HolidaysdiscoveryArvostelua 

THAT PLACE IS FRAUD, THEY NEVER GIVE BACK THE DEPOSIT. I PAID 250 DEPOSIT AND THEY NEVER RETURNED IT.

The flat itself was rather cute and we had a good time staying there. The problem is with the owner HOLIDAY DISCOVERY. They have you pay a security deposit through a third party with the promise of 100% refundable. They do not mention a timeline of return. A few weeks after my trip I realized I never received the deposit back and emailed the host. They gave me the response of “everything is great, but can take us up to 21 business days to refund”. So I waited. I contacted them again after 21 business days and was told “our refunds are currently delayed”. Ok. So I waited 30 business days and email again. Then it’s “it’s with our financial department”. What? At this point I was suspicious and frustrated. I decided to google the host name. Then I found the reviews on trust pilot. I feel like I should have done this from the beginning, but trusted Expedia and the reviews on that website. The problem is, the apartment is cute and folks are reviewing the apartment NOT the host. I also think people review right after their stay, not realizing the host is scamming them out of the deposit. Then it’s too late to go back and change the review. I contacted Expedia who told me to call VRBO. VRBO was really helpful and tried to help me contact the host. They attempted to contact them with no response. They ended up sending me documents so I can fight the charge with my bank. But what a headache!

THEY NEVER RETURN THE DEPOSIT THEY ASK FOR BEFORE THE CHECK IN

Grosse arnaque !! À fuir !!!
Ils ne rendent pas la caution !! Ça fait deux mois que je les relances pour me rendre ma caution de 250 euro et rien ! Même en passant par Airbnb… c’est des voleurs !!

Same issue as everyone else, my deposit of €250 is not being refunded due to lame excuses as a new payment system. It has been nearly 2 months and I am left with no money.

Worst Experience ever. They only told us once we arrived that we had to pay the deposit and promised to give it back within 21 days, but it's been two months, and we still have not received it. We have contacted Airbnb, but they are being useless, and we will push this until we get our Deposit back. This is a scam and fraud.I will contact French authorities to block you from renting out and make sure Everyone knows how fraudulent you are.

If you are reading these reviews because you are currently trying to get your deposit back, it is probably not too late, but you need to act now. I made the same mistake: I booked a property in Paris (April 2026) via Airbnb from Holidays Discovery, paid the €250 deposit via their external third-party link (Swikly), and they refused to return it.

If you have not booked with them yet: AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS. They hold the check-in codes and keys hostage until you pay this external deposit, and once you check out, they will steal your money or ignore you.
The listing says the deposit is refunded "within 21 business days," but this is a deliberate trap designed to buy them time. They use this window to string you along, repeatedly giving the same excuses like "we will check with our finance department."

I successfully forced them to return my deposit 40 days after checkout. It took an aggressive, multi-channel approach. If they are withholding your money, follow these exact steps immediately:

1. Dispute the Charge with Your Bank
Contact your bank/financial institution immediately to initiate a chargeback or report Authorized Push Payment (APP) fraud. Provide all evidence (the Airbnb listing, the Swikly receipt, and screenshots showing they are ignoring you).

2. Involve the Airbnb Resolution Center
Open an official complaint ticket. Explicitly state that Airbnb's platform created a false sense of security by allowing this host to link to an external payment system. Send Airbnb a link to this Trustpilot page to prove it is a systematic, known scam. Push them to escalate it to their Trust & Safety team.

3. File a Formal Complaint with Swikly
Contact Swikly support directly. Send them screenshots of your communication (or lack thereof) with the host. Remind Swikly that they are holding your funds without any active damage claims or legal justification, making them complicit in the host's bad-faith retention of funds.

4. Report to SignalConso (French Authorities)
Because the property is in France, go to signal.conso.gouv.fr and file an official consumer fraud report. Report both Holidays Discovery for illegal withholding of funds, and Airbnb for facilitating off-platform financial fraud.

5. Report to Action Fraud / UK Consumer Agencies
File a report with Action Fraud to get a police reference number, and contact the UK International Consumer Centre (ukecc.net). Use these official reference numbers to apply pressure on Airbnb and the host.

I would recommend reporting them based on below faults:
• Holidays Discovery: For running a systematic deposit-withholding scam against international tourists.
• Airbnb: For allowing predatory external links that bypass AirCover, creating a dangerous trap for customers who trust their platform.
• Swikly: For facilitating these transactions and failing to automatically release funds when a checkout is successful and undisputed.

Be relentless, don't let them keep your hard-earned money!

If only I could give 0 to the Holiday Discovery , I would. Our story was similar to everyone who left their reviews here. The holiday Discovery must have made lots of money via not returning deposit which must be criminal offence. They should be caught and put into jail and throw away the keys. How can this be allowed! The holiday discovery, the holiday horror!

Do not book with this company! We have just had a nightmare trying to get them to refund our deposit.,Thankfully , got this back todsy, but it has taken several weeks.
Ironically the appt we rented was lovely, no issues. The company were both dishonest and evasive.,
Airbnb, you should be sanctioning them!!
I have just received an e mail from Airbnb stating that HolidaysDiscovery have asked them to mediate as we caused damage to thevappt! We absolutely did not and have photo and video evidence. Even worse, Airbnb have sided and agreed with them!!
I already have the refund though, so will be cont my bank to ensure that a watch is placed on my account.
I cannot believed that Airbnb allow ths!

PESSIMA,
eles pedem um valor de 250 euros, como caução, prometem devolver em 21 dias depois da hospedagem, que é o tempo que encerra pra fazer uma avaliação no airbnb, eles nao devolvem o dinheiro e param de responder voce. RESUMINDO ELES ROUBAM VOCE.

Same as everyone else, fighting for my 250eur deposit. they are crooks.

DO NOT BOOK!! They ask you to pay a €250 security deposit that you will NEVER get back. I’ve been chasing them for 1.5 months now, and I’m no longer getting any responses after saying I would take further action. SCAMMERS!!!!!!

Unfortunately reading this too late..
They are keeping my deposit claiming I broke something.

Also did the insurance on the deposit but that looks a scam too since they claim they will not be refunding the deposit.

A fuir !!!!
Des voleurs qui ne remboursent pas la caution même en passant par les plateformes.
Booking ne nous aide en aucun cas

truffatori non affittate nulla da loro e non pagare nessuna cauzione. li ho segnalati anche su Airbnb

Like everyone here I stayed in February paid €150 deposit. They won’t give it back. I had to raise multiple complaints to Airbnb and it was Airbnb who eventually refunded me in late April.

If you pay a Swikly deposit for this place they will try and keep it.

These people are a fraud!!! Don’t book your vacation with them. They kept my deposit. It was accidently deposit twice and they never gave my 500 euros back!!!

If I could give 0 stars I would. - €250 DEPOSIT. DON’T Send a disposit!! You won’t get it back. I stayed 4 days, and it’s been 2 months now, they keep saying there is a delay with the financial department, and right now there are not responding anymore since a month, I contacted Airbnb and they could do nothing about it.

I gave them a star as you can't give ZERO.
They cancelled the booking last minute leaving me with spending my time searching for a new place instead of going around Paris.

They took the damage deposit and even though they cancelled 1 week on and I still don't have my deposit back.

A FUIRR
Bonjour,
Cette société est une arnaque. Cet établissement existe peut-être mais il demande un caution qui n'est jamais remboursée. Nous sommes en Avril et aucun remboursement n’a etait effectué.