Villagers accuse Airbnb is 'killing' their Welsh mountain home

AirBnB is turning our quiet village into the ‘Magaluf of north Wales’: Snowdon locals hit out at boozy tourists… after drunk woman dressed as Ginger Spice brawled in the street and girls are seen wearing THONGS to buy fish and chips

  • EXCLUSIVE: Welsh locals have said Airbnb usage is ‘killing’ their village

Furious villagers in north Wales have blasted Airbnb after warning the company is helping ‘kill’ their Welsh mountain idyll.

A sticker reading ‘Death to Airbnb’ with a noose around AirBnb’s logo has been found in the village of Llanberis at the foot of Mount Snowdon, which is a magnet for climbers, walkers, runners and tourists who also enjoy a dip in the stunning twin lakes of Llyn Peris and Llyn Padarn.

Local residents have told MailOnline that they have to put up with ‘rowdy parties’ around the houses and fights breaking out on the high street. One drunk woman dressed in a Ginger Spice fancy dress costume was even seen brawling in the remote village with another woman.

One local has dubbed the Snowdonia village the ‘Magaluf of north Wales’ after spotting young women going to buy fish and chips in thongs. 

Some locals, eager to cash in on the Airbnb boom, have set up fort in their garden sheds, while they rent out their houses to tourists. But some lonely residents, at their wits’ end with rowdy no-neighbours renting out their houses, have decided to move on from the village completely. 

The village just has 2,000 residents but has 700,000 visitors every year fuelling the need for ready accommodation. 

Father-of-four Andrew Owen, 50, said: ‘The number of Airbnb’s is killing the village. There are just too many of them.

Welsh locals have seen a mystery hate campaign against Airbnb. Emlyn Baylis (pictured) is just one of the many residents who claim the rental service us ‘taking over’ their town

A sticker reading ‘Death to Airbnb’ with a noose around the company’s logo has been found in the village of Llanberis at the foot of Mount Snowdon in North Wales

The village of Llanberis at the foot of Mount Snowdon has just 2,000 visitors but with over 700,000 visitors per year some are claiming it has turned into the ‘Magaluf of north Wales’

‘If you can’t beat them join them,’ says hotel landlady Jane Grover, who has admitted to using the service to fill up rooms 

Father-of-four Andrew Owen is afraid of losing his ‘Welsh identity’ as the number of Airbnb’s in the area booms 

READ MORE: Revealed: The jet-setting couple who have bought an ENTIRE village in Wales and raised rents by 60 per cent

‘There’s parties and there has even been fights in the village after people have drunk too much.’

The carer added: ‘There’s little affordable housing here now. I’m worried my kids won’t be able to find anywhere to live and will have to move away.

‘It all chips away and young families have to move as landlords sell up and then the schools become empty. We’ll lose our Welsh identity.’

Retired pub landlord Emlyn Baylis, 74, said: ‘I know of a woman whose street was taken over an Airbnbs.

‘She had no neighbours anymore and became really lonely. So she called it a day.’

‘There are too many of them but I don’t agree with how some people are protesting.

‘The sticker campaign is too much.’

Locals are fed-up with Airbnb guests brawling in the high street. Pictured: The mountains and the lakes of Snowdonia 

Some lonely residents, at their wits end with absent neighbours have decided to move on from the village entirely. Pictured: Lake at Llanberis, North Wales

Hotel landlady Jane Grover, 61, runs the Erw Fair guest house. However the hotel owner next door had sold up and it is being turned into an Airbnb with six or eight bedrooms.

Jane, whose double rooms costs £75-a-night, said: ‘We’re all worried it could turn into a party house so we are keeping a close eye on what’s happening.

‘A lady over the road lives next door to an Airbnb and she says it’s a nightmare with parties.

‘They get drunk and very rowdy.’

She added: ‘We’re busy with climbers and walkers.

‘We’re an old hotel so people come back for the memories too. And to be honest, I’ve used Airbnb to fill the place.

‘If you can’t beat them, join them. However they don’t get their breakfast.’

A resident claimed they saw a drunk Airbnb guest dressed as Ginger Spice fighting another woman on the high street (pictured)

Retired civil servant Emlyn Hughes (pictured) said that some locals have gone to extreme measures to cash in on the Airbnb boom, claiming people are living in their garden sheds 

Residents are going to extreme measures to cash in on Airbnb.

Retired civil servant Emlyn Hughes, 74, said: ‘Some people have built sheds in their garden.

‘So when they get Airbnb guests they move into the shed and rent it out.

‘It sounds pretty crazy but it’s happening.’

He added: ‘My son also rents out his place to Airbnb so I can’t really have a go at them.

‘However it can be tricky to get parked near your home when they all arrive.’

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