TODAY’S modern travelers aren’t just sitting around, poking each other on Facebook; they’re networking with each other around the world offering up spare rooms, spare couches and — thanks to the economy — second homes that could generate a little income instead of just standing there, looking pretty.
With all the options out there for immersing yourself in the destination of your choice, nobody need settle for a boring hotel room. This summer, switch things up, lodging-wise — we’ll show you how.
1) SHORT ‘N’ SUITE You’ve heard of short-term sublets, but what about renting an artist’s loft in Buenos Aires for just one or two nights? That’s the purpose behind the San Francisco-based Airbnb.com, a nifty networking site that bills itself as “eBay for space.“ Here, owners list lodging ops of all shapes, sizes and ridiculousness — everything from treehouses to castles (“space“ being relative, and all) — most skewing cheap, in over 4,000 cities world-wide. With very few minimum-stay requirements and a scam-sensitive setup that won’t release payment to the renters until 24 hours after guests arrive, the site is quickly growing in popularity. (Note, though, a lot of commercial properties are using the site as well, a development we’re less excited about.) Besides payment, all other forms of interaction between owner and the prospective renter are direct — owners have the right to screen and reject applicants; just like a typical roommate situation.
2) HOME RUN We’ve talked about the boom in vacation rentals online before, but it bears repeating — nothing puts you up close and personal with a place like staying in an actual home, versus a hotel. And even if you don’t want to get up close and personal — hey, some places aren’t that interesting, we get it — you can get way more space for your buck when you rent a house. Or a villa. Or a castle. Everyone’s getting in on the game; check out TripAdvisor.com, which now lists and allows users to review vacation properties. That’s just the beginning, though; the company also owns FlipKey.com, which features 100,000+ properties and, naturally, a growing number of user reviews. Week-long minimums are very common here and elsewhere.
3) CRASH LAND It’s a hard habit to give up. But after college, crashing on your buddy’s couch is generally no longer kosher under the Terms & Conditions of the friendship. Especially if your buddy’s married. Somehow, though, the concept becomes much less taboo when branded — rather euphemistically — a “cultural exchange“. Sites like CouchSurfing.com and a relative newbie to the scene, Tripping.com, play up this notion of extremist mi casa es su casa, where users sign up (for free), develop an interest in one another’s cultural circumstances and, ideally, agree to host and act as local tour guide for one another whenever called upon. As host, your duty, beyond supplying the bed, is arranging what sights to see, what festivals to catch, where to eat, what people to hang out with — no small responsibility. CouchSurfing, which launched back in 2003, has over a million members in 230 countries.
4) SWAP MEET Long before folks became comfortable making their most intimate connections online, trusting travelers were working out homeswap deals. Never heard of it? It’s a simple concept. Family A agrees with Family B to travel to each other’s cities simultaneously, passing off the keys to each other’s homes. It was a concept made famous in some dopey Cameron Diaz movie not too long ago. Start your search at HomeLink — they’re now on the Internets, of course: HomeLink-usa.com, to be precise. Once users pay a membership fee ($115/year; $181 for 2), they have the ability to swap their living unit with all other members — some 13,000 in 72 countries (including oddballs like Monaco and Cuba). Since this is a mutual transaction, that means outside of the membership fee, your stays are free (although you might be expected to pitch in for small expenses like utilities, partial rent, etc. — that’s for you to work out).