A holidaymaker thought she had booked a room with a stunning view of the beach, but when she arrived at her accommodation she was in for an unpleasant surprise.
Influencer Sonja Dennig (28) thought at first glance that the room in Westerland, on the German island of Sylt in the North Sea, would be perfect for her weekend away.
But when she looked closer, she saw that the breathtaking view was merely a large poster of the sea hanging above the window of the basement room.
Video footage shows Sonja walking towards a seemingly perfect coastline, complete with sand dunes and enjoying the warm sun.
But as the camera pans up, you see a stark metal grid and an industrial lamp meant to simulate sunlight.
The view from the bedroom window in the accommodation in Westerland seemed to be an idyllic beach scene
The influencer thought the room in Westerland, on the German North Sea island of Sylt, would be perfect for her weekend getaway
Sonja Dennig, 28, said they booked the room because they believed it had a great view
The fashion influencer, who was on holiday with her partner and their dog, said: ‘We really got into trouble.’
The popular content creator goes by the name Sonny Loops and has over 924,000 followers on Instagram and another 479,000 on TikTok.
She told her followers: ‘We thought, “Wow, what an amazing view,” but look, it’s just a photo. We’re just in the basement.’
Sonja tried to look at it positively, joking, “You’re lying in bed, it’s midnight, but you think it’s the evening sun or the morning sun. It’s quite amazing.”
The photos on her page show her and her partner enjoying the beautiful Sylt coastline, which doesn’t look much different from the poster, as they leave their room.
The video quickly reached over 3.6 million views on TikTok, prompting a flood of responses from social media users.
Some were impressed by the trick. One TikTok user, for example, said: “The most amazing thing is that the photo looks completely real.”
Another user commented: ‘Well you have to let them be creative.’
Meanwhile, others challenged the influencer, with one saying that “somewhere in the description it should say it’s in the basement.”
As the camera pans up, you see a grim-looking metal grille and an industrial light meant to mimic sunshine
Sonja and her partner had to leave their room to enjoy the coastline on the island of Sylt
The incident is reminiscent of a similar case in Italy, where Argentinian influencer Clarisa Murgia had paid extra for the room because of the spectacular coastal views in the advertisement, as part of an unforgettable holiday through Europe.
She filmed the video in which she discovers that she paid an exorbitant amount for a hotel room with a beautiful sea view and realizes that she has been scammed with a giant poster.
While filming the scene, Clarisa showed how the poster looked exactly like the original from one angle.
But when she looks to the side, you can see that on the other side of a dirty alley, there is a huge statue.
In a separate but similar incident, influencer Clarisa Murgia’s balcony deceptively appeared to offer a stunning sea view
On closer inspection, the ‘view’ on the balcony turned out to be from a giant poster hanging on the side of a building opposite the holidaymaker’s hotel room
On May 18, she shared a video of the misleading image on TikTok in a clip titled “Expectation vs. Reality.”
She wrote in the caption: ‘Someone rented a B&B with a sea view. I feel ripped off guys. No one has ever ripped me off like this before hahaha.’
The video quickly racked up over 2.5 million views, with viewers in disbelief at the audacity of the scam.