KUALA LUMPUR: A romantic honeymoon escapade took an unsettling turn when a Chinese pair stumbled upon a hidden camera camouflaged within a power socket at their Airbnb, strategically placed within a power socket facing their bed.
The horrifying experience sparked great discussion after the pair posted on the Chinese social media platform, XiaoHongShu, questioning if Malaysia is a safe destination for travellers.
"Discovered hidden cameras in the guesthouse. Is it safe to travel to Malaysia?", wrote the tourist, known only as Zhenmei Beauty on the social media platform.
The tourists decided to share the experience after returning to China, to alert everyone to be cautious about hidden camera incidents.
"We landed at Kota Kinabalu Airport on Sept 6, around 2am. When we arrived at the Airbnb, it was close to three in the morning. I requested my partner to check if there was any camera, and luckily we did not hesitate to do so despite feeling extremely tired after the flight."
The tourists shone flashlight towards the socket, till they eventually discovered a hidden camera pointing at the bed.
"We discovered a hidden camera in the power socket opposite the bed. It was a small camera just like a phone camera located between the two USB ports," the pair described while posting pictures of the panel being pulled out.
The couple ended up using tissue paper to cover the camera, while their attempt to contact the Airbnb host failed to get a response.
"On that day, I was too scared to undress or take a shower. My partner used tissue paper and items to cover it up, and we managed to get some rest that night.
"We contacted Airbnb on the following day, and they have instructed us to check out and book another hotel immediately.
"Airbnb handled this situation really well, and we want to applaud them for that."
The pair also lodged a police report shortly after.
Things turned spooky when the pair were advised to delete their social media postings by the police.
"At that moment, we did not think much about it and deleted the posts as advised.
"Now when we reflect on it, we wonder why (we were advised so) while I have contacted the guesthouse's owner through Airbnb."
Moreover, the Airbnb owner claimed the pair were attempting to dodge the payment for their stay while being contacted by the police.
The pair voiced their frustration over the allegation, stating the intended to be a delightful honeymoon, which was unfortunately disrupted.
"Would we really want to torture ourselves, by going through all these troubles just to avoid paying the 400 Chinese Yuan (RM256.85) guesthouse accommodation fee, which would end up ruining the honeymoon plan?" they claimed.
In the end, the pair returned to China with regret that their idyllic honeymoon did not go as planned.