This app will help you find a really short-term rental, whether for a video-conference or even a shower and a nap.
Need to take a Zoom meeting during your next road trip? Or maybe you’re looking for the equivalent of a deluxe rest stop? If so, you may want to check out Globe Living, essentially a daytime, by-the-hour version of Airbnb.
Wanna-be guests must verify their phone numbers and undergo government ID verification prior to booking. Once approved, they can reserve a space in homes or apartments for 25 cents to $1.50 a minute. You have to send a photo of a thermometer showing you don’t have a fever to access the check-in instructions.
Stays average two hours and can be reserved between 7 AM and 10 PM; no overnights permitted. Every Globe Living booking comes with a million dollars’ coverage for accidental property damage and liability insurance claims each.
Prior to the pandemic, Globe Living was an alternative to coffeeshops and co-working spaces. Now with those places off the table, Globe Living may be an option for road-trippers looking for a place to catch up on work or, if the host permits it, a shower and a nap. Since March, it’s also proved attractive to people looking for a break from their surroundings or the people they’re sheltering in place with.
Some hosts like it for the short rental period. Others see it as a way to generate income in the wake of Airbnb’s decline; average earnings are $50 per hour after cleaning fees.
The problems with the set-up are several. Not having a fever doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t sick. A guest has to take a host’s word that Globe Living’s cleaning checklist has been followed. While there are no overnight bookings, a several-hour stay may still violate local regulations…assuming you can snag a place at all. Currently there are fewer hosts (5,500) than would-be guests (10,000, with a 100,000—yes, a hundred thousand!)—person waitlist.
Still, if you’re road-tripping for vacay this year and need a break to work or snooze, you may want to give Globe Living a try.
Twist’s Take: The idea of renting a place for only the time you need to do business or take a break while on the road sounds good in theory. But as with all things travel right now, everyone needs to consider his or her health, personal risk threshold, and other factors (local and national restrictions, etc.) when deciding whether to make a Globe Living booking.
