Earlier this year, Brian Chesky, the billionaire co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, committed to living permanently in a rotation of properties listed by his platform. While he’s no doubt spent the year city-hopping with his own company, it seems the man is back living at his permanent home in San Francisco. And he wants you to be his housemate. This month, Chesky has put up a guest suite in his own house so you c
“Stay with me – the co-founder of Airbnb and its first Host,” writes Chesky in the official Airbnb listing for his guest suite, referring to the time when he has his housemate blew up some air mattresses and welcomed three guests into their home. Now it seems the house is just him and his golden retriever, Sophie, plus a guest suite that has been decorated as a kind of immaculate light-filled corner bedroom that’s also doubling as a museum with pieces of Airbnb history.
Other features of Brian Chesky’s Airbnb listing include a fully-sized bathroom with a large shower, a spacious chef’s kitchen and a sun-soaked living room with floor-to-ceiling windows.
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Aside from hanging out with a billionaire and his dog and having your own guest suite, living with Brian Chesky in his home is a tempting choice given its location. According to the listing, the room offers wide views of the Castro district, which means it’s a short walk from Noe Valley and the Mission, two of San Fran’s most fascinating neighbourhoods.
You will, however, need to keep a key eye out for cancellations if you want to hang with Chesky and his dog. I just tried to book and could find no available check-in dates whatsoever, even in October 2024.
The move follows a tumultuous few years for Airbnb, to say the least. When the Covid-19 pandemic first started in 2020, the home-sharing company lost 80% of its business in eight weeks but has since reportedly bounced back hard and fast.
It seems part of its recovery plan is to introduce more safeguards for Airbnb hosts to encourage more to list their homes on the platform. It’s a tasty proposition for anyone considering it anyway, given the typical Host on Airbnb in Australia earns at least around $11,464 extra a year by welcoming guests – based on internal Airbnb data from 2021.
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New safeguards for Airbnb hosts include what is essentially a mentorship program called Airbnb Setup where new hosts get one-to-one guidance from a certified “Superhost” and an experienced guest as their first booking. This is in addition to an “Aircover” program that includes reservation screening technology, guest identity verification, increased protection for property and $3 million in damage protection.
On the flipside, travellers looking for homes on Airbnb should now find that the platform has six new categories, including a “Play” tab that allows you to search for homes specifically with basketball courts, games rooms, miniature golf, water slides and other activities. That should make your yearly team-building getaway a bit easier to organise.
