Booking.com continues to list a property in wake of assaulted guest

Booking.com has continued to list a property that a guest was reported to being assaulted and robbed by the hotel owner, seven weeks prior.

Jonnie Emsley, 27, described the attack as a “near-death experience” and told The Independent that the weeks following it “were filled with flashbacks and panic attacks”.

The UK-based writer and researcher had booked three nights at a guesthouse in Sri Lanka in November as part of a solo holiday.

With an average score of eight out of 10 based on more than 60 reviews, the property looked like an ideal accommodation option. However, Emsley’s stay quickly descended into a terrifying ordeal.

It started when the host offered to take Emsley on a tour of the local area.

“During the tour, the host kept asking me for money to pay for things, and when I eventually declined after having spent over $100 in a day despite our original agreement on the price of 2,500 rupees (about $20), he became irate. 

“At that point he asked me to pay the 3,000 rupees for the three nights’ accommodation (I’d stayed one night already), so I paid him and advised I would go back to get my belongings and find somewhere else to stay.”

When he arrived back at the guesthouse, Emsley says he was accosted by the host and another assailant, who attacked him with a broken bottle.

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