Homeowner Sues Airbnb After Massage From Guest Sees Him Kicked Off Site

Mark Howell rents out rooms in his home in smart Cleaver Square, Kennington (Picture: Google)

A disgruntled homeowner is suing Airbnb after a massage from a guest saw him being booted off the online bed and breakfast site.

Property developer Mark Howell, 63, received a rubdown from a female guest - known as Maria - at his four-bed home in Kennington, south London.

Howell told Judge Patrick Moloney at London’s High Court: “I never suggested a massage - she persuaded me to let her give me one.

“I now believe that it was something to do with her wanting to stay without paying. She seemed to expect to stay on a second and subsequent nights free of charge. When I asked her for money for the second and subsequent nights she got upset.”

And when Maria made a complaint about her host’s conduct, he was promptly removed from the site - and future guests who were already booked in received emails advising them to seek alternative accommodation.

Mr Howell suggested that the “innuendos passed on” by Airbnb have unfairly damaged his reputation.

The divorcé said he was earning £1,000 from Airbnb bookings, which were helping ease “cash flow problems”.

The judge told Mr Howell that his defamation action had a chance of success, as the comments were “arguably defamatory and calculated to lower the reputation of Mr Howell in the eyes of others who know who he is.”

But, he added: “You refer to this lady, Maria, giving you a long massage and talking about her private life all day and night in a loud voice. That sounds like a funny way to run a B&B. For me it’s a very odd thing.“

A representative for Airbnb argued that the company was well within its rights to remove Mr Howell from the site, adding that this wasn’t the first complaint they’d received about him.

The libel and breach of contract claims will go to a full High Court hearing unless a settlement can be agreed between the two parties.