Easynest, a recently launched hotel website, hooks solo travelers up with strangers to share a room for half price.
Travelers create a free profile and can then enter the list of places they are going to with the dates they want to book. A “host,” the person booking the hotel room, will then contact the “guest,” who pays the host directly after dates, costs, and other details are agreed upon.
On the other side of things, to become a “host,” all you have to do is list a hotel room. According to the New York Daily News , hosts build up their profile placement by contacting potential guests in a timely manner .
The San Francisco-based site’s founders say they will eventually charge a commission for the service, which currently boasts a 400-person membership. The site also proudly boats that it offers solo travelers “the opportunity to meet new friends, build your network, create new opportunities, exchange on the city and learn.”
The concept of Easynest, which launched in May, came from the fact that most hotel rates are based on double occupancy , even if there is only one person staying in the room. With Easynest, the cost of the room is cut in half.
But, as Hotel Chatter points out, the fact that the guest pays the hotel directly — and not through the hotel, which has no involvement in the booking process whatsoever — opens both parties up to being swindled . Unlike AirBnB , which is also based in San Francisco, the site doesn’t appear to have an accountability policy, while the former reimburses host up to $1 million for property damage. There is also no member feedback, meaning guests won’t be able to see if a host has failed to book a room in the past, or a host won’t be able to see if a guest has failed to pay their half. At the time the article was written, the site was only receiving 250 daily visitors — according to co-founder Nicolas Reille — and searches in five different cities yielded no results for the time period chosen.
Would you share a hotel room with a stranger to save money?
