If you're looking to find a place to crash in a foreign city and have tried solutions like Craigslist or AirBed & Breakfast, you've got to check out Roomorama. It's a peer-to-peer rental community that lets visitors find a cheap, low-key place to stay, and gives renters with some extra space a chance to make some cash.
Like AirBed & Breakfast, people with some extra space can put their place up on the market. If someone's coming into town during the dates you set as being available, they'll have the option to book it. Once you approve the booking, the payment goes through Roomorama's system (which uses PayPal) and the traveler gets a confirmation.
As a traveler you can sort out listings by all kinds of factors, but my favorite is the simple matrix of amenities. You can click to highlight the things you want, like Wi-Fi, parking, laundry, and the all important hot tub. It'll filter the results in real time with every click, and if there's not something that matches up with what you're looking for you can opt to make it a request. If someone's been on the fence about listing their place they can then claim your request with their offering. If an agreement is met you can book it on the spot.
Roomorama is currently limited to New York City with other cities to come. In the meantime, you can list and request rooms in different cities using the aforementioned shout-out system that does the matching for you.
[via Delicious]
Related: Rent your house or couch by the day with AirBed & Breakfast
List places for others to stay or find a place to crash yourself with Roomorama, a hotel service of sorts that cuts out the middle man.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
While not a new idea, AirBed & Breakfast is a fun approach to couch surfing--a time honored tradition that encourages resource sharing between travelers who need a place to stay for a night or two, and people with open couches or a spare room.
The tool is set up like a hotel booking service, allowing people in need of a place to stay an easy way to browse open accommodations by city. As a host you can have people in your house as long as you'd like and set a fee per night or for a specific amount of time. The site also lets you post pictures, list amenities, and note all the little important things like pets, smoking, and whether you'll have a meal ready in the morning (part of the "breakfast" in the moniker).
The service is making its cash by charging a $5 booking fee per night. Otherwise, the rest of the money goes straight to the host and goes through an online payment system so there's no need to deal with cash or check transactions in person. The site was started by a couple of San Francisco locals who took advantage of so many conferences taking place in the area and the need of local conference goers for one or two days' lodging.
[via eHub]
Related: Rent your stuff to strangers with Zilok
Through AirBed & Breakfast, users can see what's available in a certain area and rent a place for a few days.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
- prev
- 1
- next
