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I'm a digital nomad staying at a hotel in Albania. The hotel is a three-story villa with a few studios, managed by private hosts—a man and a woman—who have been very kind.

Initially, I booked a studio through booking.com for a few nights. After spending one night there, I extended my stay for a week directly with the hosts (not via booking.com) and paid upfront for the whole period in cash.

A few days before that period was due to end, I arranged to extend my stay for another week in the same manner, moving my checkout date to Monday, 09 June. However, the hosts warned me that they would be out of town "for a few days" and asked if that was acceptable. I said it was no problem. They did not specify when they would return.

Soon after, they left along with all the other guests, leaving me alone in the entire villa. Now there are two nights remaining before my checkout date, and the hosts still haven’t returned—it has already been about a week since they left.

Yesterday, I sent them an SMS asking if I could extend my stay for another week, but I haven’t received any response. Suspecting there might be an issue with the Albanian SIM card I used to send the message, I resent the SMS from my main, non-Albanian phone number today. Once again, there was no reply.

This situation feels both strange and somewhat creepy, especially given the hosts’ complete lack of response. I hope they return before my checkout date, but I need to know what to do if they don't. Here are the options I'm considering:

  1. Leave on my checkout date: I could leave the studio and put the key in the lock from the inside of the door of my studio. However, this would leave the entire villa open to potential intruders and squatters and without anyone monitoring it. If anything happens to the villa between my departure and the hosts' return, they might accuse me of having caused the damage before I left—and I really don't want to get involved in any legal process of that kind.

  2. Continue staying: I could remain in the studio and pay for the extra nights once the hosts return. However, I'm not sure whether it is legal or appropriate to continue staying without having received their explicit permission.

  3. Go to the nearest police station: I could explain the situation and ask for advice. However, I worry that they might immediately suspect me of being involved in the hosts’ disappearance simply because I'm staying in their villa. I fear that this could lead to detention, a search, or similar measures—which I really want to avoid, especially since I don't speak Albanian and have no relatives, friends, or connections in this country.

My current plan is to wait until my checkout date in the hope that the problem resolves itself. If it doesn’t, I will send another SMS, call the number, contact them via booking.com, and possibly ask the neighbors for alternative contact details. If all these attempts fail (which seems possible given the lack of response so far), I must choose one of the three options above—but I'm uncertain which option is best.

Additional details:

  1. The hosts are around 50–60 years old and do not speak English. I used AI to generate messages in Albanian for my requests and then wrote them down on paper so that they could read them. They read my notes, and we communicated using gestures and an automated translator to clarify details. My SMS was also in Albanian.

  2. My impression is that the hosts were trying to say they were going to Greece, but I'm not completely sure I understood correctly.

  3. They did not give me any additional contact details. The number to which I sent my SMS is their contact phone number provided in my booking.com reference.

  4. The studios in the villa are available on booking.com for all nights from now, even for tonight.

  5. About an hour ago, I saw a person in the villa for the first time since the hosts departed and attempted to approach him. However, when he saw me, he quickly entered a studio. This incident has made me unsure whether he is a legitimate guest and whether it would be safe to approach him or knock on the door of the studio he entered.

I really hope to receive solid advice on what to do if this situation isn’t resolved by my checkout date.

UPDATE: Just telling what happened in the end. One of the hosts - the woman - returned one night before the checkout date, and I extended my stay in the same manner as before. She didn’t say anything about my SMS messages, and I didn’t ask about them either, to avoid sounding accusatory. A week later, the other host - the man - returned. Everything looks fine with them. The villa is full of guests again.

So, the problem resolved itself, but I hope my question and the answers to it will help other travelers in case they find themselves in a similar situation. I don’t know what I would have done if neither of the hosts had returned by the checkout date. My experience only suggests that it’s worth waiting until the last moment before doing anything drastic like contacting the police or asking people around in the neighborhood.

Coala
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4 Answers4

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  1. You have booked and paid until your check out date. If you don't have a confirmation to keep staying there, it's probably best for you to leave.
  2. Inform your hosts that you are leaving and what you are planning to do with the keys. If there is a locked mailbox, you can throw them in there. Maybe there is a trusted person you both know: local grocery store, neighbor, local watering whole, etc. If push comes to shove, hide them somewhere and sent a description of the place.
  3. Not being able to lock the outer door of the villa is not your problem. If you don't have a key, you can't lock it and apparently were never expected to lock it.
  4. As you leave take photos of your apartment and the surroundings to document hat everything is in good condition. Send a link to the photos to the host.
  5. Going through booking.com is probably not the greatest idea. Chances are, if they are not replying to your direct message, they won't reply through booking either and you or they may have violated the terms and conditions of bookings.com by making a private arrangement.
Hilmar
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You are not in any trouble, but try and contact the hosts via means other than cell phone - foreign SIM cards often fail to work abroad. Legally, you can secure the property to the best of your ability and leave.

Whether it's a good idea to extend your stay depends on:

  • Was this stay renewed with expectation of further renewal being possible? In Eastern Europe, it's common to informally treat rent as tenancy if it's paid by month, and sometimes if paid by week.
  • Do you realistically expect the hotel to be able to accept new guests without the hosts? (probably not)
  • Are you comfortable without the hosts and their services (cleaning etc?)

Realistically, based on my experience in Eastern Europe, if staying longer is what you want, just doing so would be the most culturally appropriate option. The worst that can happen in this scenario is someone books the room and you have to leave at an inconvenient date.

But local hospitality customs are generally that the host walks you out once you've both agreed to part ways, not that you leave silently once your prepaid time is up (chain hotel style). It's quite likely that your hosts will view a self-renewal favorably, especially since this is already a renewed rental.

However, I'm not sure whether it is legal or appropriate to continue staying without having received their explicit permission.

It's legal. Having paid rent even for one night protects you; once the exchange of cash for keys happens, you're a tenant, not an intruder. Tenant eviction is civil law, as opposed to criminal for trespassers. Generally, once the landlord lets you into the property, it's on them to ask you out, and only then on you to comply. They can charge you for late stay, but that's a matter of contracts only. You're a tenant, not an intruder.

As to whether it's appropriate, my feeling is that in your situation, in that location, it is. Your hosts would probably prefer to have someone at least present there. Your verbal agreement, in absence of other information, could be reasonably interpreted as open to extension. As you're not doing anything inherently wrong, and your hosts have made it difficult for you to check with them, it's reasonable to do what's best for you while staying respectful to your hosts.

Therac
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I imagine they'll either return or respond before your check-out date, but if they don't, you could reasonably either leave or (if able to book online) stay. If you stay without being able to book online, there is a risk of unanticipated charges. It's probably a small risk -- you'd probably just be charged for the extra days at the published rate -- but you never know; there could be some penalty in the fine print, for example.

I would suggest that you go to the police only if you find yourself checking out without any communication from the hosts and having to leave the door unlocked. You probably aren't under any obligation to secure the property, but you are right to be concerned. On top of that, it's possible that the hosts are indisposed for some reason (perhaps they have been injured in a traffic accident, for example), in which case it would likely be a courtesy to them to bring the unattended property to the attention of the police.

phoog
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I really hope to receive solid advice on what to do if this situation isn’t resolved by my checkout date.

Seeking the advice from your locally responsible consulate would probably be the best thing to do in this situation.

They could assist in any interaction with the Albanian authorities.

Send them the text of your question so that they understand the situation.

Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
Article 5 CONSULAR FUNCTIONS
...
(e) helping and assisting nationals, both individuals and bodies corporate, of the sending State ;

Mark Johnson
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