ALPENA, Mich. — A group of women’s 50th high school reunion turned into a nightmare when their Airbnb rental property looked like something out of a horror movie.
The women rented a Victorian-style home nicknamed “The Historic Castle House” in late July and the first three days went without a hitch. But the fourth night was the complete opposite, the Detroit Free Press reported.
The Alpena, Michigan, home, according to the Airbnb listing provided by the newspaper, says it can accommodate 10 guests in five bedrooms.
Two members of the group who were staying in the home’s large turret room were wakened up by screeching sounds and a dark shape flying around. They escaped to the hallway, stuffing blankets under the door to stop anything from getting out, the lawsuit alleged.
They thought only one bat was flittering about. But they were wrong, according to their attorney.
In a lawsuit against Airbnb, they said the stairwell was “consumed with bats” and, despite their attempts to keep them at bay, the bats kept getting in through the old lathe walls and gaps in the baseboards, the Free Press reported.
In a review on Airbnb, Patty, who said she was one of the eight “elderly ladies” who had rented the house, wrote, “On the fourth night, perhaps due to excessive heat (the upstairs isn’t air conditioned), bats emerged through the walls from the attic in every bedroom and in the hallway. The bats were flying throughout the upstairs and in the stairwells, so we could not get out of the house.”
In the lawsuit, they said the bats flew into them and even got tangled in their hair. One woman said she suffered bites from the bats. Because of the close contact, the women were told to undergo rabies vaccinations.
The aerial attack happened until the sun rose and the bats went to sleep in the home’s attic.
The Free Press reported that an exterminator found a large colony of Michigan Brown Bats in the attic that appeared to have been there for years.
The host of the home, however, wrote in response to the Airbnb review left by Patty, “A professional bat control and removal expert was hired and onsite within hours of me waking up and being informed this occurred and I’ve consulted with our property manager about how she might have better assisted in the middle of the night.” They added that, “Ultimately, the expert was only able to find one (likely transient) bat. Bats are very active this time of year in Northern Michigan and it’s unfortunate one found its way inside.”
When asked about the lawsuit by WDIV, Airbnb said it won’t comment on active litigation.
The lawsuit accuses Airbnb of having “negligently allowed the bat infested home to be advertised on the platform.” The renters are also suing the homeowners and maintenance workers who, in the women’s view, “had a responsibility to ensure that the home was safe when renting it,” WDIV and the Free Press reported.
The house is rated 4.81 out of 5 stars with 21 reviews on the Airbnb website. Patty’s is the only one-star review, with the remaining 20 reviews showing 5-stars as of Oct. 31.
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