A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN — FOR A LITTLE WHILE
The short-stay rental market is being revolutionized around the world with the advent of websites that allow anyone to welcome travelers into their homes.
ith the development of websites advertising short-term rentals, growing numbers of young people in China are renting out their spare rooms online, attracting travelers from home and abroad with their hospitality and unique spaces.
According to the 2013 Industry Report of Online Short Rentals by China Index Academy, 60.6 percent of tenants rent a temporary lodging because they were traveling. More than 60 percent of landlords are aged between 21 to 35, and 80 percent of tenants are aged between 18 to 30.
“Meeting different people on your journey will help you explore your identity. I like to make friends with others. I’ve become friends with my tenants. They are fantastic and teach me about life,” says Ye Yuting, 22, from Shanghai.
Last September, Ye began renting out her spare room online using the short rental pioneer website Airbnb. Ye says she wanted to “do something unique”.
“It’s not easy for recent college graduates to rent a good room in a big city with a limited budget. I wanted to figure out how I could live in the best house with the least amount of money. Airbnb is one way to do it,” she says.
Ye and her friend spent about 5,000 yuan ($804) decorating a one-room apartment with the theme The Little Prince, a book by French aviator and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The average occupancy rate is more than 15 days per month, with the price set at 329 yuan ($53) per night.
She wants to present the home of the Little Prince, the Asteroid B-612, as it is in her imagination. She added personal touches from her own travels, such as fridge magnets from Thailand and a newspaper from New York.
Ye is not the only person who has found a second job as a landlord.
Liu Siyang, 27, used Airbnb more than a dozen times when she traveled through Europe. When she moved to Shanghai, she rented a 50-square-meter apartment on a three-floor building and spent more than 30,000 yuan decorating it in the way she likes.
But Liu often travels to Europe for business, usually for about one month, up to four times a year. She thinks it’s a pity to leave such a beautiful apartment empty. So last summer, she started to rent it out on Airbnb.
“I love this idea very much. I like to rub shoulders with the locals and I prefer to stay at their houses than hotels,” says Liu, founder of ASAP Showroom, which imports European fashion brands to China. Most of her tenants are foreigners.
Independent travelers like to use online accommodation services because the lodgings are in good locations and safe neighborhoods, are nicely decorated and reasonably priced.
“It’s like my tenants are spending a few days at their cousin’s, because I’m doing my best to make them as comfortable as if they were at home, with things such as a transportation cards, fruit, chocolate and a welcome card,” Ye says.
According to Liu, to enhance the tenants’ experience, it’s important to prepare a full range of userfriendly articles for daily use such as snacks, towels and bathroom amenities. They can make a meal in the fully equipped kitchen with a toaster and a coffee machine, and watch DVDs from their own countries on TV rather than programs in Mandarin.
Liu says her tenants are very friendly and keep the room clean. She even brushes up on her Italian with an Italian tenant who regularly visits Shanghai to learn Chinese.
“It’s better to stay at a hotel if you only stay for two nights. If you’re staying more than three days, it’s very suitable to use the service because you can experience the local lifestyle. You have a key and go out and it feel like you own the place. The feeling is different from hotels,” Liu says.
Last spring, Liu and her parents rented a house in Paris that they found online. When they tired of eating French food after the first three days, they could cook Chinese dishes to satisfy their “homesick” taste buds. Her parents said it was like they had a temporary home in the city and really liked it.