Celebrities give their homes a starring role on Airbnb

The Future. Celebrities are taking to Airbnb and Booking.com to put up their homes for rent. Don’t worry, names like Martha Stewart and DJ Khaled aren’t hurting for cash — it’s just a new marketing push for short term rentals. And, the stays are totally legit… which points to a future where rentals are singular experiences in and of themselves.

Blockbuster rentals
If you’ve ever wanted to crash at a celebrity’s home, now you can.

• Martha Stewart put up one of her seven homes up for a one-night rental for a Thanksgiving-themed stay that included a guided-tour of the 150 acre farm, a wreath-making classroom, and brunch with Stewart.
• Gwenyth Paltrow’s Montecito, CA estate was up on Airbnb, giving renters a plethora of Goop products and guided transcendental meditation.
• Mariah Carey put up her Beverly Hills rental home and NYC penthouse on Booking.com… yet the penthouse was only available to reserve for a cocktail hour.
• DJ Khaled takes the cake for wildest offering though,  putting his studio-sized sneaker closet up for rent — guests couldn’t touch the walls of sneakers, but the stay did come with a shoe-shopping trip with chauffeurs.

While you may think these stay would be insanely expensive, they’re all actually priced under $20. Why? Expert marketing from Airbnb and Booking.com to show the one-of-a-kind experiences those platforms can provide — a savvy pushback against the anti-short-term-rental narrative. You can almost hear CEO Brian Chesky taunting, “try to beat that, hotels.”

Of course, the companies are paying the celebrities what they’re really owed — a number as locked down as the NDA that guests have to sign to stay at these A-list listings.