The house was clean and offered a rental location; however, there was a major issue. Full disclosure: Local friends, who acted as our München tour guides and helped us navigate the ins and outs of both München and Oktoberfest , stayed the night with us one evening during our 3 night stay so they wouldn’t have to drive an hour to their house at midnight. The overnight stay wasn’t planned but made sense. They slept on the couch, and we were charged extra for violating the property owner’s contract. Quite frankly, I would pay the extra charge again to guarantee their safety. The purpose of the review is not meant to complain about an extra charge. They stayed; we paid. Rather, the review is to act as a warning regarding the lack of disclosure regarding recording devices.

According to Airbnb policy, recording devices in or around a property must be listed. In our case, the owner notified us that our infraction was discovered via a camera on the property. Problematically, the property owner did not disclose the use of any recording device in the contract when we booked the property in June of 2022. To be clear, our friends merely slept at the property overnight so they wouldn’t have to drive home. There were no noise complaints, parties, or any other type of violations that would disturb neighbors or cause property damage.

According to Airbnb policy:
• You must indicate the presence of all security cameras or other recording devices in or around a listing, even if they're not turned on or hooked up
• Undisclosed security cameras or other recording devices are never permitted
• You must also always disclose if an active recording is taking place
Nowhere in the current contract does the property owner notify guests that a recording device had been installed on the property. Only when the property owner notified me that she would report us to Airbnb for having additional guests stay overnight for one evening was I made aware of a recording device. Clearly, this violates Airbnb policy and is a questionable practice in terms of guaranteeing some semblance of guest privacy. Hopefully, the agreement contract will be updated so that future guests will be aware that the owner is watching them as they come and go from the property.