A man says he booked a ‘modern urban loft’ on Airbnb in Italy, only to walk into a single room split in half with scaffolding

A content creator just came across a potential example of “Abusivismo,” a seemingly common occurrence in Italy, when he checked into his Airbnb in Milan.  Edward DeRuiter (ed_in_burgh) walked into a room advertised as a “modern urban loft,” only to find “something else entirely.” He then recorded his find in a video that has tens of thousands of views on Instagram and TikTok. 

The video starts with DeRuiter walking into the space and stating, “My Italian Airbnb is insane.” He then shows that while the center of the room is open to the ceiling, scaffolding lines the walls to create a makeshift second floor. He notes, “It’s billed as a modern urban loft, but what it really is is a one-story room that they’ve converted into two stories. Or two half stories, anyway. The entire second story, if you can call it that, is made from chain link, fence post, and plywood. It’s effectively a painter’s scaffold.”

DeRuiter then humorously points out the room’s details, like an IKEA pull-out bed under a scaffolding bed space, so that guests can “recreate that scene from Step Brothers,” and a garage work light for “living room mood lighting,” and a bathroom with no flush and a glass door. He also walks his viewers up to the “second floor,” where the first bed has enough space to stand in, but the path to the second bed platform has progressively less head clearance. 

DeRuiter’s audience couldn’t decide if the room was a safety hazard or ingenious

One user admitted that when they were looking at condos to buy and came across one with high ceilings, they had considered the same technique for more space. Another noted, “This is a five-star hotel compared to some of the Airbnbs we have here in Australia!” A third user noted that the construction looked solid enough, writing, “you would probably survive if the ceiling caved in and you were under the bars.” One user even identified the scaffolding as “speed rails” which is common in the film industry.

On the more critical front, one user noted, “It’s just a normal Italian construct. I never have any expectations in Italy.” Another quipped, “On the bright side; the Italian medical system is exceptional and ranked highly on world scales.” One commenter had a name for the unusual Airbnb setup: “That’s an italian architectural style called abbusivismo. Abbusivismo is characterized by the mass construction of something new indoor or outdoor.”

This term, abusivismo, refers to illegal construction in Italy. According to the De Tullio Law Firm, this is a common issue, with the Office for Italian Statistics estimating that about 20% of Italian properties are completely illegal builds. The firm explains that any internal work without a required notification or changes that do not comply with permits can be considered a crime, potentially leading to fines or even custodial sentences, and cautions potential buyers to watch out for this. 

Like DeRuiter, many viewers found the room hilarious, and one user had a thematic suggestion: “Now you can paint a mural on the ceiling. When in Rome…”

Attack of the Fanboy was unable to independently verify the Airbnb owner’s side of the story, as this account originates solely from DeRuiter’s Instagram and TikTok posts.