Want to spend a night at Prince’s house or an evening with Kevin Hart? Airbnb plans to list them news

In a wild mixture of game show glamor and marketing brilliance, Airbnb offers customers the possibility to spend the night in a Parisian museum, stay in homes mocked up to appear like movie sets, or sleep surrounded by eight Ferrari race cars.

These and other chimerical offers are a part of a recent, impressive campaign of the short-term rental giant, which wants to present itself as a company selling attractions, not only an alternative to staying in a hotel.

CEO Brian Chesky announced the 11 temporary listings – Airbnb calls them “icons” – at an event on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

The San Francisco-based company got here up with the thought for the promoting campaign after seeing the response to a Barbie-themed house in Malibu, California, that was displayed last 12 months in conjunction with the hit Mattel fashion doll film. The formula is identical: link the promotion to a popular culture product, celebrity or event.

And do not be boring.

“Historically, we are not known for doing anything. We are a platform,” Chesky said in an interview. “I think it’s really great to show what it looks like when suddenly you can step into our vision and our imagination. I think Airbnb will always be in the spotlight.”

Unlike typical properties listed on a rental platform, Airbnb practically gives away its “icons”. Chesky said the corporate will invite people to fill out a profile and explain why they need to be included in certainly one of the listings, and Airbnb will select about 4,000 winners over the course of the 12 months. He said winners will give you the option to book select properties or events without cost or for lower than $100.

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One exotic option is to stay overnight at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. Chesky said Airbnb recruited Mathieu Lehanneur – he designed the torch for this 12 months’s Paris Olympics – to convert the clock room atop the museum into a bedroom.

“The torch is with you in the bedroom, by the way,” Chesky said. “You have the entire museum to yourself. It’s literally a night at the museum. It’s even higher since you exit of the bedroom onto the terrace and have the very best seat within the house for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, which is able to happen on the Seine.

For those preferring an American setting, Airbnb offers a detailed description of a home in New Mexico that is meant to appear like the one from the 2009 Pixar-Disney animated film “Up.” Chesky said Airbnb paid to construct the house from scratch and fasten 8,000 balloons to imitate the helium-filled ones that the film’s essential character uses to make the house fly.

The Airbnb version won’t fly, but Chesky said guests will give you the option to watch the crane lift the New Mexico home 50 feet above the bottom.

“I think we might not have them in the house when we pick it up, just for safety reasons,” he said.

Some of the offers will probably be one-off events, akin to an overnight stay at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, Italy, an in-show performance by rapper Doja Cat, and an evening with comedian Kevin Hart in his members-only lounge. The “Up” house and New York mansion modeled after the one featured in Marvel’s “X-Men” comics will probably be available for 3 or 4 months. Prince’s Minneapolis home, which appeared within the movie “Purple Rain,” will probably be available for a 12 months, according to Airbnb.

The company would not say how much it spent acquiring the rights, decorating the properties and paying the celebrities involved. Airbnb earned $4.8 billion last 12 months and ended 2023 with nearly $6.9 billion in money. Enough to repeat the “icon” campaign.

“These 11 are a start,” Chesky said. “We have a lot more in the works.”