Eurovision fan who tried to book Liverpool house advertised for £200-a-night during song contest is left furious after AirBnB host relists it for £41,000

• Callum Rowe thought he had a £200 booking but the price rocketed to £41,000 

A Eurovision fan who thought he had scooped a £200-a-night Liverpool Airbnb booking was shocked to see it had been re-advertised for a staggering £41,000 per night.

Callum Rowe is a huge fan of the event and thought he had booked a house for himself, his girlfriend and four friends near to Sefton Park in south Liverpool for when the contest is held in Liverpool in May.

The university student and his friends claims he secured the house through Airbnb for an overall fee of £200 per night, which they thought was a great deal considering the rising prices for accommodation around the time of Eurovision in Liverpool.

Callum explained: ‘We were really happy, we thought it was a bit of a steal at that price because of all the inflated prices, it was just a mid terrace house with three bedrooms and three beds in each. We were really happy with the location.’

Callum Rowe, 26, was shocked to see his Airbnb booking had been cancelled and re-listed for £41,000

Callum had booked a house for himself and his friends to attend the event in May

But, as Callum and his friends began planning the other details of their trip, the 26-year-old received a notification from Airbnb to inform him that his booking had been cancelled.

He said: ‘I got an email from the host which said ‘we are unable to accept the booking at this rate, this is a brand new listing and we need to organise the listing for those dates’, that was all it said.

‘When I went back to the listing I saw that it had risen from £200 per night for the house to £41,145 per night. It was pretty shocking and disappointing to see.

‘I messaged the host just to say how disappointing it was to see someone trying to profit so much from Eurovision. I think actions like that just devalue what Eurovision is all about. Eurovision is about togetherness and celebrating each other and coming together, so it was sad to see. I never got a response.

‘I’m surprised there aren’t more safeguards in place to stop hosts trying to charge such enormous prices. It was just insane.’

After sharing his experience on Twitter, Callum says he was overwhelmed by the generosity of some Liverpudlians who offered up their homes for him and his friends to stay so he could see the UK’s entry of Mae Muller. 

Fortunately they had been able to find alternative accommodation but the student said the response showed the real side of the Liverpool and Eurovision communities.

He added: ‘We had so many people saying they would put us up, it was amazing. It just shows that not everyone is trying to profit like that and that most people are really kind. 

‘I can’t wait to come to Liverpool, it is an amazing city and it will be an incredible experience.’

Mae Muller will be representing the UK at the contest with her song ‘I wrote a song’

However a spokesman for Airbnb told the Mail that Callum’s group had never actually booked the accomodation and had instead sent a booking enquiry – which the host was free to reject. 

Airbnb also stressed that the £41,000 rental price was not reflective of the marketplace and that the accommodation remained unclaimed. 

A spokesman said: ‘This listing is not representative of prices on Airbnb and the average price per night of a booked stay during Eurovision is £260, providing affordable accommodation for guests and helping local families boost their income.

‘We want to help everyone in Liverpool benefit from the influx of visitors to the city, which is why we are offering a £50 travel coupon to anyone who hosts their first guest in a private room during the contest.’

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