Post by Graveyardbride on Apr 15, 2020 22:40:57 GMT -5
Not All Airbnb Ghosts Are Friendly
In a recent interview, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said one of the weirdest complaints he has received involved an allegedly friendly ghost named Stanley. “One day a customer calls us and says they want a full refund,” Chesky recalled. “We say, ‘Why do you want a full refund?’ They said, ‘Because the house is haunted and there’s a ghost in the house.’”
In an attempt to verify the claim, a member of Chesky’s team called the host, assuming she would deny the property was haunted and, lacking any supernatural photographic evidence, the case would be closed. “Well, unfortunately, the host confirms the ghost, says that it’s a friendly ghost named Stanley, and that the ghost Stanley is in the listing description,” Chesky continued. “We read the listing – Stanley is mentioned.”
When Airbnb cited this fact to the complaining guest, she clarified the issue wasn’t Stanley’s presence, but that he was not friendly. “Yes, we knew about Stanley, that’s why we booked it,” the irate guest told Cheky. “But Stanley has been harassing us all night.”
Chesky was at a loss. “How do you adjudicate that?” he asks. “There is no playbook for this stuff.”
Stanley, the ghost of questionable amicability, tops Chesky’s list of strange Airbnb issues, but he claimed the company receives millions of customer calls daily and many are quite bizarre.
For example, Chesky once booked a woman’s home that had a parrot in the listing. “I thought that was really cool until I got to the listing and I realized it was a studio apartment, that she would be in the space with me, with the parrot, and that she slept on the couch, I slept in the bed, and the parrot joined me in the bed,” he said. While it hadn’t been what he was looking for, he accepted his fate. “It wasn’t really wanted, but, you know, I didn’t fight it,” he added.
Following are a few of the “haunted” accommodations offered by Airbnb:
Of The Haunted House (above) in Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada, Airbnb writes, “Guests swear they have seen the apparition of a man in a suit standing in front of a mirror and a figure of an angry woman wearing a dark blouse and skirt.” The 1885 Victorian home goes for $94/night.
Utah’s Cisco Post Office closed in the 1990s, but has been renovated into a tiny guest house without running water. It offers an “authentic ghost town experience” and boasts a fire pit, A/C, wi-fi and scenic views for $60/night. The bitty Pace Bros. Shack can be yours for $65/night.
In Oberlin, Ohio, guests at the $145/night Inspiration House have commented they can hear someone slowly pacing the upper level in heavy work boots and scratching on the woodwork. The host herself is a psychic and occult researcher.
A Confederate soldier is suspected of haunting the Gettysburg Historic Lookout House in Aspers, Pennsylvania. Guests have reported seeing a man in a uniform, arms crossed, standing in a corner – but add that he and other spirits haunting the house are friendly. A private room in the home goes for $128/night.
In northern Germany’s Rensow Manor Retreat, the home’s foundation is 1,200 years old and guests believe the ghosts of Slavic gods continue to haunt the space, which rents for $110/night.
According to the host, the Enslin Mansion in Troy, New York, is haunted from its basement to its attic. The lively spirits are tricksters – be sure to keep your keys close, as they reportedly love to hide them. ($99/night).
In the early 1900s, a woman named Rosalia Fihn died of typhoid fever at Manor Master Chamber (above) in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her spirit reportedly never left the premises. ($76/night).
The Stroud House in Wake Forest, North Carolina, is rented by its original owner’s great-grandson. Among other haunted happenings, a music box reportedly turns itself on and plays nursery songs, and dime-sized flickers of light have been reported in the dining room. Guests continue to shell out $60 nightly for the space, despite the spook factor.
If the stories the owners tell about the Hobo Hill House in Jefferson City, Missouri, are true, some of the “entities” on the premises aren’t all that friendly. The entire house rents for $300/night.
There’s also the possibility of encountering a ghost or two at the following Airbnb listings:
The Parks-Bowman Mansion in the Garden District of New Orleans has three rooms for rent and one of them is haunted by the spirit of a young late Victorian era girl in a yellow dress.
The Dead and Breakfast in New Orleans offers five bedrooms in an allegedly haunted house. Although the nature of the hauntings aren’t explained, according to the listing, “paranormal investigations are performed regularly in this home from 9 p.m. till midnight.”
In St. Louis, Missouri, you can rent a haunted suite that used to be the maid’s quarters in a Benton Park dwelling near the Lemp Mansion. It is unclear how this particular haunting manifests.
The Weld Inn located in Dixfield, Maine, is crawling with ghosts that include “a little boy playing in the second floor kitchen; a lady walking around outside, mysterious music being played at all hours; [and] the ‘Big Man’ in the hallway.” One of the spirits haunting the house is believed to be Marjorie Hope Edwards and one of the guestrooms is called “Marjorie’s Room.”
A ghost named Laura is rumored to haunt Laura’s Cottage, a small 1799 house in Savannah, Georgia. She makes her presence known by opening and closing windows and turning lights on and off.
The listing for an 1890s home in Port Angeles, Washington, claims the property is “allegedly still occupied by a mischievous ghost.”
The Haunted Chamber Apartment just off Stonegate in York, North Yorkshire, England, is said to be haunted by the ghost of a man with long hair who appears over people’s shoulders.
The listing for The Haunted Bedroom in Tallison, Great Dunmow, Essex, England, mentions that guests may exprience “unexplained smells and sounds” and warns the premises is “not for the fainthearted.”
Sources: Hannah Frishberg, The New York Post, November 14, 2019; Airbnb; WhatLiesBeyond; and Lucia Peters, Bustle, September 27, 2018..
