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

The website's advertised rate for a traditional courtyard house in a Dongcheng District hutong is 7,500 yuan ($1,050) per night, with a minimum stay of 20 nights. Or for 5,000 yuan ($700) per night, visitors can secure a two-bedroom unit on the 10th floor of a luxury complex in Chaoyang District.

Meanwhile, local expat websites such as Beijing Community (www.beijingcommunity.com) have also become forums for individuals to reach private homestay agreements.

The site has a dedicated thread for those looking to make contact with potential tenants from overseas before August. They include Julian Fisher, a Londoner teaching history in Beijing who rents his one-bedroom flat in the city center for less than 3,000 yuan ($420) per month. Fisher has arranged to sublet his apartment to American Lee Rindge during the fortnight of the Games.

"He said hotels were charging up to 400 pounds (5,627 yuan) a day, so I offered my flat for 150 pounds (2,110 yuan) a day for two weeks," Fisher told London's Sunday Times newspaper.

Bos says interest from prospective overseas tenants has picked up later than expected. But he predicts demand will continue to climb as Olympic ticketing is finalized. Affordability has been the greatest determiner of demand for homestays, while proximity to Games venues is also highly sought. Homestay Beijing 2008 is currently seeking hutong accommodation to let.

Expat-led schemes such as Bos' operate independently from a wider drive to facilitate homestay accommodation for the Olympics in order to supplement a potential shortage of hotel rooms. In January, the Beijing Tourism Administration announced the recruitment of 1,000 local households as "Olympic family hotels".

The administration's deputy director Xiong Yumei says the capital has 806 star-ranked hotels housing 130,000 rooms with 220,000 beds. Other lodging houses and inns can provide an additional 646,000 beds.

"The guest room supply may still fall short of demand, especially for hotels close to the sports venues," Xiong told Xinhua News Agency.

According to recent forecasts from the tourism administration, a five-star hotel room during the Games would cost about 2,960 yuan ($414) per night. Four-star hotel rooms are expected to cost 2,320 yuan ($325) per night, while a room in a three-star hotel is forecast at 1,600 yuan ($224) per night. Two-star accommodation is expected to cost 1,200 yuan ($168) per night for one room.

But actual rates could be even higher, with the five-star Kunlun Hotel in August announcing its deluxe room rate would rise from 1,280 yuan ($180) to 12,000 yuan ($1,680) per night during the Games. The hotel allocated 70 percent of its rooms to accredited clients of the Olympic Family.

(China Daily 02/25/2008 page10)

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