Summer is always a busy travel season, but even at peak times like July, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll see lots of hotels with No Vacancy (空房) signs. More and more travelers are choosing instead to stay in vacation rentals: decorated private houses, rooms, or apartments that only you and your party share for the period of your stay. Or you can get adventurous and book a cabin, a tree house, a houseboat, or even a castle.
The idea appeared in 2007, when Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, the owners of a hotel, realizing that a San Francisco tech meeting would make hotel rooms in the area harder to come by, let travelers sleep on air mattresses (充气床垫) in their apartment for a fee. They called it Air Bed and Breakfast, and the company—now known as Airbnb—is worth almost $100 billion today and has six million listings worldwide.
More space is a major attraction of this accommodation (住宿): the average hotel room measures just 330 square feet, while the average vacation rental room tops 1,300. And in 20 of the largest U. S. cities, average daily rates are comparable to (or slightly lower than) those of hotels.
If you’re willing to share your own digs while you’re away, Love Home Swap pairs you with like-minded travelers for stays in each other’s homes for a membership fee as low as $ 11 per month. If you’d like to list your home, check your local zoning laws, as some areas have strict rules on short-term rentals. In parts of Honolulu, a new law taking effect in October will up the minimum stay to 90 days.
【小题1】What can we learn from Paragraph 1?A.Vacation rentals have replaced hotels nowadays. |
B.Travelers have more options of where to live now. |
C.Hotels have no empty rooms during travel seasons. |
D.Instead of staying in rentals, travelers choose private rooms. |
A.The presence of the Airbnb. | B.The requirement of travelers. |
C.The shortage of hotel rooms. | D.The popularity of air mattresses. |
A.become its member first | B.rent your house for free |
C.list your house for at least 90 days | D.find partners with the similar ideas |
A.To list the various rentals for travelers. |
B.To urge hotels to take on more vacation rentals. |
C.To compare two different ways to spend vacation. |
D.To introduce a new trend on vacation accommodation. |