With floating 'Up' house, Airbnb invents new holiday category: wacky

A good enough place to stay is apparently not good enough for Airbnb. Brian Chesky, chief executive of the accommodation giant, believes he has found a way to compete with the hotel industry: weird, wacky and extraordinary experiences.

In a new section of the app called "Icons", you can book an overnight stay in places like the Ferrari Museum, Prince's Purple Rain mansion and even the floating house from the animated film "Up" (recreated by Airbnb with 8,000 balloons).

With this move, Airbnb wants to show that it can do more than software. At the same time, the service will continue to focus on offering accommodation for cheaper holidays.

Remarkably, the Icons stays are either free or cost less than $100 a night. Only relatively few will be able to enjoy these spots, however.

Airbnb is expected to give out about 4,000 "golden" tickets for Icons this year - literally gold-coloured souvenir tickets, just like in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".

Chesky compares this accommodation category to a haute couture collection in a fashion house. It's not for everyone, but it "sells the dream." At the same time, his plan is to be able to offer weird and wacky experiences for everyone over time.

"We're focused on creating more magic in the real world," Chesky said, announcing in the . In a year's time, Airbnb wants to show more clearly how this can be combined with everyday life.

The current 11 "icons" will initially be randomly selected from the mass of interested parties. Airbnb will then decide who will be awarded the contract. Applicants must describe why they are interested in the experience.

Airbnb dug deep into its pockets for its first few "Icons".

The bed in the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, Italy, stands in a semi-circle of eight Formula 1 racing cars. The house from "Up" is an exact replica, right down to the interior design, and was largely created by hand using original sketches from the Pixar animation studio.

But even thousands of helium balloons cannot lift an 18-tonne house into the air, so Airbnb used a crane normally meant to erect wind turbines. The building was even structurally reinforced so that it can hang in the air.

Sadly, it can only float when there are no guests in it. Airbnb even built two houses: one at the actual "Icon" location in the state of New Mexico and one for its unveiling in Los Angeles.

A night in Ikea or in a Barbie house

Chesky also sees real-world breathtaking experiences as a counterweight to the increasing digital overload - especially at a time when AI can generate all kinds of images.

Airbnb had previously offered overnight stays at Ikea, in the last branch of the Blockbuster video rental chain and in a building in Malibu that had been converted into a Barbie house.

The latter was also the impetus for making such experiences a permanent category, said Chesky, admitting that the Barbie House generated more interest than Airbnb's IPO.

In a further innovation for the summer, Airbnb wants to make group travel smoother with new features. All participants on a trip will be able to communicate with the host in a shared chat. There are also wish lists for planning and the option to vote on accommodation.

Chesky admits that until now, users have found it unnecessarily difficult to organize trips together. According to Airbnb, group trips account for around 80% of bookings.

Cities crack down on Airbnb

The platform is keen to keep up the momentum from its upswing during the pandemic, when many people used the newfound option for remote working to work from unfamiliar places.

At the same time, Airbnb believes that there is still plenty of room for growth, since for every one stay booked on the platform, there are nine still booked in hotels.

Chesky isn't scared by moves from several cities around the world to limit short-term rentals in an effort to stop them from blocking affordable housing. Places like Singapore, Vancouver, Vienna and Amsterdam have all cracked down on Airbnb in some form or other.

But Chesky says he wants to fix the things that the general public dislikes. In Europe in particular, overtourism remains a problem - but in Chesky's view, only because too many people are travelling to the same places at the same time.

All Airbnb needs to do is to get people to discover and book stays in unusual places.