Thursday, July 19, 2012

Destination Wedding Rentals: Adventurous Spots to Lay Your Head

Words by Courtney Kellar

Words by Courtney Cox

Photos courtesy of Airbnb

Couples are getting more and more creative when it comes to their destination weddings – and not only in regards to decorations and themes. Brides and grooms are now thinking outside the box in terms of accommodations, offering their guests a more unique and cost-effective experience. Instead of simply blocking off rooms in a select hotel, couples are now renting condos, villas and beach houses for their guests to enjoy together. Along with this trend comes websites dedicated to helping World travelers find their home-away-from-home in a secure and easy way.

Enter Airbnb – one of the World’s leading marketplaces to list, discover and book special accommodations. It’s a community-based site in which people around the globe with space to spare or homes to rent can find reputable guests – you! Whether you’re looking to rent an apartment for a night, a castle for a week or a villa for a month, Airbnb has hundreds of thousands of options. The site now has over 200,000 active, bookable properties worldwide in more than 19,000 cities and 192 countries.

Here are some statistics:

· Airbnb has over 95,000 listings in Europe alone.

· 4.4 million nights have been booked in the U.S. since the company’s start in 2008.

· Every two seconds, a night of travel is booked on Airbnb.

· The site recently reached a tremendous milestone: Ten million guest nights booked.

Airbnb is a great resource if you’re looking to do something out of the ordinary for your destination wedding or honeymoon. It’s an easy and cost-effective way to be a little more adventurous! Even if you’re not sure a rental property is a fit for you and your guests, check out Airbnb.com to see the fabulous and unique properties available around the globe. It boasts anything from a trendy loft in Germany and a glamping spot in the U.K., to a glass house in California and houseboat in Paris. Happy booking!