The World's Most Extreme Off-Grid Airbnb’s

Imagine waking up in a glass pod suspended from a cliff or going to sleep under an icy glacier ceiling in Greenland. Today we're diving into some of the world's most extreme short term rentals. They will definitely push your limits, but they'll also get you thinking of what's possible or maybe a potential trip in the future. Stay tuned as we disconnect just a little bit and take a look at what some of the world's most extreme short term rentals have to offer. Welcome back to the Short Term Rental Riches podcast. I'm happy you're here again. If you've been in the short term rental industry for a while, you know that there is a massive range of types of properties available. We have urban, we have lakeside, we have oceanside. But we also have a lot of extreme short term rentals today. And we're going to break down some of the world's most extreme. But before we do, why is it that people are wanting to stay in these properties and why is it that they can charge so much money? Well, the first thing is because they're in extreme locations, it makes it really difficult for a big hotel chain like Marriott or Hilton to go in and actually do that development. The cost would just be too high and so that's why it's usually left to individual units. Why are people booking these? Well, they're looking for new adventures. They're looking for a digital detox. Lots of guests just want to unplug and reconnect with nature and off grid short term rentals. Give them the opportunity to do that. Before we dive into some of the hand picked ones that our teams found across the world, I want to give you a personal story of one of the most extreme Airbnbs I ever stayed at. This was deep in the jungles of Colombia and if you've been tuning in the show for a while, you know, I spent a lot of time over the last decade living in Colombia. In fact, we're building a boutique resort there. But this property I booked for my birthday, I had a jeep there at the time. I wanted to get away, I wanted to disconnect and so we headed out of the city. I was with my currently wife, girlfriend at the time, this was years ago and we got out of the city and then we finally got off road and I'm following the instructions or we're in the Airbnb, but they're down a dirt road, a rocky, a bumpy road that needed four wheel drive. I had four wheel drive, so I was prepared there. But I was not prepared for the rain to start pouring down and then also eventually the sun to go down and there were no street lights out there. So it made getting to this short term rental incredibly hard. There was actually a point where I thought we were going to have to turn around. We were sliding down the mountain, going back and forth and back and forth, but there were so much rain that I just couldn't make it. Luckily, a Colombian came by on their motorcycle from who knows where and offered to push. And so I'm there in the Jeep, just shooting mud everywhere, unfortunately, over this poor Colombian. He's behind us, right? There was no other way to do it. He was wearing a poncho, luckily, and so he's helping me get up, but we still cannot get up. And then out of nowhere, I swear, another guy shows up on a motorcycle, also in a poncho because the rain's pouring down and Colombians are so nice. If you haven't visited the country yet, you really need to check it out. It's highly recommended. And so I have two Colombians, complete strangers I've never met in my life, behind my jeep, helping to push it up the mountain and I'm just shooting so much mud over them. I swear I feel really bad though because I couldn't stop. If I were to have stopped, I would have slid right back down the mountain. And so of course I wanted to pay them for their support, but I couldn't. So we took off and finally we made it to the shore terminal, which was truly beautiful on the side of the mountain in the jungle, super peaceful, Jacuzzi. It was very nice, but it was a really hard time getting there and so that affects your review score. Stay tuned. I'll tell you how I actually reviewed this property in just a second. But before we get to the details on that review and why I left it, let's break down some of the most extreme short term rentals our team could find. One of our top picks for most extreme off grid short term rental, this one happens to be on a floating glacier in Greenland. This property offers an experience and by the price tag you could expect it to be pretty good experience. Well north of $1,000 a night. Remember, the higher your nightly rate, the more expectations your guests are going to have. This property has some amazing photos of people standing underneath glaciers, of the sort of yurt looking tents, but very luxurious inside floating on top of the water. This is definitely experience and this is what people are looking for. A lot of people, I should say, they're looking for adventure. Quick side story. My partner Justin, who you've probably heard podcast if you've been tuning in for a while, sent me a message not too long ago earlier this year and said, hey, Tim, something last minute came up. I've been wanting to do this trip. I'm heading to Greenland to do it. Get this, an 80 kilometer hike through the snow. I was like, dude, are you serious? He ended up having an amazing experience. He stayed in several different accommodations. It turned into a dog sledding adventure. He met people. And that's why people are looking for these types of experiences, because they're never going to forget them. Next up we have the Skylodge Adventure Suites. And this is one I have to confess that I might not even want to stay at because it is so extreme. This is a property suspended from the side of a cliff. In order to get to it, guests either have to climb or take a zip line. Obviously, there's a lot of liability that comes along with this type of property. The ones that we've picked for you today are around the world and so insurance requirements and all those things change depending where you are. This one happens to be in Peru and it definitely offers some upscale amenities like gourmet meals and wine. And it reflects in the price tag as well. At over $600 a night, and for a property in Peru suspended on the side of a cliff, that's a pretty high price tag. I gotta say, I don't think I would probably want to stay in this one. I got a little, little fear of heights. But I would say if I ever did stay in it, I definitely wouldn't forget it because I probably wouldn't be sleeping. Next up, we have a yurt in Mongolia. Surrounded by national parks, lakes and waterfalls. Some of the available tours include eagle scouting. You've got local opportunities to go out there with eagle hunters. How many people do you know that have been hunting eagles? This place is surrounded by snow, definitely remote. Definitely a place or an adventure or an experience you will not forget. You also note that this property is a lot cheaper at $135 a night. So while it is very extreme, it's not offering a lot of those luxury amenities like the gourmet me and wine in Peru, for example. So remember, our price tags have to match our guests expectations and our listing profiles have to do a really good job of explaining exactly what our property is like. Otherwise you'll find yourself with not so great reviews. All right, next up, no one would be expecting this one, but sleeping underwater with sharks In Paris. And I know you're probably thinking what that, like where in Paris? How could you do that? Well, it's actually in a giant aquarium and this is a property there partnered with Airbnb. It's called the Glass Shark Suite and It's surrounded by 360 views of, you guessed it, sharks. A truly unique stay was actually designed to raise shark awareness and they offer one night stays there. I do not know the price. It's very possible that this property just got booked up and it's not available at all. And that's something that we find with unique stays. Right? Because they're unique and they're extreme. There are not a lot of them. And so when the word gets out and people understand or see how, how great these experiences are, more people want to book them and those calendars fill up quickly. Also another great reason to have a direct booking website. These types of properties also lend themselves really well to social media because it can go viral. Right. How many properties do you know that you can sleep in? Aquarium with sharks. So a couple quick tips on extreme stays or accommodations. If you're planning on having one yourself or renting one yourself, the first thing is you got to make sure that it's accessible. Set those expectations really, really clearly. If you are in a place that's really hard to get to, well, make sure that you have required transportation, for example. You want to pull out things that guests love about your property. If you're offering one of these unique type of stays, we can find all those comments in the reviews, but we also want to ask them for their feedback as well. And one of the things that's undoubtedly going to be a common thread through these types of properties is just disconnecting from the city life or the work life, doing different and creating an incredible experience. You want to remember to price according to the uniqueness and the exclusivity. If you're charging too much and you're not meeting those guest expectations, then you're not going to get that greater reviews. People still want to be comfortable even if it is an extreme accommodation. So if you've got a really high price tag, make sure that you've included as many of those modern comforts as you possibly can. And if you're not able to that any of those things that someone would expect are clearly mentioned in your listing. I left the Columbia property a five star review because it just was such a great experience. I mean, it was really out in the middle of nowhere. A lot of things go into that though, right? I mean I'm sort of biased because I've been working with short term rentals for over a decade. We've had thousands of thousands of guest reservations and our team works with hundreds of properties in over 40 cities. So I guess for an individual owner, especially in Colombia where the standards are a little lower than they might be in the US or Europe, I just have kind of like a soft spot for someone trying to do a really good job and my feedback to them is make those expectations more clear. But you absolutely have amazing property. I loved it and I would recommend it. So while these retreats aren't for everyone, there's definitely a segment of the market that's looking for them and willing to pay for them. If you've got some crazy short term rental stories of your own we'd love to hear about them. Please put them in the comments. It'd be a lot of fun to read. Until next time. I hope you have a fabulous week.