Family visiting Winnipeg from France for Police & Fire Games warns other travellers after rental home issues

A family from France is warning other travellers, after they say they were unhappy with a Winnipeg Airbnb listing that turned out to be far from what they expected.

Police officer Sébastien Viola said he was excited to bring his family to Winnipeg to watch him compete in karate in the 2023 World Police & Fire Games, which begin Friday in the city.

They rented a Winnipeg home for the equivalent of $1,500 Cdn for six nights — but what they ended up getting was a far cry from what they expected based on the photos provided on the vacation rental site, which showed only interior shots of a bright, clean, well-kept house, said Viola, who is from the French city of Lyon.

When they arrived at the home in Winnipeg's William Whyte neighbourhood, they were surprised to see the conditions outside the house, including garbage in the yard and garden, and people in the nearby area who weren't wearing clothes, said Viola.

"Our sensation is that we are not safe in this area," he said, adding that when he tried to use the code he was given by the host to get into the house, it didn't work.

He said his family then had to leave the area to find somewhere with Wi-Fi so they could contact the host to get another code.

When they returned to the house, Viola said he decided it wasn't what he had in mind — and he didn't feel it was a safe place for his wife and their kids, ages seven and 10.

"It's not good for a family. We can't stay there," he said, adding the expense was a large one for his family.

Viola said his family reached out to Airbnb for help, but went more than 16 hours waiting for a response with nowhere to stay.

That's when he said Rob Duttchen, a staff sergeant with the Winnipeg Police Service who has been seconded to work as the operations manager with the World Police & Fire Games, stepped in to try to help.

Duttchen said when he saw the distraught family at the RBC Convention Centre and learned what had happened, he knew he wanted to do something.

"We are all ambassadors for the city of Winnipeg while these games are on. And to have a family come and have a negative experience was something that I was just not prepared to accept," he said.

While Duttchen put the family up in a hotel room for the night, he said by Friday afternoon the organizers of the event and the Fairmont Winnipeg hotel had stepped up to house the family for their entire trip.

As for Viola's family, he said they still haven't heard back from their Airbnb host — and looking back, he said he missed some red flags in the original listing, including the lack of outdoor photos and the fact that all the curtains were closed in the photos of the home's interior.

A spokesperson for Airbnb said in an email the company issued a full refund for Viola's family, given the issues they had checking in. The company said it's also still in contact with the family to help with rebooking.

The spokesperson also said concerns about neighbourhoods aren't covered under the company's policy, "as these factors are out of the host's control," adding that Airbnb strongly encourages guests to do their research about the area they're travelling to before booking.