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Brie Robertson’s Airbnb in Bali looked like a charming vacation home, but it turned out to be abandoned.
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Robertson documented the experience on TikTok, where the video has been viewed more than 4.3 million times.
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Airbnb refunded Robertson and removed the listing. Next time, she says, take a closer look at her review.
Brie Robertson found Nature Lodge Bali the ideal place to celebrate her one-month anniversary from moving to Bali with her travel partner.
she found Airbnb villa With an infinity pool, on-site restaurant and views overlooking the rainforest, she booked a room for one night in mid-July after reading some good reviews.
But when Robertson and her partner arrived at the property, villa abandonedInstead of sparkling blue water, there was a pool filled with overgrown algae. The restaurant was closed and piles of chairs lined the exterior. No one was on the premises.
“All we could do was laugh. We were so tired, so tired. It was the perfect end to what wasn’t a great day,” she wrote on her adventures on her website. robertson sharing extraordinary adventuretold an insider.
Robertson documented the experience and posted it on his TikTok account @atypical_adventure July 16th. The video has been viewed more than 4.3 million times As of Monday.
The couple splurge on what they thought was a romantic Airbnb to celebrate a month in Bali
In June, Robertson and her partner moved from their home in Wellington, New Zealand, to Canggu, a coastal village on the south coast of Bali.
So far, Robertson has traveled from windy and rainy Wellington to tropical and warm bali It was “just great”.
“It’s a nice change from freezing cold and windy to sunny and beautiful Bali,” she said.
As the pair approached their one-month mark in Bali and their ten-month relationship anniversary, Robertson began scouting Airbnb for a romantic getaway to celebrate.
She said the private room at the Nature Lodge she landed in was impressive from Airbnb hosts boasting positive pre-pandemic reviews and a 100% response rate.
So she booked an Airbnb for about 750,000 Indonesian Rupiah (about $50). In Bali, Robertson said it was a more expensive listing and a splurge for the couple.
On their anniversary, the couple hopped on a scooter and drove about two hours from their apartment in Canggu to the village of Sidemen in East Bali.
The couple initially went to the wrong place. When they finally found the property, Robertson said she and her partner were amazed at how overgrown the area looked.
Robertson said he parked his car in the driveway, passed an empty reception area, and headed for the main building, where the large wooden doors were closed.
“We walked around the back of the main building and then realized everything was overgrown,” she said. “The pool turned green, and where the restaurant should have been, all the chairs were down and it was just dusty.”
A couple realized that the lodge had changed ghost town.
Robertson said all they could do was laugh.
“What you don’t hear on TikTok is he’s saying things like, ‘Brie, what have you done? What’s going on?'” she said.
After they explored the abandoned lodge for several minutes, it started raining and the humor wore off, Robertson said. spent.
Robertson immediately I requested a refund from AirbnbAirbnb responded and Robertson said the refund was issued the same day. About a week later, the listing was removed from her Airbnb website, she said.
An Airbnb representative told Insider, “We were disappointed to learn of this experience and have provided support to our guests at the time, including a full refund. .”
Going forward, Robertson plans to book Airbnbs with more recent reviews
Robertson’s comments section on TikTok is full of others sharing similar experiences on Airbnb in Indonesia. According to Bloomberg, Many resorts and villas closed and put on the market during the pandemicso it can be difficult to know which ones are still up.
As one TikToker said, “We always request live feed videos to see what’s going on.”
Others said they were the only ones Book Airbnbs with Recent Reviews.
Robertson said it’s about her moving forward and ensuring a response from the host.
“I recommend Bali 100%. It’s a beautiful place,” she added. “This feels like a run-of-the-mill story that happened to me.”
Read the original article at insider