Chandrashekhar (name changed) offers a ‘private floor’ for a rent for ₹1,500 a day in a ‘central location’ in Bengaluru. He has good reviews on the home sharing platform he registered with in July 2016. “We started letting out the additional floor, which we were using once a year during my brother’s visit, as a bed-and-breakfast place. It is an additional income and security is not an issue, as it is on a separate floor,” he said.
Bengaluru is steadily becoming the perfect host to what are being touted as ‘new accommodations’. In fact, according to Airbnb, the city is among the top five destinations Indians use Airbnb to travel to. It is the second-biggest market for OYO in terms of revenue generated after Delhi NCR. “With Bengaluru being among the top five destinations for Indian travellers, Karnataka has been one of the regions that has seen significant growth, as more guests look to Airbnb as their preferred accommodation, and more hosts open up their homes to the world. The number of Airbnb listings in Bengaluru has grown over the past year from 1,200 to 1,500,” said Amanpreet Bajaj, Country Manager – India, Airbnb, which provides a platform where individuals can rent out their homes to visitors.
This rise in popularity is not limited to homes available for short-term rent. Abhinav Sinha, COO of hotel aggregator OYO, which launched in Karnataka in September 2014, added: “OYO’s network today spans over 200 cities in India, Malaysia and Nepal. In Karnataka, we have over 7,000 rooms in 600 hotels, of which Bengaluru accounts for 430 hotels. Three of our newly-launched Townhouse hotels are located in Koramangala, M.G. Road and Indiranagar, making Bengaluru the city with the most number of Townhouse hotels after Delhi.”
Mr. Sinha describes Townhouses as hotels designed to function as social hotspots that cater to city dwellers and a new generation of guests. Besides outstation guests, residents staying in these areas can use the property as an alternative workplace and access various amenities. The areas he termed most ‘active’ in the city for hotels are Indiranagar, Koramangala, M.G. Road and Marathahalli. This surge in demand is not surprising given that Karnataka is home to more than 80 Fortune 500 companies and 700-plus multinationals, said Mr. Sinha.
According to ASSOCHAM, Karnataka will attract more than 150 million domestic tourists and around one million foreign ones by 2019.
How do these houses or hotels qualify to become an Airbnb host? A person has to provide detailed information abouthimself and of his home, including a government ID, before booking their listing.
