Imagine going out for a hike along the Appalachian Trail when you find yourself accompanied by an orange tabby cat, who not only walks along with you but lets you know when you’ve strayed off the beaten path.
That’s what happened to Sebastian Cocioba when he and his partner stayed at an Airbnb in Phillipstown, New York.
“Went with my partner upstate and the AirBnB host’s cat took us for a guided hike along the Appalachian trail,” he wrote on X. “Apparently this is what she does with every guest. She would complain when we took a wrong turn off the trail and knew the way back.”
“Amazing cat,” he added. “Would apocalypse with.”
What Cocioba didn’t know at the time was that the cat wasn’t a she but a he. He’s 8 years old, his name is Cinamen, and according to his owner, Trisha Mulligan, this is just what he does.
“I call him the concierge, because he just loves people,” Mulligan told Backpacker magazine. “You know, each color, they have different personalities. And there’s something about an orange cat that’s very social, and we have a very social cat.”
Other guests have left reviews sharing their adventures with Cinamen and some have shared with Mulligan how he kept them from getting lost on the trail. Some people even return to the Airbnb just to have Cinamen be their trail guide.
“There’s this one guy, this Russian guy who comes back regularly. He never leaves reviews, but he always sends me pictures—he’s a photographer—and he books because he wants to be with Cinamen and he wants to do the trail with Cinamen,” said Mulligan.
Of course, Cinamen is a cat, and in typical cat fashion, he cannot be coerced into anything. Mulligan said that he comes by his guiding behavior naturally—no training involved—but there’s no guarantee that he’s going to join anyone on a hike. (Or that he’s going to refrain from judging you if you go too slow, as Cocioba can attest with his “camera roll full of judgment.”)
People love the idea of having a cat as a tour guide.
“Pretty sure the cat is the host there,” wrote one person.
“Please drop the bnb so I can book them for a year just me n the travel cat,” wrote another.
“That cat was originally a human and is desperately seeking for one of the guest to take a hint and complete the necessary ritual to transform it back,” shared another.
Even Airbnb weighed in with “the purrfect trail guide.”
Some people shared that they’ve had similar experience with Airbnb host’s pets in other places.
“My daughter and her bffs had the same experience with their AirBnB’s dog! Apparently the dog is the unofficial tour guide and person herder–not only did she lead them to a couple of cool waterfalls but she kept everyone together and not wandering off,” shared one commenter.
“My family & I once went for a walk and were joined by Labrador who’d been at end of his driveway,” wrote another. “We weren’t sure of route and ended up following the dog. We did a full circular walk back to the dog’s house. Later met the owner who said dog often did this when he fancied a walk.”
“I remember when we toured kasteel de haar in the netherlands, there was a cat who toured us around the grounds too,” shared another.
Perhaps that should be a new feature hosts can tout on their Airbnb listings: “Pet tour guide provided.” Judging by people’s responses to Cinamen, it could be a big draw.
You can find Cinamen’s listing on Airbnb here.
