Man Lists Tent in Backyard on Airbnb for $899 a Month
The listing included one shower per day and wireless Internet.
— -- Looking for an inexpensive place to stay in California? Even roughing it in a tent might cost you.
A man recently listed a tent in his parents’ backyard in Mountain View, California, on Airbnb for $899 a month.
John Potter, a freelance Web developer and founder of Awwpicture.com, said the listing started off as a joke.
“Originally I was going to rent a room in the house and a tent, but I thought it would be funny to see if someone would be interested in just staying in our backyard,” the 22-year-old told ABC News.
Because of a surprisingly high demand, Potter said he ended up raising the price of his listing to $46 a night.
“About half the people who contacted me said they just got a new job or some tech-related thing is going on for them here,” Potter said.
A stay at Potter’s tent included one shower per day, wireless Internet and access to an extension cord for electricity.
The location is also ideal for those in the tech industry: Potter said his parents’ home is one block from Google X and is near the Caltrain, for those visiting San Francisco or other places in the area.
Potter said he has since taken his listing down temporarily, due to his father’s ill health and an overwhelming amount of inquiries into his tent, and plans to re-list his tent in the near future. But Potter has already had two different guests stay in the tent, each for less than a week.
“A lot of people want temporary housing one way or another, so just staying in a tent for a few weeks or a month and a half is appealing to them,” Potter said. Airbnb did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Potter isn't the first person to list a tent on Airbnb. A search of the Mountain View area found four other Airbnb listings where people could stay in a tent, though Potter's is the only one in Mountain View proper. Users can even search exclusively on the site for tents all over the world to stay in.
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