Updated 01.09 | Published 00.51
Alexandra Nyreröd, 26, and her husband went to the Philippines to begin their six-month honeymoon.
They booked a room on the Booking site, but the hotel turned out to be a brothel.
– We were very confused but also super tired because we had just traveled for 20 hours, says Alexandra.
Alexandra and her husband Julian, 33, are on a six-month honeymoon that began in the Philippines three weeks ago.
In early December, they arrived in the city of Cebu in the Philippines and quickly needed a hotel near the airport to spend the night. The plan was to stay overnight and then fly on the next day.
No booking found
The hotel looked okay on the website. As a backpacker, you don’t ask for much. Alexandra and her husband are happy as long as they get a bed and private bathroom. With a 5.2 rating at the time, perfectly okay reviews and pictures of a nice reception and exterior, it was a good deal.
– We took a taxi from the airport there. It was in the middle of nowhere, very difficult to get there with dark and strange little roads, says Alexandra.
A guard opens a large gate and when they arrive in the taxi to the hotel they are greeted by a large neon sign with hourly rates for beds. Two young girls meet them. Although Alexandra shows the booking confirmation from Booking, it turns out that there is no booking.
– We were very confused but also super tired because we had just traveled for 20 hours.
“Blood stains on the sheets: 400 pesos extra”
While the couple waits for the booking dispute to be resolved, they see older men entering rooms with young Filipina girls. Red lights light up above the doors.
– Then we see a man in his 60s coming out with a woman in her 20s. We see how he gives her money and then disappears, she says.
– A little later, a new man appears and the woman lets him into her room.
Alexandra sees a sign on the wall.
– Stains on the sheets: 200 pesos extra. Blood stains on the sheets: 400 pesos extra, she says.
“Unreal”
The couple sit in the lobby for about half an hour, watching young Filipina girls receive older men in rooms and red lights going on and off.
– It was unreal and unpleasant. You know it happens, but it felt scary to come so close to it, says Alexandra.
When one of the girls who previously met them in the entrance comes back, they have a room for Alexandra and her husband.
– We thought we would only sleep there for four hours, so we’ll check anyway, she says.
They walk through a corridor and up a flight of stairs. Past more red glowing lights over doors. The next room’s light is on.
When they enter the room, all there is in their room is a bed, wet wipes on a small table, and a toilet that is a hole in the ground.
– Then we called a taxi. It was just too much, she says.
“Our department doesn’t handle that kind of thing”
Shocked and upset by the incident, Alexandra contacts Booking to tell her about what happened. The couple want money back for the taxi, but above all want to know if the website will remove the brothel from its page.
After several days, an answer will come.
“Hello Alexandra, we have been in contact with the hotel, which will not offer any compensation in this case. Regarding the question of whether booking should remove the accommodation from our platform, I cannot answer because our department does not deal with such matters.”
“Sick”
But Alexandra does not give up. She sends a message to customer service again. Finally, she is asked to leave a review.
“You can leave a review. It helps both the accommodation to improve and future guests to make the right decision.”
Alexandra leaves a review that is quickly picked up on the website.
– It’s completely insane. Booking is aware that they have brothels and bookable rooms for prostitution on their website. But they don’t do anything about it, she says.
Aftonbladet has asked booking.com for a comment.