Air bnb help - host cancelled last minute 'due to covid'

[kitchenplanner]

We were supposed to go somewhere in the UK on holiday next week but have just heard from our air bnb host saying she has covid and can no longer host. (I'm a bit suspicious given what I've read on here about air bnb hosts pulling stunts like this to let out their property for more money...) We are so disappointed, especially the little ones.

I can't really find anywhere else suitable to stay so the holiday is likely off. We have bought train tickets - is there anything we can do to recoup the cost? Shouldn't air bnb help with that? The air bnb support team just sent me a link to their search function and has now closed the issue. Is there anything else we can do?

Claim on your insurance.

Ah... I used to religiously buy travel insurance, but that was always for holidays abroad. This was just a few nights in the UK so I didn't buy insurance...

Are there no premier inns or anything?

Sadly your only option is finding accommodation or losing out on the train tickets too.

Where is it??

Destination. And numbers / requirements. We can find something 😁

Yes give us some info and we can help you look.

[Rubs hands]

Let us at it. We too can find you a campsite behind the tip and next to a busy road for only twice the Airbnb price [joking]

If you don't mind posting rough location of where you're going, people on here are usually good at finding somewhere

Awww thank you all. So Leigh on Sea, 23-26 Sep (3 nights). Two families comprising 4 adults (2 couples), 2 preschoolers (who will be sharing), and 2 1-year old babies. So we'd like 4 bedrooms minimum.

Thank you!

I've prebooked somewhere else but it's in Southend (which is a compromise we are ok to make at a push) and the owner is just not responding to me at all re whether they have cots (which is not ok).

We'd want to pay no more than £800 for the 3 nights, in total for both families.

Sorry I meant £700! But really less is better

Oh no sorry about all this OP. I was in Leigh on sea a couple of months ago and it is lovely there. We also went to Southend on sea for the day. there will be loads for the kids to do in Southend on sea. There is also an open top bus to Leigh on sea if you wanted to go there for the day.

I think the cheapest option would be taking 2 travel cots to the Southend place?

The Haven holidays site the orchards would be £800 for 2 caravans if you do 'stay' only with no access to facilities, but it looks as if they may only have one left from the 24th only.

Would you and the other family consider staying in separate properties nearby to each other and just meeting up in the day? Can see that working.

The owner to the air bnb I've prebooked is not answering my emails or texts at all regarding the cots. I don't really know how to take this further. If he doesn't reply by the time I've to cancel or pay, I'll just have to cancel I think

staying in separate properties is an option but makes me sad - the idea was to hang out in the evening after the kids go to bed

@kitchenplanner

staying in separate properties is an option but makes me sad - the idea was to hang out in the evening after the kids go to bed

It's only 3 evenings, are a few hours really going to ruin the holiday?

I would expect if the owner has COVID, they may not feel well enough (or be in hospital?) and not able to respond to emails.

Can you not just cancel the train tickets and get a refund? I do this all the time if I have to travel for work and am not able to.

That said, it sounds super expensive for 3 nights! We've been on 2 UK holidays this year during the height of the summer holidays in an Airbnb with 3-4 bedrooms each time (in Wales and in Cornwall) for 7 nights, and we paid £700 for the week in really lovely places with huge gardens. I can't imagine you couldn't find somewhere last minute for much less than that for 3 nights.

www.booking.com/hotel/gb/royal-terrace-apartments.en-gb.html?aid=356980;label=gog235jc-1FCAsoUEINZm9ydGZpZWQtaG9tZUgzWANoa4gBApgBCbgBB8gBDdgBAegBAfgBDIgCAagCA7gCoNSdigbAAgHSAiQ2YTA1MGYyNy00OTc5LTRhZjAtYjgwMS02OGYwZThmNzQ4NWTYAgbgAgE;sid=17505a6c22d5203446020ada0cb6b295;dest_id=3664579;dest_type=hotel;room1=A%2CA%2CA%2CA%2C1%2C1%2C3%2C3&;group_adults=4;group_children=4;no_rooms=1;checkin=2021-09-23;checkout=2021-09-26;matching_block_id=629899805_245610141_8_0_0;atlas_src=hp_iw_title

If you can’t find anywhere to stay you may be able to cancel your train tickets with for a cancellation fee.
I’ve done it in the past and recouped all but £10 of what I paid.

Thanks all - I'll call up the train companies and see what they say. I'd rather just go on holiday as we'd originally planned. We booked in April as well!

So this won't help with your new accommodation search, but I just wanted to let you know I had a similar experience last month. Due to check in at an Airbnb place on the Friday and the host contacted us the afternoon before saying they were cancelling due to having covid. They sorted out the refund through Airbnb themselves so I'm not sure of the process, but it did take about a week for the money to come through to us.
I hope you find somewhere suitable.

@BluebellsGreenbells
Good find!!

@BluebellsGreenbells thanks for the suggestion but no cots available it says