An Airbnb home was trashed when a gender reveal booking turned into a 200-people drunken rampage.
Police in riot vans were dispatched to a £635,000, 10-bedroom home in the tranquil village of Norden, Greater Manchester, after party-goers arrived from as far away as London.
More than 150 people had filled the street and parked over locals’ driveways with ‘minibus after minibus’ arriving every 15 minutes.
Matt Genesis, 33, said he was duped after agreeing to rent his home out to a group of eight people who booked it via Instagram for a gender reveal.
The property owner had been informed of the commotion by distressed neighbors, but when he attempted to access the security cameras outside the rental property, he discovered they were disconnected at the £450 per night accommodation.
The disaster caused £2,000 worth of damage, with furniture broken and lamps seen smashed on the floor.
The incident has been compared to the 2012 teen film Project X, a movie inspired by real-life occurrences where a house party attracts hundreds of unexpected attendees after being publicized on social media.
The property, which previously underwent a £200,000 renovation and includes a hot tub and pool tables, took three staff 12 hours to clean following the party.
A holiday home was trashed when a gender reveal booking turned into a 200-people drunken rampage
Police in riot vans were called to a 10-bed £635,000 home in quiet village of Norden, Greater Manchester, after revellers from as far as London turned up
More than 150 people had filled the street and park over locals driveways with ‘minibus after minibus’ arriving every 15 minutes
Mr Genesis revealed he was first was alerted by noise complaints from neighbours on Wednesday, June 25.
After arriving to the home at 9.30pm, he was shocked to find 150 people filling the streets and trying to get in to the 10-person home.
Mr Genesis, who is a director of Fairway Building & Remedial Contractors, the company which owns the property, said: ‘Whilst we were there, minibus after minibus was turning up – I’d say one every 15 minutes, a minibus full of six to eight people walking in.
‘It was out of control – police turned up. We called them, obviously neighbours had called them. It was out of our control.
‘Even the guy who booked it, it was out of his control on his behalf – he said he didn’t expect anywhere near the amount of people, but it’s been passed around group and groups.’
He said the operation had been ‘calculated’ – with guests disabling the home’s security systems.
‘Usually if guests are checking in we have cameras on the property, but as soon as they entered they turned the Wi-Fi off,’ he said.
‘That disabled the cameras, so we weren’t able to deal with it any sooner than they could. It was very much “Project X”.’
The pool table at the 10-bed home was badly damaged with holes ripped into the green baize
A lamp sits smashed on the floor at the £450-a-night rental which is owned by company director Matt Genesis
Gum was left embedded in the grey plush carpet with the disaster causing £2,000 worth of damage
Mr Genesis, 33, said he was duped after agreeing to rent his home out to a group of eight people who booked it via Instagram for a gender reveal
Pool cues were also damaged in the chaos which has been likened to 2012 teen movie Project X
The embarrassed Airbnb owners were forced to say sorry to neighbours and cancel their next booking as they worked to replace broken furniture and deep clean the damaged house.
The only money the owners received in return is the £450 per night charge, plus a £250 damage deposit – leaving them well out of pocket.
The property is regularly rented out via Airbnb but on this occasion was booked via Instagram.
Mr Genesis said: ‘It was so structured, before we emptied the house out the people who were there said “where do we go?”.
‘Guests had travelled from as far as London for it, so it was very, very calculated.
‘It hit us – we seem like the bad guys, but at the same time it did ultimately hit us as well in the pocket.’
Those living nearby were left miffed by the chaos.
James Gartside, 80, and Jane Gartside, 84, have lived next door to the home for over 50 years, and remembered when it was previously owned by an older couple who had passed away.
The couple first realised something was brewing after they were asked to allow a party-goer to park in their driveway.
Mrs Gartside said: ‘I think I knew it was going to be quite busy, you just got that feeling quite quickly.
Mr Genesis revealed he was first was alerted by noise complaints from neighbours on Wednesday, June 25
The home had been booked for a gender reveal party. The only money the owners received in return is the £450 per night charge, plus a £250 damage deposit
The property, which previously underwent a £200,000 renovation, took three staff 12 hours to clean following the party
The home includes pool tables and a hot tub. Airbnb said it had looked in to the situation and found the booking had been made through a third party, with no reservations made for the property on its platform
‘Nine o’clock one of the owners arrived and said “I’m sorry, this is what’s happening” and said the police had been sent for. They got everybody out.’
She added: ‘It was just that night was out of control, when the police came.
‘They calmed it all down – there was no fighting or anything like that.
‘We had a meeting, we went around, they invited us all around and everybody felt very upset.
‘They were very apologetic.’
Mike Law lives on the other side of the property. He said: ‘They did very well to disperse them, in my opinion. In a way it was a problem at the time, but it’s not lasted.
‘There were certainly more than 200 people, I would say, it was a nuisance – but we can be a nuisance to our next door neighbours.
‘Nuisance, OK, yeah, danger and that sort of thing didn’t come in to it, in my opinion.
‘I didn’t know how they were going to fit in there. Before the big masses came I did offer our drive to park on, but I think the owners learnt a lesson on it and will obviously improve it.’
Airbnb said it had looked in to the situation and found the booking had been made through a third party, with no reservations made for the property on its platform.
Greater Manchester Police was contacted for comment.
