By Viva Goldner (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-02-25 14:22

An available apartment listed on Piet Bos' website. File Photo

Over the past months, Bos has appealed to homeowners and tenants in all districts of Beijing to sublet their homes for handsome profit under his scheme: "Imagine renting out your accommodation for the 15 days of the Olympics and making back the rent of three months. You could finally go to visit the place where you always wanted to go while the rest of Beijing is busy with the Olympics!"

Bos operates Homestay Beijing 2008 in tandem with his tour company, Beijing Daytrips.

"Each home is different, (but) as a rule of thumb, the current rate we use to establish pricing for homestays is 500-750 yuan per person that can stay in the apartment per day. In other words, if you have a two-bedroom apartment, where a maximum of four people can stay, then the average price per night is 2,000-3,000 yuan," he says.

"Mind you, these prices are what I advise landlords. In the end, they have to decide for themselves what they want to charge to make it worth their while to have strangers stay in their home."

While many homestay landlords plan to put the extra cash towards a vacation or visiting family and friends overseas while their home is occupied, others will stay in Beijing but share their home during the Games.

For Olympic visitors, homestay accommodation can be more affordable than staying in a hotel, as well as providing greater living space and a more localized experience of life in the Chinese capital.

Homestay Beijing 2008 now has about 400 available properties listed on its site, with short profiles, photographs and additional information for each, for example whether or not the landlord allows children to stay.

   1 2 3   

   1 2 3