The icon of “good time” septuagenarians in leather pants, the one and only Brian Johnson of AC/DC at Suncorp . Picture Annette Dew
Aussie residential accommodation providers have lifted the lid on some of the funniest, sweetest and strangest things they have encountered, and they have seen it all – literally.
From inebriated golfers sleepwalking in their birthday suits to a tenant’s visitor stealing residents mail, members of the Australian Resident Accommodation Managers Association (ARAMA), who oversee buildings for holiday letting, permanent rentals or a mixture of both, have dealt with “here for a good time” septuagenarians to a “full-scale cake fight” among real estate professionals attending a conference.
ARAMA CEO Trevor Rawnsley said there was no shortage of wild stories that go on in complexes, but not all were on the funny side.
He said there were about 4500 buildings nationally in the management letting rights scheme, with about 90 per cent of those in Queensland.
“Many are big brands but the majority are independent operators, often small family businesses,” he said, adding that of the occupants of the approximately 4500 buildings across Australia, about one third were tenants, 25 per cent were holiday guests and the rest were owner-occupiers.
ARAMA CEO Trevor Rawnsley says while there are many funny stories, onsite managers also often intervened in more serious matters. Picture Glenn Hampson
And Rawnsley said that while there were many funny stories, onsite managers often found themselves dealing with issues often of a darker nature.
“I remember a tenant whose partner had left and they were very down and I had to call an ambulance,” he said. “Another member intervened in a domestic violence incident.
“Up north, guests were stuck in the lead-up to a cyclone and the member made muffins, explained what to expect and some of them huddled in her apartment.
“Being onsite for the light-hearted moments is great, but also for the more serious moments when people need that support.”
Here, ARAMA members share some of the funniest and more serious moments they have encountered.
Airlie Beach: Not just for randy backpackers
“We had a group of four people stay, all around late 60’s to mid 70’s. At 1am we had to tell them to turn the music down. They were all wearing black leather pants listening to Acca Dacca (AC/DC) and dancing. They said “get a grip youngin. We aren’t here for a long time, we’re here for a good time!”
Not just for randy backpackers.
Gold Coast: Putt-ing it all out there
“We regularly host golfing groups through wholesale travel companies, and for some reason a few golfers seem prone to sleepwalking… nude. Perhaps it’s the celebratory drinks after a long day on the course. On three separate occasions over the past few years we’ve had completely unclothed guests wandering the building in the early hours of the morning.
More than once, embarrassed guests have appeared at reception clutching pillows to cover themselves while asking the night concierge to let them back into their rooms. One particularly determined guest decided the reception lounge was the perfect place to sleep it off and was discovered by the cleaning staff the following morning.”
A before shot … maybe?
Airlie Beach: Real housewife gets real
“Bozoma Saint John from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and her daughter Lael stayed here in October 2025. They asked for a dinner recommendation and I drove them down to the local noodle restaurant where she paid for my dinner as a thank you. They were very down to earth, genuine people. Bozoma liked the fact that we treated her like a normal person.”
Sydney: Covid hits a high note
“During Covid-19 a resident in the building, who is an opera singer, started singing from his balcony into the courtyard which is shared with 300 to 400 apartments. This happened once a week at 6pm. Other people started to join in over the next few weeks. Over the course of many weeks (once restrictions started easing) about a dozen people moved down to the courtyard and were singing, with 60-70 residents sitting and listening. They had a whole show going with speakers set up properly. The whole thing lasted about three months, and the story ended up being reported on in BCC News in England.”
Move over Sydney Opera House
Gold Coast: Can’t unsee that
“A male tenant opened his apartment front door covered in house paint head to toe, and holding an adult toy. The same tenant started a fire on the bed and tried to claim insurance.”
Brisbane: Not dead, just ignoring you
“The husband of a tenant came into our office and said ‘my wife is dead’. He was as white as a ghost. I asked if he had called 000 and he said no. I rung 000 as I was heading over to their room. When I got there the wife sat up straight up in bed and looked at me and said, “what are you doing in my room?” I’m here thinking she was dead and asked what was going on! The wife said, “I’m not dead, he was annoying me all throughout the night so I took a sleeping tablet so I could sleep.”
Gold Coast: Lost in the male
“A tenants visitor stole everyone’s mail and put it in his car. As soon as we looked in his car through the window we saw it was filled with mail (you could even read some of the names on the letters and recognise people in the complex). Once he realised we had called the police he jumped off the second floor balcony into the gardens trying to hide. The whole complex went into lockdown for an hour. It turns out he was stealing up and down the Gold Coast.”
Thankfully he was no Postcard Bandit. Police mugshot of bank robber Brendon James Abbott (alias Brendan, aka “Postcard Bandit”), one of five men who escaped from Sir David Longland prison at Wacol
Gold Coast: The palm tree defence
“One time I was mowing the lawn and was confronted by an upset tenant. I ended up holding a palm branch in front of myself as a barrier of defence as the elderly female tenant was swinging punches over the dispute.”
Gold Coast: The walk of shame
“Late-night skinny dipping is a recurring theme. Quite a few guests have enjoyed romantic midnight swims in the pool, only to discover that after 9pm the pool access system locks them out of the building. The only way back inside is to walk four floors down through the fire stairs, exit onto the street, and re-enter through the main entrance. From time to time we’ve spotted some very awkward towel-clad walks of shame on the CCTV footage.”
Port Douglas: If it is flooded, forget it and grab a beer
“We had a late-night call when we had gone to a theatre show. The guest said the room was flooding. We drove back which took five minutes. The apartment was full of water. They said the washing machine had jumped out of the cupboard and tipped over, and water was pouring out. My husband stepped through the water and turned the washing machine tap off. The guest said, “I would do that if I was in my own house, but not when I’m paying”. The water had run into both bedrooms, under the sofa and the guest was standing and watching it flood while drinking a stubby!”
Gold Coast: Let them have cake … and the bill
”One memorable group attended a real estate conference and decided to take leftover cake from the function back to their apartment. What started as dessert quickly turned into a full-scale cake fight. Chocolate cake ended up splattered across the walls and ceiling, a large television was knocked over and broken, and — in an apparent attempt to avoid detection — the guests tried to stick the TV back together with sticky tape. The final repair and cleaning bill exceeded $4000, including repainting the ceiling because of chocolate staining. To make matters even more interesting, the guest responsible turned out to be the son of a prominent real estate agency principal.”
MORE: Money move Aussies are making instead
‘Crashed’: Aus city’s stunning home price fall
Landlords blame govt for forcing rent hikes
Fun at the time, but the ending wasn’t so sweet
Location unknown: High-rise hazards
“On one occasion, intoxicated guests staying on the 30th floor began throwing lounge cushions and soft furnishings from their balcony onto the roadway below during the early hours of the morning. In another incident, teenage boys were throwing water balloons off a high-rise balcony — something far more dangerous than they probably realised. Over the years we’ve also dealt with guests vomiting over balconies, accidentally setting off fire alarms, damaging common areas by punching walls, and even fighting in elevators.”
Port Douglas: It’s vibrating!
“One of the funniest stories we had was a family checking in for a wedding. They had booked a few rooms in a row. The father of the bride came back to reception and said he needed to move rooms as the wall was vibrating and making a noise. I walked down to the apartment, assuming it was a pump running and touching the wall as the apartments have plunge pools in them. I turned the pumps off and the wall was still vibrating and there was a noise in the apartment. A crowd gathered to listen to the noise. The guest was getting quite cross demanding a new room. I kept saying that I had never heard the noise before. I went to the next room and asked the guest if they had something turned on that would make a noise in the apartment next door. There was no noise in that apartment. I went back into the main bedroom listening to the wall. The vibration continued. The guest demanded I move them immediately. I asked all of the people in the room to leave and move outside or into the hallway. They had luggage in the apartment. The father wheeled his bag out into the hallway. The noise stopped, but the hallway now had a noise. I said I think the noise and vibration is in your suitcase. He didn’t believe me, but humoured me by lifting the case onto the bed and then said “yes it is vibrating”. I left the room to give him privacy while he opened his suitcase. Only one thing came to mind wondering what was in there. He came out holding his electric razor. The suitcase had been leaning on the wall and somehow the electric shaver had turned itself on in his suitcase. He decided in future he would travel with the shaver in his shoe.”
Not what you were thinking, was it?
Sunshine Coast: Forget CSI, this is RSI
“Last year we had what can only be described as our very own episode of Resort Crime: Sunshine Coast Edition. A local homeless man decided to case the joint on his trusty e-bike — slowly cruising around the property like a budget James Bond villain, checking every door with great suspicion (and zero subtlety). When he reached the back of reception, he spotted the CCTV camera, paused like a deer in headlights, and then apparently decided that the best form of disguise was a hoodie and blind optimism. He pulled the hood over his head and strolled straight into the sauna bathroom. Unfortunately for him, the camera had already caught his face clear enough to double as a passport photo. Thirty minutes later, he emerged — now upgraded with a face mask and proudly carrying the resort’s spare toilet paper (because every master criminal knows: never underestimate a good roll). From there, things escalated quickly. He broke into the pool pump storeroom, raided every last power tool we owned, and somehow managed to balance multiple bins full of loot on his e bike before meeting his equally entrepreneurial accomplice out front. The next day, the police showed up for what must’ve been their favourite episode of CCTV binge-watching. Within minutes, they recognised him — apparently he’d been on tour, wanted for 15 other crimes. He was picked up in Nambour a day later, living rough and, sadly, tool free. Sadly, most of our power tools were never recovered. But hey, on the bright side, our CCTV footage still wins Best Comedy Short Film at staff happy hour.”
Who doesn’t have a greater appreciation for the ol’ bog roll post Covid-19?
Airlie Beach – Just frog off!
“One January morning, a guest arrived at reception looking like she’d gone twelve rounds with insomnia. A mysterious “machine” outside her window, she said, had been going all night and sounded like a concrete grinder. Turns out, the culprit wasn’t a machine — it was one of our rainforest tree frogs. A few nights later, at 3am, she called again saying “that machine has been left on again” She swore it could not be a frog! Our resident wildlife wrangler/manager Stuart vaulted out of bed, grabbed a plastic bag, and charged into the bush. He spotted the tiny green culprit thirty feet up a wall, croaking his heart out. When he reached for him, the frog leapt heroically… straight off the ledge. Miraculously alive — but now sporting a distinctive red mark on his back from the fall — he was gently chauffeured to the roundabout 200m downhill away in a rubbish-bin lid. The next morning, Stuart was sweeping outside reception steps when who should appear but the same red marked frog, looking smug as ever. Our guest breezed in, well-rested and grateful, while Stuart locked eyes with his resilient nemesis — the frog who simply refused to check out.”
The likely suspect? Kermit the Frog of the Muppets starred in the booking.com 2025 Super Bowl ad
Whitsundays – Just taking the TV for walk
“We had a TV go missing from the lounge room in a unit one night where guests were staying. They had left the lounge balcony doors open, either having forgotten to close them or to let breeze through. Sometime during the next morning they realized something was missing from the lounge. I was later speaking with a guest in another part of the resort and she told me that she had seen a fellow with a TV under his arm walking out of the resort at about 1.30am. She had been sitting on the balcony at the time after coming home late. I asked why she didn’t think to phone me and she responded that she thought it was a bit strange, but that was all.”
Port Douglas: Father of the year right here
“We had a guest who told us on departure his five-year-old had punched a hole in the wall without them knowing. We said that’s okay, these things happen and didn’t charge for the damage. When we got to the apartment there was a hole well above where a 5-year-old could reach. The father was over 6 foot, and the hole matched the fathers height and fist size!”
*ARAMA is the peak body representing the management rights porofession in Australia and represents nearly 4000 management rights schemes nationally.
English (US) · 