College Students Are Putting Their Dorm Rooms And Fraternity Houses Up For Rent On AirBnB

Jared Borislow9 years ago

Not everybody was lucky enough to go to college, and even fewer people were granted the divine right necessary to gain acceptance into a fraternity. The chance to live these lifestyles for a short while, however, is now available — for a fee — from an unlikely source: AirBnB.

From Fast Company:

Airbnb has more than 2 million listings, including 1,400 castles. At least a handful of them are rooms listed inside of student housing. Renting out a dorm bed is unlikely to produce a windfall of cash, but with tuition costs having risen by 46% between 2001 and 2012, it’s understandable that some students are looking for extra income.

I’m not sure if it’s included in the 1,400 figure or not, but, along with dorm rooms, frat castles are also available for rent on the popular travel site.

A fraternity house in Philadelphia, meanwhile, used Airbnb to offer $75 per night housing during the Pope’s visit to the city last September. “Looking for accommodations in Philadelphia while the Pope is in town?” its description read. “Want to relive your glory college days of living in a Frat House? Well, now you can accomplish both in one stay.”

Under “house rules,” the listing explained that “its a fraternity house just dont destroy the place and you can act how you want.” It also noted, helpfully, “Bring shower flops.” (All capitalization and punctuation errors their own.)

If getting told “just don’t destroy the place and you can act how you want” doesn’t make you feel like a fraternity member, nothing will. I hope that whole shower flops line is bold, italicized, underlined, and in size one billion font. They can’t stress that enough. Nothing ruins a vacation faster than athlete’s foot… or stepping in jizz. I’m not entirely sure which one they’re referencing. Probably both.

Renting out your dorm room makes sense if you think about. Besides the fact that it I’m almost one hundred percent certain it is against any leasing document any college student living in university housing would sign, there’s really nothing to lose. You get to make some money back, your lessee gets a taste of college life, you can put “landlord” on your resume. Win-win-win..

[via Fast Company]