Five Airbnb nightmares

Airbnb is a great way to find cheap accommodation, but it doesn't always go to plan. Photo / 123RF

While Airbnb is a great place to find cheap accommodation, things don't always go to plan. Here are five of the worst experiences imaginable

The corpse

Most recently, a group of friends rented a house though Airbnb in the suburbs of Paris. They'd hoped to have a party on the Saturday night, but instead made a gruesome discovery - a woman's body buried in the backyard in a shallow grave. Needless to say, the party was cancelled and police were called.

The sexual assault

In July last year, an American 19-year-old ended up in trauma therapy after he was sexually assaulted by his Airbnb host. The host, a transgender woman, denies threatening or assaulting the teen and said the sex act was consensual and he was transphobic.

The dog attack

During a trip to Argentina, a 58-year-old American had a painful encounter with a host's Rottweiler dog. The man suffered a six-square-inch gash to his arm and a number of puncture wounds. Airbnb declined to cover his two nights in hospital, but did refund the money for his stay.

The drunk host

Many Airbnb hosts rent out their properties while they're on holiday themselves - so generally, you don't except to see them. But when a couple booked a weekend in the Hamptons through Airbnb, they were in for a surprise. The owner sent an ambiguous text at 2.45am and then turned up, intoxicated, about 45 minutes later. When he wouldn't leave, the couple decided to find somewhere else to stay.

The host that died

In 2013, a college student rented a one-bedroom apartment through Airbnb, while its owner was in San Francisco for the summer. A month into his stay, he noticed sad messages on his host's Facebook paged and realised she had overdosed and died. Describing the experience as "eerie and sad", he stayed in the apartment for a further two weeks - hey, students need somewhere to live.

- nzherald.co.nz