A crazy combination of game show glitz and marketing glitz, Airbnb offers customers the chance to spend a night in a Parisian museum, stay in a house modeled like a movie setting, or even drive a car in eight Ferraris. It offers an opportunity to sleep surrounded by racing cars.
These and other chimerical listings are part of a flashy new campaign by the short-term rental giant, which wants to present itself as a company that sells experiences, not just experiences. Alternatives to stay At the hotel.
CEO Brian Chesky announces 11 temporary listings – Airbnb calls them “icons” — at an event in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The San Francisco company came up with the promotional idea after seeing the response to its Barbie-themed homes in Malibu, California. It went public last year in conjunction with a hit movie about Mattel’s fashion dolls. The formula is the same, linking promotions to pop culture products, celebrities, and events.
Don’t be bored.
“We’re not known for making anything historically. We’re a platform,” Chesky said in an interview. “I think it’s really great when you can suddenly step into our vision and our imagination and show us what it looks like. I think Airbnb will always be a hot topic in the future. Masu.”
Unlike the typical listed properties on a rental platform, Airbnb essentially gives away its “icon” for free. The company will ask people to fill out a profile and explain why they want one of the listings, and Airbnb plans to select about 4,000 winners a year, Chesky said. He said winners can book featured properties and events for free or for less than $100.
One of the exotic occasions is Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Chesky said Airbnb has hired Mathieu Lehanneur. designed a torch In preparation for this summer’s Paris Olympics, the clock room at the top of the museum will be converted into a bedroom.
“By the way, the torch is in your bedroom,” Chesky said. “You’ll have the whole museum to yourself. It’s literally night in the museum. It’s even better because you step out from your bedroom onto the terrace and have the only best seat in the house for the Olympic opening ceremony on the Seine. Become.
For those who prefer an American feel, Airbnb is listing a New Mexico home modeled after the one featured in the 2009 Pixar and Disney animated film “Up.” Chesky said Airbnb paid to build the house from scratch and install 8,000 balloons to mimic the helium-filled balloons the movie’s protagonist uses to make the house fly.
Although the Airbnb version will not fly, guests will be able to watch a New Mexico home being lifted by a crane from 50 feet above the ground, Chesky said.
“I think for safety reasons you might not put them inside the house when you lift them,” he said.
Among the list: a sleepover at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, Italy, a living room performance by rapper Doja Cat, and a night with comedian Kevin Hart in the members-only lounge. Events are also included. The New York “Up” house and mansion, built to look like those from Marvel Comics “X-Men,” will be available for three to four months. Airbnb says Prince’s Minneapolis home, which was featured in the movie “Purple Rain,” will be available for one year.
The company did not say how much it cost to acquire the rights, decorate the property and pay the celebrities involved. Airbnb made $4.8 billion in profits last year and had nearly $6.9 billion in cash at the end of 2023. Enough to repeat the “Icon” campaign.
“These 11 people are the beginning,” Chesky said. “We have more in the works.”
