A horrified woman has claimed she and her friends left their Airbnb at 4am after discovering a fake wall that led to a flat they believe "somebody was living in".

Bride-to-be Alexa had been celebrating her upcoming wedding with a hen party at a luxury four-bedroom property in San Rafael, California, listed as a "tranquil waterfront retreat" on the holiday rental site.

But when she arrived with seven of her friends they quickly found the stay to be far from tranquil, claiming they discovered a secret upstairs flat, were followed by security cameras and spotted a man watching them.

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Taking to TikTok to share the terrifying story, Alexa recalled everything had been going great when she and her hens arrived at the stunning property.

But things took a turn when at the end of one of the corridors they discovered a fake wall and behind it they found a hidden staircase leading to an upstairs flat.

With the property listing stating there were no stairs and it was a single-family home, the hen party were left confused by their discovery — and their night only got more eerie from there.

Continuing with the story, Alexa explained they were aware there would be security cameras on the property, which they initially didn't have any issue with.

But things changed when it became "really creepy" as the eight women went out to the garden to spend time in the hot tub.

"As we were walking in the back yard the security cameras were turning and following us and the owner texting us telling us to please stop touching the jet panel and at that point, it just felt like we were being actively watched which was really uncomfortable," she said.

Then at around 11pm the women were all shocked when a strange man showed up unannounced at the property, telling them he was a technician sent by the host to work on the heater.

After Alexa's friend messaged the host to tell them it would have been nice to have been given a heads-up about a man visiting the property, the Airbnb host told them they could check out if they wanted to.

But still determined to have a good time, the women continued to hang out in the back garden until another creepy incident occurred.

"At night my girlfriends and I were sitting by the bonfire we could visibly see somebody upstairs opening the blinds looking down on us, lights were on in the upstairs unit," Alexa recalled.

Deciding this was the last straw, the women called the police who said they would come over to do a welfare check.

After informing the hosts they'd contacted the police, Alexa said they told them they would be there in around 25 minutes to carry out a welfare check themselves — but they suspiciously showed up much quicker.

"We came face to face with the owners in less than a minute so I believe that they or somebody was living upstairs and they just denied and it was just extremely violating and uncomfortable," Alexa said.

Cops did a walk-through of the property and "confirmed there was an entire upstairs unit" that had surveillance equipment inside.

Alexa also recalled how after getting confirmation the fake wall was hiding another unit, they realised it was connected to a glass window in a bathroom they'd been using.

She explained: "There was a glass window/mirror-looking thing which was in the master suite which I initially thought was really creepy.

"We couldn't see through it but comes to find out when we located the mystery upstairs unit it was attached to the same wall where this window was located. So if we were being watched through that window using the restroom it's just extremely violating and a horrible feeling."

Police advised Alexa and her friends to leave the property and they were "escorted peacefully" out at about 4am.

She added: "We just made sure to get the heck out of there. I'm just glad we didn't fall asleep."

Since leaving the rental home, which is still listed on Airbnb, Alexa and her friends have been fighting to get their stay refunded.

They were initially only granted a partial refund but have now been promised a full refund from Airbnb

Alexa is sharing her story in hopes of warning others about staying safe while renting holiday homes.

"This was a terrifying experience," she said.

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