A summer trip to France ‘got worse and worse’ for one family as they were greeted by a ‘radioactive’ pool, a dead rodent, poison and broken furniture at their holiday home
They discovered one room with mattresses on the floor(Image: Handout)
What was meant to be a charming holiday home in France resembled more of a ‘horror house’, as a family trip went from bad to worse during a ‘hellish’ experience.
Richard Glendenning, who hails from London, travelled to France this summer for a holiday with his wife, her parents and their eight-month-old puppy. Wanting a quieter and more authentic experience, the couple booked a 10-night stay at an ’18th-century barn, with a private pool and sauna’ through Airbnb, nestled in a rural area of Bars in Bergerac.
Before they arrived, they were aware that the holiday rental was a little rustic around the edges, but at the time, it was all part of the appeal. It was only when they turned up at the property on Monday, 27 July 2026, that they realised it was far from what they had been expecting.
“It looked like a very lovely gîte (self-catering holiday home) online, I thought it’d be charming and nice,” Rich exclusively told the Mirror. “But it was in no way indicative of how hellish the experience was.
“It was actually two buildings next to each other that were part of the same space, and when we first arrived, it was filthy. It was the messiest place, and it looked like nobody had bothered to clean it for a year or so – it was awful.”
He continued: “It was like something from a film set, where you try and make a horror house with insects, cobwebs and spiders, everywhere. In the kitchen, the ceilings were fairly low, and I walked into one of those sticky tape things, covered in flies. There were flies everywhere, alive and dead.
“The bathrooms weren’t clean, and I had to use another bedroom in the other building, but when I went in there, I found a dead rodent, a rat.
“The towels were also tiny; you could barely wrap a toddler in one, and I had a white stain on mine. We were looking around, and in one bedroom, the owners had taken the bed from the mezzanine area, so there were just really horrible mattresses on the dirty floor, like in a squat.
“I walked through one of the bedrooms that was facing the pool, and instead of a bed, there were just stacks of wood pushed against the wall.” Rich added that they had arrived a “little bit early”, which had been previously agreed, and the cleaners did later fix the bed.
However, there were more surprises waiting. “The outdoor swimming pool was a comedy green, it was like a radioactive, glowing green colour, rather than a beautiful blue,” Rich revealed. “There was also a noisy filter machine, and there was an auto-motored machine going around, so that wasn’t done either. The owner had also removed loads of furniture from around the pool that were in the photos and advertised.”
Rich and his wife also spotted a “layer of scum around the edge of the pool”.
Rich and his wife had previously confirmed with the owner that their puppy could stay at the property, and the owner had agreed before their arrival. But the accommodation became worryingly unsafe for them and their beloved pooch.
“I saw this kind of gravel or type of salt across loads of the floors, and it was even across the dining table in the house. So I asked the owner, and she said, ‘Oh, that’s poison we put down’. She knew beforehand we were bringing a puppy, so that was unbelievably dangerous,” he said.
“We knew it was going to be rustic, but we thought we’d spend more of our time outside than in the house. But there’s rustic, and then there’s filthy, broken and items missing,” Rich’s wife added.
They also discovered that what looked like a microwave was actually the kitchen’s main oven, but the couple said, “You couldn’t even fit half a pizza in.” Rich’s wife said that the oven in the other building, which they were offered to use, was “so disgusting” and had “never seen something so dirty”, so they were left without an oven for a few days before it was cleaned again.
While they were caught off guard by the state of the property, the family decided to have some lunch outdoors near the pool on their first day. A platform area had been a “major selling point” for them because of the “beautiful views with a big table under some trees”.
In true French style, they laid out a “huge spread” on the outdoor table by the pool, with wine and cheese. “We put it all on the table, and it instantly collapsed. All the food and wine, everything went everywhere and broken plates”, Rich explained.
During their stay, Rich and his wife said they were in communication with the owner and Airbnb while documenting everything. “We were complaining and telling the owner what we found,” he said.
Airbnb confirmed that it has ground rules for hosts that make clear its expectations and the standards hosts must meet. If they fail to comply, Airbnb will investigate and take action, which may include removing the property from its platform.
“The owner was very responsive and trying to help, but she kept saying that it was her last rental and she’s selling the property,” Rich’s wife said. “She had given up on the property, really.”
To help with their issues, the owner said they could use the second building “freely”. However, this only revealed more, as it was “beyond dirty and dusty” and “uninhabitable”.
The couple explained that cleaners did return to clean the main property again during their stay following the complaints, but “didn’t do what they promised to do”. Although after two to three days, the pool was “back to a blue colour”.
The owner allegedly told the couple that before their arrival, she had around five 20-year-olds staying in the property and said that they had “left the place in a complete state, broken, and that’s why the pool was green.”
When speaking to the owner about the collapsed table, Rich said that the owner nonchalantly told them, ‘Oh, just take the table from the dining room in the house out there.’ He added that the owner had also told them she’d ordered new furniture, although it “never arrived”.
They were offered relocation by Airbnb, as all bookings come with AirCover, which means Airbnb will help guests find a similar place or issue a refund in the rare event that something isn’t as expected on arrival. However, because it was the peak summer period, they had two elderly parents, and one car that didn’t fit them all, they felt it wasn’t a realistic option for them.
Rich said: “The case was closed down without us being satisfied with any outcome”. Airbnb said it is providing feedback to the customer service teams that handled the case, as it did not meet their expectations.
In another turn of events, rain began leaking through the rental’s roof. His wife explained: “It was the final night in my bedroom, and thankfully, we weren’t in that room and didn’t have any lights on, but the rain flooded through the light socket.
“It went all over the bed. I had packed everything; my suitcase was open and directly under the flood. Every single item I owned was soaking wet.
“We were meant to drive back to the UK the next morning, but everything was wet, so I was desperately trying to dry everything before leaving, but didn’t manage to.”
After the ongoing ordeal of their accommodation, Rich said: “We need a holiday after the holiday. It just got worse and worse – it was hellish.”
A spokesperson for Airbnb said in a statement: “We are disappointed to hear about this experience and how it was handled. We have reached out to the guest to provide a monetary refund for the entire cost of their stay and are investigating the host.
“We have standards and ground rules for hosts, which require listings to be clean and free of health hazards, safety hazards and secure. While these reports are rare, we investigate and take the relevant action, which can include removal of listings from Airbnb.”
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