Anyone who’s stayed at an Airbnb has probably questioned some of their hosts’ interior design choices, but most would probably be willing to replace the artwork on the walls.
But that’s what happened to welcome Amy Corbett to the apartment attached to her historic home in Lynchburg, Va., which she has been renting out to guests since 2018. Corbett only noticed the change one day when she took a Zoom call in space. In the background behind her, where a black-and-white map of the world normally hung above the sofa, there was instead a tightly cropped image of an airplane propeller.
Corbett, who manages 30 properties through his short-term rental business, All belong to Co, searched the apartment, but could not find his artwork. Nothing else was missing.
“I was scared and very confused!” Corbett told Artnet News in an Instagram post.
A guest at Airbnb host Amy Corbett’s apartment in Lynchburg, Va., replaced the map illustration above the sofa with an image of a propeller. Photo by Ashlee Glen for All Belong Co, Airbnb.
Examination of CCTV footage showed one of his guests bringing the propeller artwork into the house and then leaving with what appeared to be the card covered in a blanket as he left the house. property.
Mystified, Corbett took to TikTok to try to solve the riddle, telling her 60 followers that “the weirdest thing just happened”. To his surprise, the video went viral, with 7.4 million views so far.
The offbeat chain of events sparked many theories as to why the guest, dubbed the Airbnb Bandit, offered his unsolicited interior design services. (And yes, some reviewers thought the propeller piece was an upgrade.)
@allbelongco In response to @exploration_of_love Let’s debunk some theories while we wait to hear from Airbnb… #airbnb #airbnbguest #fyp ♬ original sound – allbelong.co
No, the guest was not an artist leaving behind his original works wherever he stayed. Corbett checked in with places he had stayed before, and there were no incidents with the decor, although he did damage a few items at one property and threatened to call the cops when told asked to pay. And the illustration of the propeller? It was a mass-produced piece, printed on canvas and widely available online for around $100.
The wall behind the room was also undamaged, and the guest left no hidden cameras inside the new canvas.
The guest never answered Corbett’s questions about why he traded the art, and the only clue to the guest’s motives that she found was that he runs a start-up for the aircraft parts. (Corbett did not reveal the identity of the guest.)
@allbelongco What’s hiding behind the wall? #allbelongco #fyp #airbnbthief #airbnb #river #paintings #jamesriver #lynchburgva ♬ original sound – allbelong.co
“Maybe painting was like leaving your business card,” she said on ICT Tac.
Airbnb agreed to cover the $100 cost of the missing card (the guest only paid $25 of the claim Corbett filed against him) and banned the guest from the home rental platform.
And as for the unwanted new artwork, the story has a happy ending. Corbett raffled off the propeller photo, raising nearly $1,500 for peak housesa local non-profit organization dedicated to finding housing for low-income and disabled people.
Rather than buy another generic piece to hang on the wall from Home Goods, Corbett then commissioned a local artist, Jennifer Lee Mancier, to create a custom piece for the wall. The new painting captures the view from the apartment of the waterfall over the James River.
“It’s such a cool upgrade to support a local artist instead of just a big box store,” Corbett told the Washington Post.
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