Travel
An $18,000 Airbnb
Weekend Stay
By Dr. Rosanna Garcia
I
just booked through Airbnb
a stay at a lovely home in Leuven,
Belgiuim. for the end of May. The
simplicity and quaintness of the
room reminds me of Van Gogh’s
Bedroom in Arles. Besides its charm,
I chose this room because previous
guests had described their stay as
‘amazing’, ‘magnificent’, and
‘excellent’. The last Airbnb guest
wrote that it was a ‘pleasure to sit
down and get to know [the hosts]
a bit better over some wine and
snacks.’ It’s the locals you meet
through home sharing that adds to
the foreign travel experience. For
me as a single woman traveling for
business, it’s also nice to know I’m
in the safety of a home where I’m
genuinely welcome. No eating alone
in sterile hotel dining halls for me.
But Airbnb doesn’t just offer rooms
in a local’s home. You can rent a
romantic houseboat on the Seine
overlooking the Eiffel Tower or an
Italian villa surrounded by Tuscan
oak woods, olive orchards and
vineyards, making it your own for
the vacation stay. Airbnb reportedly
has 1,000,000 listings in 33,000
cities in more than 190 countries.
If you dream of it, you will likely
find it on Airbnb including windmills,
reno