Dublin family left shocked after scary Booking.com experience in Wexford

A Dublin family were left shocked after a recent Booking.com experience in Wexford…

Dublin woman, Hayley Norton, took to Facebook to share her story.

“On Saturday night, my partner, two children (aged 12 and 5), and I stayed in a holiday home in Wexford that was advertised as having the entire property to ourselves. On arrival, to collect the keycode for the lockbox, we asked the owner whether he would be at the property later. He told us he would not be there.”

“When we returned to the property later that night, we discovered the owner hiding behind a makeshift partition wall inside the house, in the dark. We immediately contacted Gardaí and, following the incident, left the property and relocated to a relative’s home for the remainder of the night. The experience was extremely frightening and has left both the adults and children deeply shaken. I’m sharing this so others can make informed decisions when booking accommodation,” Hayley said.

Two double bedrooms are in the upstairs of the property, while two single bedrooms are located in the downstairs of the property. Hayley noted that this was also a safeguarding issue, as the landllord stated that he wouldn’t be in the property.

“I have retained photographs of the listing and of the partition wall, and I have reported this to the booking company and Gardaí Booking.com were made aware of the incident Saturday night and have let another innocent family arrive today. No safeguarding within this company. The family have been made aware of the landlord secretly hiding and are also incredibly shook,” she said.

Hayley’s story has been gathered significant traction on Facebook, with over 1.2k people sharing the story on the platform. After the incident, many were intrigued about the outcome after An Garda Síochána were informed of the matter:

“No outcome which is ridiculous. Apparently no law was broke. Garda agree its very odd behaviour but thats it. Very unsettling, would never rent a holiday home again,” Hayley said.

The property is located in Riverchapel, County Wexford and the Facebook post has also been shared by some prominent Wexford County Councillors.

The property, with 12 reviews and a 7.6 rating dating back to June 2025, remains active on the booking platform.

Update:

22/07/2026

A 12-minute interview clip about the Wexford incident has been published on RTE’s LiveLine. The audio can be listened to here.

The property is no longer taking bookings. The booking platform are investigating the matter. On the platform, the listing now reads: “We’re sorry, but this property isn’t taking reservations on our site right now.”