Tourism | The tourists' “party club” in Helsinki's Sörnäis caused so much disturbance that the residents started a rebellion

Dirty ones bed linen, garbage bags and suitcases in the stairwell.

Opening doors and answering strangers' questions. Frequent all-night parties.

Among other things, Airbnb apartments are such a disadvantage for people living in apartment buildings, according to HS's survey. There were dozens of responses to the survey.

Helsinki Lives in Sörnäini Marja Nykänen is one of those who have had to suffer from the mild effects of short-term accommodation. His apartment next door used to be used by Airbnb. Now the action has already ended.

At that time, there were sometimes ever-changing tenants hanging out in the stairwell, Nykänen recalls on the phone. Sometimes they drank alcohol there.

Some didn't know how to use the keyless lock or the system didn't work, which is why the guests couldn't get inside the apartment they booked.

“Sometimes these people even blocked access to my own apartment,” Nykänen says.

“And we didn't know how to advise them either, when we didn't know anything about this system.”

Cleaning cartsaccording to Nykänen, piles of bedclothes, garbage and empty bottles clog the narrow stairwell every week.

Often, the residents of the house also had to answer the questions of those staying in Airbnb apartments, sometimes several times a week.

“They had not been given proper instructions. I don't know if they even had access to the garbage shed when the apartments had keyless locks.”

However, the parties that caused the most irritation were those that continued into the wee hours of the morning, especially during summer festival weekends.

“It was a party room.”

Of the worst the problems have been gradually resolved. The permanent residents of the house organized themselves and began to rebel. They discussed the issue in the housing company's Facebook group and gave direct feedback to the owners of the restored apartments.

According to Nykänen, hosts react to the remarks in varying ways. There are several apartment investors in the house.

“For example, in this apartment next to ours, they took the feedback well, and there is now a permanent tenant,” says Nykänen.

“But not all investors see these problems.”

In Vuosaari the resident of the apartment building says that he felt that he was a customer service person who could constantly be there to advise guests anytime, anywhere.

According to him, the overnight guests asked, among other things, where the garbage is taken, what is the code for the front door and which direction is the metro station. In addition, he had to show the laundry room to the guests.

The resident complained that there were completely unknown people moving in the stairwell and he no longer knew who was a resident and who was a random guest.

A neighbor who rents his apartment short-term had even installed a camera on his door.

“It's nice for everyone going to the elevator and the residents of the same floor to possibly be captured by the camera.”

The reader does not want to appear in the article with his name because of the neighbor's house, when the camera has since been removed and the rental room is no longer there. His name and contact information are known to the delivery.

One in the respondent's opinion, Airbnb operations weaken the residents' sense of community and the comfort of the house, when the guests are constantly changing.

The answers also estimate that because of this, actual rental apartments will leave the market, which can increase rents.

Based on the responses to the survey, Airbnb operations in some housing companies also seem to be connected to vandalism and theft, when keys have been left hanging in structures and door codes have been distributed widely.