photos? Were the photos different from the actual stay?” another asked.

However, one person pushed back and said even if it had photos, the accommodation was not appropriate.

“Doesn’t change the fact that this isn’t ok,” they wrote.

Within hours of posting, Airbnb commented asking Holtz to send them a message with his email address so they could “take a closer look” at the listing.

Before sharing that the room was in London, people guessed it was in other similarly popular and high-density cities including Paris, Beijing and New York.

Unsurprisingly, many people made light of the situation and joked about the nearby facilities.

“Don’t forget to close the toilet seat for your nightstand functionalities,” one person wrote. “Always wanted to brush my teeth in bed,” another added.

One commenter quipped that the room was an ‘AirBn-pee’ but a few said that they would be happy to stay, for the right price.

‘In my 20s if it was priced correctly, and reasonably clean, then screw it,” one admitted.

Airbnb said guests should take care to look at all photos of a room before booking.

“Our customer service team has been in contact with this guest to provide support. We encourage guests to review all photos, as well as the description and reviews, prior to booking a stay,” read a statement to Herald.