A lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University was left “unable to sleep” after being racially abused by her Airbnb guest.
Baoxiu Qi was profiled after a guest in her flat complained about the temperature of the property.
Airbnb initially refused to ban the guest, despite her “relentless complaints”, and instead recommended Baoxiu “post a professional public response to address the feedback.”
The platform has since confirmed that the guest was suspended before being permanently banned from the platform, with a spokesperson adding “discrimination has no place on Airbnb.”
Baoxiu hosted 49-year-old Simone Kyriakopoulou in her Bath accommodation for 20 days during December 2025, whilst she ran her Greek food van at the Bath Christmas Market.
Upon checking out of the property after her two week stay, Simone claimed the flat contained asbestos in the walls, leading to her experiencing respiratory problems. The Daily Mail reported that Ms Qi quickly refuted this, as “the Georgian Grade I listed property was built more than a century before the material was used in homes.”
Ms Kyriakopoulou’s reviews did not stop here. She then left a tirade of racist and abusive reviews, even messaging Ms Qi directly. One message read: “As much as you want to be European in Bath, you are a dictator from China.” In another, Simone wrote: “You deserve yourself. You carry who you are and where you come from. Ok Chinese lady.”
Ms Qi received numerous messages from Simone throughout her stay, and she complained about the temperature during her winter stay. The 49-year-old also left multiple negative reviews.
Baoxiu Qi, via LinkedIn
Another racist message from Simone read: “Baoxiu you are Chinese you are Asian. Your face, your body language, your background and the way you behave, everything is Chinese. I understand you had a bad background and a bad life and you need to get it out to people. You know Bath is a Roman city and you pride yourself on being in Bath for 20 years. You are Chinese from Asia. Your passport won’t buy you a new culture. England is [in] Europe and Christian.”
Baoxiu said: “My whole body went cold and I was shaking. The next day I checked again and I saw another racist and abusive message. It’s made me look at the world differently.”
After struggling with her sleep and mental health following the incident, she added: “This has changed the way I interact with others. It’s made me question if I really belong here. It really makes me feel like I just want to hide in some corner.”
Ms Qi was advised to ‘post a professional public response to address the feedback’
Upon reporting this issue to Airbnb, Baoxiu was initially told that they would not ban Ms Kyriakopoulou. A response from the company read: “After a thorough investigation, we have determined that the review must remain on your profile.
“Our review team found that the content of the review is relevant, as it directly described the guest’s firsthand experience during their stay.
“We appreciate that this may not be what you’d hoped for, but won’t be able to offer additional support on this case at this time. Generally we only remove reviews if they include prohibited speech, such as private information or hate speech – or if they are used as means of extortion.”
‘I was so stressed around Christmas time – it ruined the period’
Believing that Ms Kyriakopoulou’s reviews contained hate speech and did not adhere to Airbnb’s guidelines, Baoxiu escalated this issue. The lecturer was made to speak to multiple representatives to fully report this abuse, with the entire process taking weeks and having to make “relentless complaints”.
She recounted how she “spoke to countless people” and “called twice a day.”
After The Daily Mail directly enquired with Airbnb, Ms Kyriakopoulou was eventually removed from the platform. All of her comments were also deleted.
Baoxiu reported damage to her business following the dispute, having not received a booking since Ms Kyriakopoulou’s first review.
While she previously received around £4,000 per month as her flat was booked every weekend, she lost this income for the entire process. Baoxiu said: “The comments have now been deleted but the damage has been done and people have seen them.”
She also expressed frustration with the complaint process, explaining: “I am disgusted and disheartened by the guest but Airbnb as well because how they’ve dealt with such a clear-cut attack on me.
“It’s such obvious racism and I kept being referred to another person and another person. That drove me crazy. I was really shocked because I called them straight away and this is such a clear case. I thought anybody who saw that message would say, ‘Oh my God, we’re going to remove that immediately.’ But that wasn’t the case.”
Airbnb responded to these claims, where a spokesperson confirms that Ms Kyriakopoulou was suspended following the report: “Discrimination has no place on Airbnb, and we take reports seriously. As soon as we received this report, we suspended the guest and reached out to our host to provide support as we investigated. Following that investigation, we have removed the guest from the platform.”
They also commented that they blocked Ms Kyriakopoulou from making reservations while the complaints were investigated.
‘I would prefer it if she had punched me’
Baoxiu explained the impacts of the incident, explaining how she would have preferred to be physically attacked than be subjected to racial abuse, adding that “The financial loss is one thing but it’s more the mental stress.”
After living in Bath for 30 years and hosting on Airbnb for 11, Ms Qi now fears that she “doesn’t belong in the country anymore”.
She commented: “I’ve lived in Bath since I was 26 but it has made me look at people differently. It’s made me think, ‘Is this how people think of me?’”
While Ms Qi can host bookings again, she expressed difficulty at moving on from the event, explaining how “it still feels really hurtful”. Airbnb has not commented on the issue after its initial statement, where it confirmed Ms Kyriapopoulous was removed from the platform.
Featured image via Google Maps and LinkedIn
