{"id":663978,"date":"2019-07-25T08:17:18","date_gmt":"2019-07-25T08:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"
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File picture: Pexels<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Amsterdam – When Ben Speller found a three-bed listing on Airbnb for a \u2018clean home in Amsterdam with private bathroom\u2019 for \u00a3100 (about R1800), he snapped it up.<\/p>\n

But the tourist was left speechless when he arrived at the address to find it was actually a shipping container set up on the roadside with a portable loo. Tottenham Hotspur fan Mr Speller had travelled from London for his football team\u2019s Champions League clash with Ajax last week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He was delighted when he found the reasonably priced accommodation online. But upon arrival, he was confronted with a large grey shipping container with three mattresses on a street called Pauwenpad in the Frankendael district of the Dutch capital.<\/p>\n

“We had already driven past the container three times in the taxi trying to find the place,” Mr Speller said.<\/p>\n

“We thought, ‘This can\u2019t be it.’ But when we got out it turned out that it was true. We opened the door and looked inside, [then] locked the door and left.”<\/p>\n

Mr Speller said they quickly decided to find a hotel instead.<\/p>\n

Photographs of the container revealed a bleak scene \u2013 three single mattresses lined up with three pillows and one large sheet stretched across all three makeshift beds.<\/p>\n

Two doors were visible from the outside \u2013 one leading to the \u2018bedroom\u2019 and the other to a small grey portable toilet.<\/p>\n

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Mr Speller contacted the owner, named only as \u2018Jacob\u2019, and asked for a refund but this was refused.<\/p>\n

But when he informed Airbnb, his \u00a3100 was returned, as well as \u00a3230 (about R4200) for the emergency hotel stay.<\/p>\n

The container was later reported and removed by city contractors.<\/p>\n

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An Airbnb spokesman said: “We have removed the host and listings from our platform. Misrepresented or fraudulent listings have no place on our platform.”<\/p>\n

Daily Mail
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