Hundreds defrauded booking ghost hotel in Madrid's Retiro district
A property portal offered non-existent accommodation in central Madrid. Dozens of travellers arrived with confirmed reservations and found an empty building.
Hotel fraud in Madrid
In Madrid's Retiro district, hundreds of people have been defrauded after booking a non-existent hotel through Booking, according to lasexta.com. Travellers arrived at the advertised address with luggage and confirmed reservations, only to find a sign warning of the scam.
"We realised it was all a lie," explained Nicolás, who had paid 180 euros per night for the accommodation. Other users discovered the scam when they saw television cameras at the location. "I came to confirm and drop off my luggage and I've just found you at the door doing a report saying there's no hotel here," recounted Alonso, another of those affected.
The listing offered 53 square metres, large beds, equipped kitchen, breakfast, parking and spa. Negative reviews began alerting people to the deception days before. "They deceived us and we had to sleep in the car. Nobody showed up," one comment on the platform complained.
Residents of the building, located in central Madrid, estimated that there could be hundreds of victims in total. At the time the television report was broadcast, the listing remained active on Booking. Some users who did manage to stay confirmed that what they found bore little resemblance to what was advertised.
After contacting Booking to present the case, the platform opted to end communication without providing a response. Minutes after the report was broadcast, the listing had been removed from the platform.
Source: Google News ES — Crime (es)