Bizarre Airbnb tales aren’t uncommon, but boy, is this a strange one. Amy Corbett, one of the short-term rental wizards over at All Belong Co, spilled the beans in a TikTok vid on April 17th.
Apparently, a sneaky guest decided to swap out a perfectly good wall picture for a completely different one!
It looks as if there was some interior design vigilante action going down in Lynchburg, Virginia!
Amy recently stumbled upon a devious plot to swap out a world map picture with a painting of an airplane propeller! Corbett commented while recording the artwork on the wall, stating that she had never come across the picture before and admitting that it made her feel slightly unnerved. She said, “I must admit, I was a bit creeped out.”
After being uploaded, the video quickly gained popularity, reaching more than 7 million views. Viewers were captivated by the enigmatic tale and shared their thoughts in the comment section, presenting various hypotheses to explain the situation. The most common theories suggested that either the incident was a complex practical joke where the guest was sent the painting from a different Airbnb or that the guest caused harm to the original artwork.
Corbett released a subsequent video on April 20th, in which she aimed to refute some of the theories put forward by her viewers. She shared that she had reached out to one of the previous hosts of the guest to inquire about the possibility of painting exchanges between apartments, but was informed that no such activity had occurred.
Several subsequent videos related to the incident were uploaded by Corbett, with some amassing a significant number of views, ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions.
In one of the videos, she shared security camera footage, which seemed to show an individual carrying a painting into a building and then exiting with a bulky object concealed under a blanket, which was subsequently loaded into a car.
Corbett speculated that the person was attempting to conceal her painting under the blanket. Following this, viewers began to propose that the guest was either an artist or an interior designer who sought to enhance the apartment’s aesthetics through the switch.
Despite the speculation that the guest might be an artist or designer, Corbett expressed skepticism, citing the fact that the canvas painting he had swapped with hers was mass-produced and readily available for purchase online.
Corbett also revealed that she had raised a complaint with Airbnb regarding the painting incident. Although the guest offered to reimburse her for some of the damage caused, she mentioned that the amount fell short of what she had requested.
A representative from Airbnb recently confirmed that the guest involved had been suspended from their platform due to a violation of their policies. The spokesperson further noted that Airbnb’s AirCover policy covers incidents involving art and that the host would receive support throughout the process.
