As the popularity of Airbnb and other short stay property portals explodes worldwide, there is a wide variety of cost-effective accommodation competing for business from the millions of guests registered on these websites.
However, the cheapest accommodation listed on Airbnb in the UK has been revealed. A listing for an air mattress placed in the back seat of a car has been named the lowest priced short stay rental on the site, charging a mere £8 per night. The host behind this budget accommodation also offers a separate listing of a tent set up in a garden for the same fee.
The Airbnb listing describes how guests can sleep al fresco while in the privacy and safety of a backyard, and suits solo adventurous travellers who wish to experience a location in close proximity to the beach in Sheerness.
Desire Cyprien, Airbnb host, is offering the experience of car camping in the Isle of Sheppey, located in Kent, for the price of £8 each night, and a service fee of £1. According to the host’s listing on Airbnb, guests are given a choice from two locations for their accommodation. The car, known as Sapphire’s Sheppey Car, is parked outside a gated backyard on Beach Street, which is the location of both Sapphire’s Sheppey Tent and Sapphire’s Sheppey Caravan. On request, the car can be alternatively parked on the street at the front of the home, where the guest has access to a shared WC inside the property.
The car camping accommodation also has access to an electrical socket located in the backyard and a private guest toilet in a tent. It is also equipped with shades to provide guests with privacy.
The host’s tent accommodation also offers toilet facilities, and includes a flask of coffee or tea, and a water bottle. For an additional service charge of £1, the host provides guests with a plug socket, air bed and sleeping bag. The budget rental accommodation is located next to a flat, and is only metres away from Sheerness beach. A leisure centre is also located nearby for the guest to take showers, which are priced at £2.
Currently, only one guest has stayed in the tent so far, and they rated the accommodation with five stars on the Airbnb website. She states that she enjoyed the accommodation, which comes with a comfortable bed. To ensure your short-stay accommodation is in suitable condition, consider hiring a professional to conduct an airbnb inspection.
The host currently manages five short stay rental listings in Sheppey, including the airbed located in the back of a car, and has earned a degree in spa management. Ms Cyprien came up with the idea of making the listing for a tent on Airbnb after conducting gardening work in her backyard and discovering an unused, decent sized space which could be used for accommodation, which would also complement the caravan which is already on site.
On Airbnb, the only listings which are in a similar price bracket to Sapphire’s Sheppey Tent are campsites which require guests to bring and erect their own tents.
These rooms are a far cry from the most glamorous accommodation which Airbnb offers worldwide, including mansions and high-end city apartments.
However, there are a number of horror stories from travellers booking accommodation through Airbnb. One British holiday maker was stunned to discover an Airbnb room in New York she booked through the platform was in fact only a roll mat placed underneath the stairs. The room still set the traveller back £30 each night. She claimed that despite the sparse and disappointing lodgings, that she slept well, and chose to stay there for the remainder of her booking.
Another British traveller found that the Airbnb room he booked in Amsterdam for £100 a night was in fact a shipping container left on the side of a road in the city.
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