The glossy mansion within the hills overlooking Las Vegas may have been featured on MTV’s “Cribs.” But the spotlight of Aubrey Garza’s weekend keep there wasn’t the palatial rooms or the marble fire. It was assembly her Airbnb host: Christina Aguilera.
“It just felt like a dream,” Ms. Garza, 26, stated. When she was rising up, her bed room was adorned with posters of the pop star. Ms. Garza had nabbed one of many “once-in-a-lifetime” promotional stays that Airbnb has often listed lately.
The fashionable, if uncommon, listings have included not solely non-public hangouts with celebrities but in addition stays in a Barbie mansion modeled on the one from the hit film and a duplicate of Shrek’s swamp dwelling within the Scottish Highlands.
On Wednesday, Airbnb introduced that it was increasing stunt promotions like these beneath a brand new everlasting class referred to as “Icons,” that includes uncommon and impressive partnerships with manufacturers and celebrities
At a information convention in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Brian Chesky, Airbnb’s chief government, launched the inaugural slate of Icons listings.
It was headlined by a duplicate of the floating home from “Up,” the 2009 animated Pixar movie, balloons and all. With the assistance of a large crane, the home shall be suspended excessive within the air over the New Mexico desert.
Asked whether or not the home, which doesn’t look like related to the bottom by pipes or wiring, had plumbing and electrical energy, the corporate stated it was “fully functional.” Asked for particulars, the corporate stated the home ”is related to a generator and different utilities that shall be disconnected and reconnected earlier than and after flying.”
Other listings embody a recreation of the mansion from the “X-Men ‘97” cartoon, built to appear two-dimensional.
Only a few people have been able to stay in Airbnb’s earlier fantastical listings, however the firm stated it anticipated roughly 4,000 prospects to e book stays in Icons listings in 2024.
Another 10 listings are slated to go up by the tip of the yr. Booking durations will range. Dates for the “Up” home are open by mid-September.
With Icons, Airbnb is hoping to capitalize on the success that earlier listings have achieved as promotional instruments, ready-made for Instagram selfies and crowd pleasing headlines, Mr. Chesky stated. (Yes, we fell for it.)
He pointed to the success of Airbnb’s collaboration with Mattel final summer season, which introduced the Malibu DreamHouse to life forward of the discharge of the blockbuster “Barbie” movie. The buzz different manufacturers.
“I think what they’ve seen is that these prior Icons have become cultural sensations, quite literally,” Mr. Chesky stated in a telephone interview.
The Barbie itemizing bought two to 3 instances as a lot press protection than when Airbnb went public in 2020, Mr. Chesky stated. The Shrek Swamp itemizing was considered on the platform greater than 200 million instances.
For an indication of what prospects can count on, the keep two-night keep that Ms. Garza received by submitting a reserving request for the Las Vegas mansion (“Hosted by Christina,” in line with the itemizing) earlier this yr gives a clue.
Ms. Garza, her older sister and two associates chatted with Ms. Aguilera over drinks and dinner inside an ornate mansion with glass partitions and excessive ceilings, an infinity pool with stylish deck chairs, a lofty balcony with sweeping views of the town, pink accented furnishings match for a ladies weekend getaway. (The lodging was free; all Ms. Garza needed to pay for was the flight there.)
For Airbnb, the payoff of such listings is in sustaining relevance and concurrently producing a dependable stream of constructive consideration that may assist counter the detrimental press reviews it has confronted over hidden prices, hidden cameras and the disruptive results that short-term leases can have on communities
“Most people only ever open our app once or twice a year, and we’ve got to battle to make sure they think of us every single year,” Mr. Chesky stated in a telephone interview. “So this keeps us top of mind and culturally relevant.”
Airbnb hopes the challenge will assist with worldwide markets as properly. One of the listings introduced Wednesday is a weeklong keep aboard a tour bus with Feid, a Colombian reggaeton artist fashionable in Latin America. Another contains an in a single day keep in India hosted by the Bollywood star Janhvi Kapoor.
Though Mr. Chesky expects Icons listings to attract hundreds of friends, that determine represents a minuscule share of Airbnb’s 150 million customers. Still, he stated, the class represents the way forward for Airbnb.
“So this in of itself is not a stand-alone business, but it’s more than just any marketing promotion,” he stated. “It’s a gateway to Airbnb becoming more than a place to stay.”