Euro 2024: Fans in Germany slam Booking.com after staying in 'abandoned dungeon' like ‘human trafficking horror film' with 'hospital' beds

A user named Rory on X, formerly Twitter, said he and his friends were staying in Germany for the Euros but ended up in an “absolute shambles of a situation” due to Booking.com.

He said that on Saturday (15 June) they turned up to the original property that was booked through Booking.com to find the place “an absolute mess”. He posted on X: “One of the beds was made out of cardboard and also held together by duct tape. The second bed was a sofa bed that was broken and disgusting.

“So we phoned @bookingcom and spent 3 hours to try and find a solution. After speaking to 3 different CS advisors we were finally told that @bookingcom would cover the cost of a new place to say. So at around 12:30am we walked across the city to the new digs.”

Rory said that once he and his friends reached the next property they were “stunned” as Booking.com had “sent us to a dungeon that must have been some sort of abandoned medical facility as there were hospital beds and industrial equipment lying around the entrance.”. Rory attached a video to the post showing the eerie property.

He added: “We made our way into the property and we're greeted by more industrial equipment, exposed chemicals, exposed cables and exposed pipes and to top it all off an axe that looked like something out of a murder film. The whole place had the vibes of a human trafficking horror film.”

Rory said he spent “two hours on the phone” to Booking.com “to be told that the only way to resolve the issue would be for us to pay for a new place and invoice them”. He posted on X: “We have spent over £2,000 on accommodation through them for this trip and now they expect us to pay more and wait for a refund when we don't have the money to pay now.

“We left the apartment and booked a hotel for one night (which is on @bookingcom by the way) but we can no longer afford to stay here without help from @bookingcom.”

In an update posted yesterday (Sunday 16 June), Rory said: “Quick update, we managed to source accommodation for the remaining 4 days in the Cologne area (no thanks to @bookingcom) cheers for all the kind message of support it's massively appreciated.” In a statement on the issue Booking.com said: “This is not the experience we would want for anyone booking a stay on our platform and are in touch with the customer, so we can look into what happened and to make sure they are properly supported.”