Airbnb says it's going to give customers a chance at overnight stays in a Paris museum, a bedroom filled with Ferrari racing cars, and other exotic settingsFILE - The Orsay museum in Paris is shown on Oct. 16, 2014. Short-term rental giant Airbnb is listing 11 iconic locations, including the Orsay, for a limited time in a splashy new marketing campaign.
CEO Brian Chesky announced the 11 temporary listings — Airbnb is calling them “icons” — at an event Wednesday in Los Angeles. Unlike the rental platform's typical listed properties, Airbnb is practically giving away its “icons.” Chesky said the company will invite people to fill out a profile and explain why they want one of the listings, and Airbnb will pick about 4,000 winners over the course of the year. He said winners will be able to book the featured properties or events for free or at prices under $100.
For those preferring a U.S. setting, Airbnb is listing a house in New Mexico detailed to look like the one from the 2009 Pixar-Disney animated film, “Up." Chesky said Airbnb paid to build the house from scratch and attach 8,000 balloons to mimic the helium-filled ones the central character in the movie uses to make the house fly.