Would Share A Hotel Room With A Stranger?

One of the downsides of traveling by yourself is the cost of hotel rooms. Typically, hotels charge solo travelers the same rate for a room as 2 people. Would you share a hotel room with a stranger to reduce your lodging costs?

That's the question a new website Easynest is trying to solve. Easynest's goal is to pair like mind-travelers together to split the cost of a hotel stay. The service is currently free.

The first thing I don't like about Easynest is that I have to sign-in by connecting to Facebook. Why can't I sign-up normally? Why do I have to give you access to my Facebook Profile?

Next you create your profile:

This is the second thing I don't like about this website. I wish there was more I could add the profile especially what I am looking for in a "guest." I don't want to room with a smoker. Yes, someone could lie that they aren't a smoker, but with these type

The next step is to list your hotel stay:

At the moment, its your responsibility to collect the money from your guest. Easynest doesn't get involved. Therefore, this could be a little risky.

On the flip side, need to search for someone willing to split their room. You can do that on the website's home page:

I did a quick search of people willing to share hotels on Friday October 25th and found nothing in LA, Seattle, Washington, DC, New York, Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, and Dallas. So, it won't work for every one of your trips.

When would I use this?

I started to think about when I might use this website. The likely place is on my solo vacations like my trip to Tokyo last year. However, I love coming back to my hotel by myself. I travel solo for a reason. Therefore, I
doubt I would use it then. Maybe on a one night stay waiting for a flight the next morning?

Then it hit me. This website is perfect for mattress runs! On a mattress run, the goal is to use the stay to get a free night, extra points or status. Many times on a mattress run, you don't actually stay in the room. This is perfect for this website.

Here is how I would use Easynest. First, advertise my mattress rub. If someone is interested in your ad, you can let them know that you have no plan on spending the night. You go to the hotel, check-in, wait for your guest to arrive, accept the money and then leave. This could reduce the cost of your mattress run.

Pros:  Reduce cost of your hotel stay, complete a mattress run, and earn points

Cons: You have no idea what your guest does after the stay. Do they destroy the room, order movies or
           internet and you are stuck with the charge?

Conclusion:

Overall, I think Easynet is great idea. I defiantly can see some 20 somethings thinking its cool to share a room with a stranger. I might try out using Easynet for mattress runs. However, I doubt this website is going to catch on. If people do not put up opportunities for shared rooms, people can't try out this service. Word of mouth advertising will be key to this site's success!

Would you share a room with a stranger?
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