Massimo Arcangeli was clarifying details of the couple’s stay with the owner of the family-run guesthouse in Santa Maria, a hamlet near the beach resort of Tropea, via the messaging service when he was told that gays were not accepted.

He posted the discussion on his Facebook page. The owner asked questions about where the couple was from and gave details of the guesthouse adjoining the family villa before thanking Arcangeli for booking to stay, adding that it was the first year they were renting the home to holidaymakers.

But then the owner ended the message with what he described as an “important” notice:

“I’m sorry if I seem like a caveman. We don’t accept gays and animals.”

Arcangeli said: “It immediately made me think of the famous message Nazis would post on their shop windows: ‘No dogs or Jews’. Seventy years have passed since then and this story cannot be ignored.”

The Italian gay rights association, Arcigay, has called for the hotel to be removed from Booking.com and other hotel reservation sites.

The association’s Naples unit said it was “disgusted” by the hotel owner’s conduct.

“We also look forward to decisive action being taken by the municipality, the Calabria region and authorities responsible for supervising and combating discrimination.” Read more via the Local