A couple were forced to flee their Airbnb after they found hidden cameras pointed directly at their bed. Donna and Raymond Nunn had travelled to Madrid, Spain on a “bucket-list” trip to celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary this month.
When they first arrived at the apartment in Lavapies, a central suburb of Madrid, on August 3, 2026 they noticed a motion sensor in the living room pointed towards the front door. There were no flashing lights so they decided to not worry.
The following day while Donna, 62, was out sightseeing Raymond, 87, noticed a camera in the bedroom facing the bed with a green light flashing. The couple reached out to Airbnb for advice and were told to leave the apartment immediately, but it was 8pm so they were forced to stay overnight until they could safely find another place to stay the following day.
Donna and Raymond, who was in the Royal Artillery for 25 years, left in the morning for an apartment two hours south of Madrid. Donna, a pensioner originally from Kent, said: “We live in Spain but we were going to Madrid as a bucket-list trip that we’ve wanted to do for ages and to celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary this month.
“We booked in March and had a typical conversation with the host who planned to meet us there. When we first arrived, the host was nowhere to be found but instructed us via webchat as to how to get into the property.
“When we finally made it inside the apartment, we noticed the camera in the living room as it was facing us as we walked in, but there were no lights on it so we presumed it was off. However we didn’t notice the camera in the bedroom until the next day after we had already slept in the bed.
“I was out sightseeing but my husband is less mobile so stayed at home and he noticed the light in the camera was flickering. The light wasn’t on the day before so I think it was one that can be remotely turned on and off when the host wants. We were extremely frightened by the discovery.
“The camera was about four inches in length and tucked in the corner, but pointed directly towards the bed. It can’t have been there for security reasons. It felt like we were being watched inside what should have been a safe and private space.”
Donna said the couple were terrified and contacted Airbnb straight away on August 4. She said: “We were both shaking when we realised, and reached out to Airbnb. They told us to leave immediately which made us even more worried.
“It was about 8 o’clock at night by that point so it was too late for us to move and we couldn’t find another place close by. Raymond took the camera off the wall and turned it around but it was horrifying. We managed to book another place a couple of hours away, which was nice but meant that we couldn’t finish the sightseeing.
“It’s a shame because we will never go back to Madrid now because of this.”
The couple left the Airbnb on August 5, 2026 just two days after they arrived for the anniversary trip. In 2024, Airbnb introduced a worldwide ban on the use of security cameras inside rental properties following a consultation with guests, hosts and privacy experts.
The rules allow the use of doorbell cameras and noise monitors in common areas, but these have to be disclosed on the property’s listing page. Airbnb have taken the listing off of the website and Donna and Raymond have received a full refund for the trip and the rebooking.
An Airbnb spokesperson said: “We have issued a full refund to the guest and have suspended the listing while we conduct a further investigation into this matter. In 2024, we banned all indoor security cameras in listings regardless of where they are placed, or whether they are deactivated during guest stays. In the rare event of a violation of our policy on security cameras we take appropriate action, which can include removing listings and users from Airbnb.
“Stays reserved through Airbnb are overwhelmingly defined by positive experiences, and we take any reports of issues made to us seriously.”
WHEN booking a holiday there are three specific factors you must consider that can completely change the cost.
Get one of them wrong and you could pay hundreds more for an almost-identical week away… however if you get all three RIGHT you’ve found what I like to call the holiday “magic equation”.
You could save hundreds, depending on what day you flyCredit: On The Beach
The three key ‘ingredients’ to getting the best deal are where you go, when you fly and how long you stay.
I’ve been digging through thousands of On the Beach holidays to find the best-value combination of departure date, destination and duration for every remaining holiday window before November.
I didn’t just pick whichever holiday had the lowest price, though.
My analysis also compared each option against similar holidays, prices from last year, hotel ratings, customer reviews and the number of hotels still available – and what I’ve been left with is four very specific recommendations.
There’s one for families escaping before the end of the school holidays, two for couples and families with toddlers who can travel outside term time, and one for the October half-term scramble.
So here are the four magic holiday combinations I’ve uncovered – plus a deal you can book right now for each one.
Mahdia is lesser known, but has both the history and the holiday resortsCredit: On The Beach
Fly to Tunisia on… August 20
If you’re still hoping to get away with school-age children this summer, August 20 is the date I’d be circling, especially for trips to Tunisia.
The best-value August combination in our analysis was a seven-night all-inclusive holiday to Mahdia, departing on August 20 and returning on August 27.
The average price was just £698 per person – 22.6% cheaper than similar holidays and 9.2% less than people paid last year.
That’s particularly impressive because it gets you back before the end of August too, so no breaking the school holiday rules.
It’s a historic coastal town with a beautiful old medina and long stretches of pale sandy beach.
The sea here is often wonderfully clear and shallow, while hotels tend to be large, all-inclusive and built around keeping children occupied.
In other words: much of what families book Turkey for, but frequently at a lower price.
I found a particularly good deal at the four-star Mahdia Beach & Aqua Park from £623pp (and it’s all-inclusive).
It’s a huge beachfront resort with several pools, waterslides, and children’s activities, as well as a high Tripadvisor score – more than 1,900 gave it 4.2 out of five.
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Sharm el Sheikh has some great bargains for couples and families who can travel off seasonCredit: On The Beach
Fly to Egypt on… September 23
September is where holiday prices start to calm down from the summer surge.
For couples and parents with children below school age, the best-value combination was a seven-night all-inclusive holiday to Nabq Bay in Sharm El Sheikh, departing on September 23.
The average holiday cost £709 per person, which was 12.3% below the price of a comparable break.
More importantly, it was a massive 22.2% cheaper than last year – the biggest year-on-year drop of any winning combination in the data.
Nabq Bay is one of my favourite recommendations for anybody wanting a proper fly-and-flop holiday in September.
Temperatures are normally still well above 30C, so the weather stays beautifully warm and the resort is full of enormous all-inclusive hotels with private beaches, waterparks and enough swimming pools to require a map.
Most of the holiday happens inside the resort, so you’re not repeatedly folding a buggy into taxis or attempting a cultural walking tour at precisely the moment somebody decides they need a nap.
My deal is at the Parrotel Aqua Park Resort is all-inclusive for £450pp when flying on September 23.
As the name rather usefully suggests, the main attraction is its enormous waterpark, but there are also several pools, restaurants, children’s facilities and a private beach area.
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The three-star Supreme Hotel in Turkey is our biggest bargain on the listCredit: On The Beach
Fly to Turkey on… October 13
October delivered the strongest overall value score from all the data I sifted through, especially when flying to Turkey.
The winning combination, by far, was a seven-night all-inclusive holiday to Marmaris, flying on October 13 and returning on October 20.
This is just before the half term holidays so is suited for couples or families with little kids not yet in school.
The average price was just £537 per person – that’s 21.4% cheaper than similar holidays and 11.6% below last year’s price.
Marmaris works brilliantly in October because you get the best bits without quite so much of the summer chaos.
The resort wraps around a huge bay backed by pine-covered mountains, with a long waterfront, beaches, boat trips and a seemingly endless supply of restaurants.
Daytime temperatures are typically still warm enough for the pool and beach, although evenings are cooler and there’s a greater chance of rain than during summer.
It’s also a great month for exploring. You can walk the marina without melting, take a boat along the coast or visit Marmaris Old Town without needing to stop for emergency air conditioning every ten minutes.
The deal I found is at the three-star Supreme Hotel, a simple but well-reviewed base with a pool, restaurant and a useful location for reaching the centre of Marmaris.
The best deal I found was an all-inclusive week at the Supreme Hotel from £235pp when flying October 13. At £33.57 per person, per night – including your flights, hotel, food and drinks – that’s my standout bargain of the lot.
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Try Kos with the kids for a bargain in the October half term holidaysCredit: On The Beach
Fly to Greece on… October 25
If you’ve got kids, you’ll know that October half-term is always difficult.
Once every family in Britain needs roughly the same handful of departure dates, the chances of finding a bargain tend to disappear faster than the good flight times.
But the data did uncover one combination that stood above the rest: seven nights all-inclusive in Kardamena, Kos, departing on October 25.
The average price for a deal here was £740 per person – 13.4% cheaper than comparable half-term holidays and 13.2% below last year.
Kardamena is one of the livelier resorts on the Greek island during summer, but by late October it becomes considerably calmer.
You still have its long beach, waterfront and marina, while Kos Airport is only around a 15-minute drive away.
That short transfer here is a serious half-term advantage too – nobody wants to follow a four-hour flight with a two-hour coach tour of every other family’s hotel.
The weather is the slight gamble, as late October brings warm sunny days, but you might see some businesses closing for the season.
So, this is one where I’d choose a hotel with plenty happening on site.
Lucky for you, the deal I found does exactly that, which is an all-inclusive seven-night stay at Canvas by Mitsis Family Village, for £558pp when travelling on October 25.
It’s built on a hillside overlooking the coast, with pools, waterslides, family entertainment and access to a beach below, and it scores a very impressive 4.4 out of five from almost 2,500 Tripadvisor reviews.
That’s £181.60pp below the average price uncovered by the half-term analysis, and proof that the school-holiday premium can still be beaten if you get the date, duration and destination exactly right.
On paper, Lauren Meyering’s debut feature “Horsegirls” sounds like it was made in a 2000s indie movie lab: It features a quirky heroine with a unique hobby, a loved one with a devastating illness and the formation of an unlikely community that rallies around our protagonist and her dream. But surprise — the events of “Horsegirls” are inspired by a true story, one close to Meyering, who based the film on her family friends Mackenzie and Sandra Breeden. Sometimes real life can be the realest indie movie of all.
“Horsegirls” might read on paper as too sickly sweet, but Meyering’s thoughtful direction and star Lillian Carrier’s performance keep it from tipping too far in that direction. Carrier stars as Margarita, a young woman with autism who lives with her cancer-stricken mother, Sandy (Gretchen Mol). The pair are inseparable, with Margarita accompanying her mother to chemotherapy treatments and their own special celebration rituals involving karaoke and sharing combo platters.
Sandy desperately wants Margarita to get a job but her first steps toward independence come when she spies a hobby horse rehearsal and becomes fixated on joining. If you’re unfamiliar with hobby horsing, it’s a sport originating from Finland that’s growing in popularity. It involves a choreographed routine involving elements of gymnastics and traditional dressage performed while using a “hobby horse” — a stuffed horse head on a stick.
For Margarita, who loves horses but isn’t allowed to interact with them due to her mother’s safety fears, it seems the perfect solution, and she persists despite the clique-ish mean girl behavior from some of the younger participants. The coach (Jerod Haynes) sees her determination and encourages her participation, so she gets a job at a Halloween store to pay for it but keeps it a secret from Sandy. As it turns out, both mother and daughter are keeping secrets from each other.
While the plot unfolds in a fairly predictable manner, it’s the character of Margarita who keeps us on our toes. Carrier, who also has autism, brings an inherent authenticity to the role as well as a sense of good humor that draws people to Margarita, a character who always says what’s on her mind, whether or not it’s polite or appropriate. But her refreshing honesty is what people respond to, and both she and Sandy know she’s going to need people in the not-so-distant future.
Meyering carefully threads the themes of parental concern and young adult independence throughout her screenplay. The anxieties are universal — any parent wants to feel assured that their child is going to be OK when they’re gone; any child wants to prove that they’re capable and free to do what they want. Characters like Margarita’s store manager Hank (Iqbal Theba) prove that strangers can “get” Margarita just as she is, without her mother’s interference or interpretation, even if it takes some time for Sandy to understand that.
Meyering and cinematographer Natalie Kingston create a naturalistic and often dark look, though “Horsegirls” is beautifully shot. The distinctive photography sets it apart cinematically from other films in this genre — just like Margarita herself, who visually stands out from the other girls.
This is a simple story executed with singular panache, and while “Horsegirls” follows expected narrative beats, it’s in the moments of surprise that it works best, often thanks to Carrier and her straightforward line deliveries, which help the tone pop. The film is a reminder that conformity is never compulsory, and that putting yourself out there is the only way to find out who’s ready to catch you.
Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.
Guests on Channel 4 programme Four in a Bed were horrified by what they found.
The guests were less than impressed (Image: Channel 4)
Welsh Four in a Bed contestants have voiced their frustration after receiving less than the full amount on the Channel 4 show after their guests were left horrified.
The married pair had hoped to offer their guests a taste of vintage Americana at their distinctive property, but faced criticism over cleanliness concerns.
Shortly after settling in for the night, Newquay hotel owners Oleg and Emma, Devon glampsite owners Mandy and Elly, and Devon country pub owners Steve and Mandy raised their objections.
They uncovered what appeared to be mould in the fridge, “minging” dirt, dead flies behind the sink, and even “dog hair in the fridge”. Guests also found dust and water along the windowsills, while the toilets had been left uncleaned, reports Wales Online.
Consequently, Stuart and Amy received poor scores for the cleanliness of Tin Can Retreat, prompting him to remark: “Dagger to the heart, that is.”
On payment day, Stuart and Amy faced their critics, and discovered they had been underpaid by all three other teams.
They first heard from Mandy and Elly, who complained about a smell from the diesel heater, leaving them “complaining of a headache and feeling nauseous”.
Stuart insisted the accommodation had been fitted with a carbon monoxide detector, defending: “I just have to disagree with you… I’m not wrong.”
They then heard from Steve and Mandy, after receiving a “massively disappointing” score of four for cleanliness from them.
“We did find a lot of uncleanliness, we opened up the fridge and there was lots of mould in the seal, and the window sills had a lot of dirt and mould in them,” Mandy explained. “In our bedroom, there was water, the whole place felt quite grubby.”
Emma stepped in to add: “Mandy said grubby but to me it was a little bit beyond that, it was not of a standard that I would be comfortable to ever charge people.”
She went on: “I lifted the lid on the toilet seat and there was lots of crusty residue, it’s not something that’s just been missed. There was actual dirt in lots and lots of places.”
Mother-daughter duo Mandy and Elly added: “For us unfortunately, much the same. There was quite a lot of dog hair left around, our fridge was mouldy in the seals and the side.”
Stuart replied: “That’s obviously very difficult for us to hear and we are quite shocked by it. We’re not a new business, we’ve been operating for over two years and this is new news coming to light. We need to go back and work out where it’s going wrong. We needed that reality check on the cleanliness.”
He later added to the camera: “This afternoon for us was hard to take but we’re going to go away now, collate all those comments and we’ll absolutely be implementing fixes for everything that was found.”
The couple discovered they had been underpaid a total of £74 by the three teams, due to the issues raised on payment day.
And though they accepted all three payments, they admitted the money they received from Steve and Mandy was “harsh”.
“We thought the £50 underpayment from Mandy and Steve was harsh,” Stuart admitted. “We offer great value for money, although there were some cleanliness issues, I don’t think they found anything major.”
Mandy meanwhile admitted she knew the result would come as a “shock” but insisted it was “justified”.
After the feedback, and a result which saw Stuart and Amy’s Tin Can Retreat come in last place, Stuart shared: “We’re gutted we came in fourth position, I think we knew it was coming.
“We’ve obviously got some issues we need to immediately address which we will do, and then let’s see what the future holds, maybe some more sites.”
Joe Swash says discovering family history has made him complete after taking part in Who Do You think You Are? for the BBC
Joe finds out his family on his father’s side moved over from Italy at the start of the 20th century.(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC / Wall to Wall Media Ltd / Stephen Perry)
Joe Swash says he feels “galvanised” after learning about the Italian roots of his family. The actor and husband of Stacey Solomon appears on Who Do You Think You Are? hoping to learn more about his family tree.
Former EastEnders star Joe, 44, tells the programme he lost his own dad Ricky when he was aged 39 and Joe was just 12 which had a big impact on his upbringing.
He explained: “My house was full of life and life. And then, when my dad died, for a long time, it was a house full of sadness and grief. So, you know, a lot of the time it was just trying to get through that period. Growing up in London, I was quite vulnerable, not having a father figure, and I had dyslexia and ADHD that wasn’t diagnosed, so I do struggle when I read something, and a lot of the time I was misunderstood as being quite naughty and mischievous.”
Joe says thanks to some “strong women” in his life he stayed on track, and that he feels like he has got some “Italian traits” including wearing his heart on his sleeve. His mum Kiffy tells him that on his father’s side his great grandmother’s part of the family tree were Italian.
At this stage Joe doesn’t know anything beyond his grandad Charlie but his parents were Joe’s great grandad also called Charlie Swash and Maria Raimo. A 1921 marriage certificate shows Maria living at home in Lox Gardens in London with her parents, Giuseppe, Italian for Joseph, and Rosa, Joe’s great great grandparents.
Joe’s great great grandfather Guiseppe Raimo moved from Italy to London and worked his way up from a street performer in poor living conditions to a job crafting Street pianos. He also spoke alongside Sylvia Pankhurst in 1923 at a Communist Workers’ Movement meeting in London. A letter in his name was published in weekly newspaper The Worker’s Dreadnought, condemning the brutality of the fascist regime.
Historian Alfio Bernabei said: “Giuseppe wasn’t simply attending the meeting, he was actually speaking alongside Sylvia Pankhurst. He could see what was going on, he was following events in Italy, and everything was leading towards a catastrophe. Giuseppe would have run terrible risks had he been in Italy, and he was running terrible risks in London.”
Hearing this detail, Joe said: “It really does fill me with a great, great deal of pride to think that he was struggling through life anyway, being Italian, living where they were living, but he still was concerned about what was happening in the world and fascism, so he must have been a man with great moral compass, someone that really stood by what he thought.
“I had so much pride when I found out about him. The journey he went on, the morals and the things he stood up for, the people he rubbed shoulders with, and the way he got out and worked through poverty to make himself and make his family’s life better, just shows real tenacity. Learning about his speech was emotional, it was a total surprise. I think in that moment I felt really close to my relatives, to Giuseppe. It was such a lovely thing to find out.”
Joe also goes to Naples and traces his ancestors back to his five times great grandfather Donato who was born in 1762 and was living in the now largely abandoned but picturesque mountainous town of Senerchia. The family were peasant farmers but did have a brush with crime after being wrongly linked to the Italian brigands in 1867 during the Italian rebellion.
Back in the present day Joe also finds a ‘Raimo bar’ nearby to Senerchia, and is delighted the family name lives on in Italy. Reflecting on everything, Joe said: “For a lot of my life, I’ve never really known who I am, what I am, where my roots are. I don’t know if that’s due to losing my dad at a young age, but being on his journey, it really has sort of like galvanised who I am, where I’m from, the people that made me, how strong they are, they never give up. Hopefully a bit of that tenacity has come down the line to me.”
He added: “I think what I’ll carry with me from this experience is just the importance of where you come from and knowing who you are. As well as the things that I found out about my relatives, especially about Giuseppe. Traits and things from them that I hope I have as well, or that I’d like to introduce into my life, you know. It just made me feel a lot more attached to my heritage, which I’ve never really felt attached to. I very much knew nothing about it before, but after this journey, I feel like I’m part of something.”
* Who Do You Think You Are? With Joe Swash airs on BBC1 at 9pm on Tuesday June 9. The series is available to stream on BBCiPlayer.
