Warning to anyone looking for temporary accommodation in Melbourne. Please be wary of booking the following property. We booked it for 31 days through Airbnb (January 2nd though February 2nd, 2020), but were evicted by the host after 16 days.
This was not due to anything we had done, rather it was a result of the host being accused of “invasion of privacy” by an earlier guest. This allegation (I assume) was serious enough for Airbnb to suspended his account. Without warning, the host issued an officious email giving us three days to vacate the property; he considered the three days generous and claimed to have received “private legal advice”, which gave us no recourse to negotiate completing our fully paid stay.
My partner and I were travelling with our three-year-old son. We were twelve thousand miles from home and considering an allegation had been made against the host, we decided not to argue and avoid conflict. As a result of the eviction, we found ourselves without immediate access to any refund; we are still awaiting roughly AU$2400 from Airbnb, money that the host would have received 24 hours after our check in and undoubtedly still had in his bank account when the property was rented again a day or two after we were kicked out.
To compound our predicament, it was high season in Melbourne, so finding a suitable and affordable Airbnb property to move into was impossible. We found ourselves holed up in a hotel, paid for with a credit card and my partner in tears. As the Airbnb listing has been removed, we are unable to leave the host a review and hopefully warn others looking to rent his property. Having newly listed on other platforms he has given himself a clean slate to rent to other unwitting guests.