A holidaymaker who thought she had booked a room with a stunning beach view was in for a nasty surprise when she got to her accommodation.
At first glance, influencer Sonja Dennig, 28, thought the room in Westerland, on Germany’s North Sea island Sylt, would be perfect for her weekend getaway.
But when she looked more closely she realised that the breathtaking view was just a large seaside poster hung over the window of the basement room.
Video footage shows Sonja walking towards what looks like a perfect shoreline, complete with sand dunes and basking in warm sunshine.
But as the camera pans up it shows a grim looking metal grill and an industrial light that’s there to fake the sunshine.
The view out of the bedroom window in the accommodation in Westerland appeared to be an idyllic beach scene
The influencer thought the room in Westerland, on Germany’s North Sea island Sylt, would be perfect for her weekend getaway
Sonja Dennig, 28, said they had booked the room believing it had a great view
The fashion influencer, who had been on holiday with her partner and their pet dog, said: ‘We were screwed so hard.’
The popular content creator goes by Sonny Loops and boasts more than 924,000 followers on Instagram and another 479,000 on TikTok.
She told her followers: ‘We thought, “Wow, what a great view we have,” but look, it’s just a photo. We’re just in the basement.’
Trying to look on the bright side, Sonja joked: ‘You’re in bed, it’s midnight, but you think it’s either evening or morning sun. It’s pretty amazing.’
Pictures on her page show how she and her partner were able to enjoy the beautiful Sylt coastline – which does not look far different from the poster – when they left their room.
The video quickly clocked up more than 3.6 million views on TikTok, triggering an avalanche of reactions from social media users.
Some were impressed by the trick, with one TikTok user saying: ‘The most amazing thing is that the picture looks totally real.’
Another user commented: ‘Well, you have to let them be creative.’
Meanwhile others challenged the influencer, with one saying that ‘it must be stated somewhere in the description that it is in the basement.’
As the camera pans up it shows a grim looking metal grill and an industrial light that’s there to fake the sunshine
Sonja and her partner had to go outside their room to enjoy the coastline on the island of Sylt
The incident mirrors a similar case in Italy when Argentine influencer Clarisa Murgia had paid extra for the room because of the spectacular coastal views in the advert as part of a holiday of a lifetime across Europe.
She filmed the video showing the moment that she found she had paid through the nose for a hotel room with a stunning sea view and realises she had been conned with a giant poster.
As she filmed the scene, Clarisa showed how from one angle the poster looked just like the real thing.
But as she pans to the side the footage shows it is just a huge picture on the other side of a dingy alley.
In a separate but similar incident, influencer Clarisa Murgia’s balcony deceptively appeared to offer stunning sea views
Upon closer inspection, the ‘view’ on the balcony came from a giant poster hanging on the side of a building opposite the holidaymaker’s hotel room
She shared a video of the deceiving image on TikTok on May 18 in a clip titled ‘Expectation vs Reality’.
She wrote in the caption: ‘Someone rented a B&B with a sea view. I feel scammed, guys. No one has ever deceived me like this before, hahaha.’
The video quickly racked up more than 2.5million views, with viewers expressing their disbelief at the audacity of the scam.
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