One in 10 holiday rentals have hidden cameras and microphones hosts admit

Guests have been left horrified by finding hidden cameras in their holiday accommodation

A new study has found one in 10 holiday rental owners have installed hidden cameras or microphones in their properties - and seven per cent of those hosts had a security camera in at least one bedroom. The horrifying breach of privacy was justified by landlords that they are to catch bad behaviour of their guests.

Owners say disorderly guest behaviour prompted 36 per cent of hosts to implement safeguards on their properties. In the research conducted by Vivint, over half of the hosts surveyed had rental homes vandalised by guests, 50 per cent suffered property damage and 47 per cent believed they had been victims of theft.

Up to 86 per cent guests surveyed in the Vivint poll believe this is a major violation of privacy. The study also found that such surveillance is enough to deter over three-quarters, 76 per cent, of guests from staying in a holiday rental.

Researchers polled 406 hosts and 602 guests, discovering a deep divide in what both groups thought was acceptable. Despite this, hosts and landlords are seemingly knowingly breaching the rules by hiding cameras and not telling guests.

The study also found that hosts think families make the best guests and groups of young people are the worst. One in three owners also vetted their potential guests before accepting their bookings by checking their social media profiles

In July, an American couple in Maryland found what they allege to have been a recording device and have since launched a lawsuit against their property's owner, saying they had suffered "embarrassment, humiliation, disgrace and loss of dignity".

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