Airbed and Breakfast

As someone who has been traveling a lot recently, I can honestly say that I find little appeal in the idea of dropping exorbitant amounts of cash on a hotel room for a few nights alone in a city you would rather not call home. Even though certain people here whose names rhyme with “Gosh” and “Feather” love fancy-pants hotels, the only appeal to me is the free soap, shampoo, lotion and a variety of adult entertainment choices on spectravision that no one, save for the front desk, will ever know you ordered. If you could trade all that for stimulating conversation with a few like-minded folks, a slightly less comfortable bed, wireless internet and a place to cook breakfast at a considerably cheaper price, would you? The folks at Airbed and Breakfast are banking on the fact that you are. During a casual conversation about the upcoming 2007 IDSA conference Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky, two independent entrepreneurs with product design backgrounds, had the idea to rent out extra space in their apartment to conference attendees. They then launched a website so that other San Franciscans could list their own apartments as convenient crashpads for conference-goers. The best part is that the terms of your stay are up to you. “Designers can choose which designers to meet, stay with, and at what price…” Think of it as Craigslist meets Hotels.com, but a lot less creepy.