Villa being sold - we fly next month. Help!

[Holidayaddict]

Just woken up to the following message from the owner of the villa we're due to go to in a month's time......

I wanted to give you the heads-up. X villa has had an offer accepted and will be sold. It may take a month or two; it's hard to know.
The people buying it are also planning to AirBNB it. So you can still come and stay, but it would not be me looking after you.
Totally your call, but my advice would be to cancel the booking to avoid any disappointment.
Sorry to cause you such inconvenience.

It took us ages to find a villa that ticks all our boxes (we're fussy!) so know it won't be easy to find an alternative at such short notice. I've replied to ask if he can put us in touch with the new owners. He said he'll try to get their details from the agent but as he doesn't know them he can't vouch for them. I find it all rather odd, the villa appears to be booked for most of the summer so surely they'll want to honour existing bookings?

He went on to say we shouldn't have a problem finding somewhere else as "loads" still available for our dates on Airbnb. I've started looking but nothing as nice we can afford so far 😪

I'm so stressed, we were SO looking forward to this holiday which we booked months ago. This is the last thing I need. Any words of wisdom?

Thank you x

I'd cancel, especially as owner has advised it. New people are probably not bound to honour the booking or the price.

Can you find somewhere else on free cancellation as a back up and then continue to try and get in touch with the new owners. It’s unlikely they will want it empty all summer if they are planning on renting it out.

I’d post in legal. Check your travel insurance policy to see what the options are.

I would cancel, it seems to the current owner wants you to. The sale probably won’t have gone through, but it’s not worth the risk of new owners wanting to rent it out this quick. We holiday in the uk in cottages, some have been for sale and some have cancelled as they sold, unfortunately there’s nothing you can do.

Sounds as though the owner didn't get the price he wanted for his property and is trying to lose the next owner any bookings.

That's what I'm going to do. Seems so odd. I was in touch with the owner just a few weeks ago with a question about the bbq and he never mentioned this. Seems so sudden!

I’m suspicious by nature but a month seems a short time from offer to completion - is that usual in that country ?

Exactly what I thought. It's Cyprus.

When you book via Air BnB, your contract is directly with the owner, right?

This is more than just advising you to cancel- if the villa is not owned by the current owner by the time your booking date comes around there can be no contract. The new owner would be under no obligation to honour your booking. This is a cancellation by the owner and needs to follow whatever process Air BnB have for that.

I would also check very carefully the cancellation policy.
Don't cancel the booking yourself if you decide to take that route, make sure the (current) owner does it from their side.
I would also message air BnB to get their take on it.

So stressed. Very busy at work so don't have time to be trawling the net until tonight. Hopefully will know more by then.

He’s trying to avoid getting slammed with a penalty by Air BNB. Don’t play along.

Ah, thanks for this. The owner ended his email with the following:

How To Cancel

1. Click Trips and select the reservation you want to cancel
2. Under Reservation details, click Cancel reservation
3. Choose a reason for canceling
4. Click Cancel reservation

I will wait to take advice before cancelling. I'm really worried about losing the money we've paid so far.

Also make sure you do all correspondence via the air bnb platform. That way Airbnb can see the messages.

As a previous poster has said, don't cancel yourself. Make sure all communication is via Airbnb. Contact Airbnb immediately and tell them what's happening and that you can't find another suitable place for the same price with the same conditions - they will help you find another place and will deal with the owner for you.
This happened to us once on a different booking platform - the owners ended up having to pay for us to stay in a nearby hotel (half board).
Sorry this has happened to you.

Yes I would be very suspicious of this. If you cancel, will you lose your deposit? Why doesn’t he cancel instead?

I just contacted Airbnb who confirmed it's for the owner to cancel, no mention of helping us find something else though.Will therefore wait to see if any joy with new owners while searching for somewhere else (when I get time!). Hopefully something even nicer will have become available in the months since we booked this but I'm not hopeful based on what I've looked at so far.

Glad PP have pointed out the owner must cancel - not least, if you cancel, he might try and stiff you for outstanding fees! Agree with the suggestion to find a free cancellation alternative - even a hotel. Might not be ideal but at least you get a holiday and don't waste your flight costs.

Thanks for the help so far. I'm in a chat with airbnb, will let you know the outcome. So don't have time for this, was really looking forward to it!

Airbnb say they are contacting the host to get them to confirm the issue.

Yes this thought came to my mind as well.

Do not cancel, you will be charged fees, he needs to cancel

It would be unlikely that the sale would go through in a month. But the owner really wants you to cancel, even though they'd still be getting the rental fee. Odd. Maybe they want to let someone else use it that week.

So the owner has now cancelled the booking after being advised to by airbnb. They've confirmed full refund. Airbnb have sent links to a few alternatives which I will look at later. I've asked where we stand if we can't find anything suitable or the replacement is more expensive I'll await their response.

We've been sent a voucher for £98 towards a new booking. Pah!