I was supposed to stay at an Airbnb in Kyoto starting Oct 6. Four days before check-in, the host messaged saying there was a “water leak” and asked me to cancel the reservation. He claimed he couldn’t list the “identical replacement room” on Airbnb because it takes 3 months for new listings to get approved, and asked me to pay him directly in cash instead.
He said only guests can cancel, not hosts, and since he messaged after the refund cutoff, he’d still keep half my payment if I canceled myself. When I called it out as a scam, he got dramatic, said he had “tears in his eyes,” and even offered to let me stay for free.
I contacted Airbnb support they confirmed the host had to cancel (and he got hit with the late cancellation fee). He still tried to convince me to come anyway.
Ended up staying at a small hotel in Osaka instead, but wanted to post this as a heads-up: Kyoto hosts sometimes pull shady stuff like this to dodge local rental laws. If you’re headed there, I’d stick with hotels or very well-reviewed Airbnbs.
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