By Adam Bisby, the greatest globe-trotting, child-wrangling, season-pushing and hyphen-abusing freelance journalist in Toronto's M6R postal code.
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ARE B&BS WEIRDER WITH AIRBNB ON BOARD?

8/11/2015

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Airbnb's quirkier properties get plenty of attention thanks to incessant "OMG!" media coverage. "These bizarre rooms will blow your mind!" the digital headlines scream, and proceed to reveal sleepovers in New York and London taxi cabs, gypsy caravans, chuck-wagons, airplane cabins...the list goes on.

But in my experience, bed and breakfasts have always been a bit quirky. Back in October of 2001, for instance, my future spouse and I decided to get out of Toronto for a weekend of strolling through Ontario's fiery fall foliage. The Siberi*inn seemed ideal. Set in a leafy forest between Barrie and Orillia, it was close to the Ganaraska Hiking Trail and was priced within my modest means. Its moniker was a bit odd, but the B&B was home to a pair of Siberian huskies, the website explained, so I figured the owner was fond of both word play and his dogs.   

But the Siberi*inn went waaaaay beyond fondness. Upon entering, we were greeted by the vacant stares of dozens, possibly even hundreds, of furry husky dolls (pictured) arranged along a staircase facing the front door. Sporting an airbrushed husky sweatshirt, our friendly and soft-spoken host, Mike Pidwerbecki, showed us to a comfortable room containing a husky bed spread, husky doilies, husky artwork, husky candles, more husky dolls, miniature husky figurines and, yes, a husky board game (pictured below).

In a kennel behind the property lived Mike's real huskies, which tore around the surrounding forest trails with more energy and enthusiasm than we could possibly muster. They were quite charming, in an exhausting sort of way, and for a moment I considered asking Mike if he would be willing to part with his disconcertingly lifelike husky footstools.

The kicker, however, came the next morning at breakfast. I had not considered the possibility that the dogs were being raised for culinary purposes...until Mike presented us with "husky paws" studded with blueberries and slathered in maple syrup. The Siberi*inn's pancakes, you see, consisted of one big blob of batter and five smaller blobs arranged around it in paw-like fashion. 

I recommended the place to friends for years, but sadly, the Siberi*inn is no longer in business. According to Mike's website, "the huskies have moved to the sledding trails in the sky."

His new preoccupation, it seems, is his 2004 Audi TT S line (pictured below). So maybe he's postponing the Audi*inn's opening until the doilies arrive...

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AIRBNB IS SELLING IT LIKE IT ISN'T

2/25/2015

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If you just read my Globe and Mail story on Airbnb, and are under the mistaken impression that I have a personal beef with the lodging-rental company, let me be clear: I wholeheartedly support the Airbnb concept. 

As an optimist, I love that travellers are able to stay in unoccupied living quarters -- bedrooms or castles or Tesla trunks (pictured) -- in order to save themselves money, provide income for property owners, reduce waste and gratuitous consumption and, yes, deliver what is often a more authentic travel experience than what's offered by cookie-cutter hotels. Travel is an exercise in uncertainty, after all, and I've found that the most rewarding experiences usually involve an element of risk.

In fact, I believe there are two kinds of people in the world: Those who would be comfortable listing their homes on Airbnb, and those who wouldn't. I'd be perfectly happy renting out my Toronto semi -- Pan-Am Games, anyone? -- but my wife would never agree to it. My brother, meanwhile, sides with my spouse. Why wouldn't he rent out his Edinburgh flat? "Because!"

I'm not exactly sure what separates us on the issue, but I think it has something to do with this Onion article.    

So I wonder: Which camp are you in, and why?

More to the Globe article's point, why is Airbnb ignoring the element of risk? It is disingenuous at best, and dangerously misleading at worst, to make welcoming strangers into one's home seem like a risk-free proposition. Airbnb can't control how people behave, after all, and can't control the fallout or circumstances of bad behaviour.

Guests and hosts can be positively rated and encouraged to act responsibly -- as I'm sure the vast majority of Airbnb users do -- but the company shouldn't downplay risks, or even the potential for risk, in order to grow a business that depends on the property of others.

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