A family who paid £3,400 for a holiday rental in Morocco claims the host threatened to deny them access unless they canceled their booking. Sara Bauer, an eclipse enthusiast from Montana, booked the seafront property in Marwan for the first week of August 2027 to watch what has been described as 'the eclipse of the century'.
But she says the host later demanded that she cancel the reservation, warning that her family would not be allowed into the property if they arrived. After agreeing to cancel, Sara claims she found the same accommodation advertised for the same week at £20,400 – six times the price she had paid.
Host's demands and cancellation
The chocolatier, who runs Chocolate Eclipse, told the Mirror: "The host of my Airbnb in Morocco is demanding that I cancel my reservation. He says he will be penalised badly if he cancels it. He said he's selling the place before next year and didn't realise at first that I had booked so far out. He says he will be penalised if he does the cancellation, but will if I refuse to cancel."
She added: "He had said I wouldn't have access even if I didn't cancel."
Worried that her family would travel to Morocco only to find themselves locked out, Sara said she "caved" and cancelled. The host told her the property was being taken off the rental market for refurbishment, but she says she subsequently spotted it listed again at the higher price.
Airbnb response and penalties
After the Mirror contacted Airbnb, the company deactivated the listing and imposed penalties on the host. An Airbnb spokesperson said: "Issues of this nature are rare, and where we determine misuse of our cancellation policy, hosts not only lose the income from the booking, but face consequences we apply, including fees of up to 50% of the booking cost, a block on rebooking their listing for the same dates, impact on search ranking and where warranted, suspension or deactivation of the account. Our initial handling of this report fell short of the standards we expect, and feedback will be provided to the agents. We have deactivated the listing, and have applied the relevant penalties in line with our policies on host cancellation. The guest has been offered rebooking support and a coupon as a gesture of goodwill, which has been positively received."
Hosts who cancel without a valid reason can face fees of up to 50% of the booking cost and calendar blocks preventing new reservations for the affected dates. Their Superhost status and listing's search ranking may also be affected.
Impact on eclipse bookings
Airbnb says cancellation rates have fallen by 30% year on year since it introduced tougher deterrents in July 2023. Demand for accommodation along the path of totality for the 2027 solar eclipse has driven up prices, with some property owners cancelling existing bookings in an attempt to secure higher rates.
