"A bed bug fell out of the pillow": Canadian traveller shares Airbnb horror story (PHOTOS)

Sep 13 2022, 10:32 pm

A Canadian couple who travelled with their toddler to San Diego for a wedding has returned home to Vancouver with quite the Airbnb horror story.

Everything started great, according to Eugene Kaplan, but “it turned into an appalling and horrendous experience.”

The initial plan was to stay six nights from August 24 to August 30 in San Diego as Kaplan’s wife’s sister was getting married there.

Two days in, the nightmare began.

“On August 26, we woke up to find that my wife had about thirty welts all over her arms. I had a cluster of welts on my ankles. Thankfully, our toddler was spared.”

Kaplan says they didn’t know what to do, but they almost immediately suspected bed bugs or some other type of pest but found no evidence.

“We did not see any blood on the sheets, etc.”

Things took a horrible turn the next day.

“The next afternoon, as I was trying to put our toddler down for a nap, a bedbug fell out of the pillow as I was moving it about.”

Kaplan said it fell directly on the mattress.

“Bed bugs move slowly and so I was able to capture it in a Ziplock container and took a photo of it.”

airbnb horror

Submitted

All of the reviews of the Airbnb unit in question are positive. After 51 reviews, the suite currently has a 4.86 rating, with a 4.9 for cleanliness. No other review besides Kaplan’s mentions bed bugs in any capacity. Instead, they all suggest the unit is clean and that the host is respectful.

Even in this case, Kaplan’s story suggests that the Airbnb host was mainly easy to work with. She even changed the sheets the day after they first reported the welts.

airbnb horror

Submitted

The host suggested it was just an allergic reaction to detergent in the sheets, but the pictures tell a different story.

horror

Submitted

The review Kaplan left for the Airbnb Superhost reflected everything you read in this story, including the welts, the bug falling out of the pillow, etc.

Another thing Kaplan told Daily Hive, which he also mentioned in his review, is that the host was worried they’d lose their “Superhost” status because of the negative review.

In response to Kaplan’s review, the host wrote, “a thorough inspection of the property was conducted, and no evidence of any type of insects or infestation was found.”

Airbnb response

Kaplan wasn’t happy with the initial response from Airbnb. When he wrote to Daily Hive, he said, “I think it is important for your readers to know just how little Airbnb cares about their guests.”

Airbnb offered a response to Daily Hive as well as the guest in question following the ordeal.

“While issues are rare, our 24/7 Community Support team is committed to providing our full support to guests when trips don’t go as planned,” said a spokesperson.

Subsequently, Kaplan told Daily Hive he was offered a full refund for the nights the host didn’t initially refund him.

Airbnb also gave us a complete response from the host, who stated that they were “positive” that the bites were not caused on their property.

“I would’ve liked the evidence of a live insect in a ziplock bag shown to me, but you made no mention about that find until this review.”

The host added that they had the entire guest house fumigated for peace of mind.

Based on all the evidence, the host seemed genuine in stating that they had no idea this was happening and that this was just an unfortunate and traumatic circumstance for Kaplan’s family with no ill intent.

Amir AliAmir Ali

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