Behind the Stays
The stories behind your favorite Airbnbs — and the hosts who've made them memorable.
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How to Build a Short-Term Rental Business — And Also Change the World.
How to Upsell Amenities at Your Airbnb — Ideas from Madison Rifkin, Founder of Mount
How to Design Highly-Experiential Stays for the Next Generation of Travelers
Is Home Swapping the Future of Travel? Justine Palefsky Thinks So. Meet the Co-Founder of Kindred.
She Designed the First Eco-Luxe Vacation Rental in Hocking Hills in Honor of Her Father — Meet the Creator of The Carpenter’s Cabin
He’s a Serial Entrepreneur And His Latest Venture is an Off-Grid Housing Technology Company — Meet Jeff Wilson, Founder of Jupe
He’s a Doctor by Day, a Twin Girl Dad at Night, and an STR Entrepreneur In-Between
314,000 People Applied for Airbnb’s Live Anywhere Contest — And They Won. Meet the Family Traveling the World and Living Full-Time on Airbnb for a Year.
He’s An Accountant, Artist, and Airbnb Superhost — Meet Isaac French the Creator of Live Oak Lake
He Lost His Job During COVID — So He Watched 200 Hours of YouTube Videos And Then Went All in on STRs (And Twitter)
Why These Mission-Driven Entrepreneurs Built an Airbnb in Virginia Wine Country
How They Used Human-Centered Design to Build a Scandinavian Villa in Asheville
How They Knew It Was Time to Go All In — And Just Get The Lake House
He’s An Actor By Day and Super Airbnb Host by Night — Meet the Creator of Airstream Island
He’s Worked at Fairmont, Sonder, and Airbnb — Now He’s Pioneering The Next Big Thing in Hospitality
They Left It All Behind to Build a Luxury Micro-Resort in Highlands, North Carolina: The Story of Flat Mountain Farm
Meet the Founder of BnB Buyer — A Curated Newsletter Featuring the Best Airbnb Investment Properties
He Built a Story in the Form of a House — Meet the Creator of The Nook, a Hyperlocal Airbnb in Asheville
How He Built One of San Diego’s Most Artistic Escapes — The Story of Shelltown Sanctuary
How They Built a Top-Rated Collection of Airbnbs in Southern California — The Story of Arrivls
They Left Campus Ministry for a New Calling — How the Corbett’s Built a Collective of Airbnbs Where All Belong.
How (and Why) a Tech Entrepreneur Built an Off Grid Eco-Hotel: The Story of Safa Farms
How to Renovate an A-Frame Airbnb by Yourself
How to Buy and Build Airbnbs Thousands of Miles Away from Where You Live
From HGTV Producer to STR-Tech Start Up Founder — Meet Annie Sloan
How They Built a Luxurious, Eco-Friendly Escape in the Canadian Forest — The Hinter Story.
How They Built a Tiny Cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains
From Serving in Afghanistan to Hosting on Airbnb: Meet the Founders of Seasons‘ Yield Farm
How She Transformed a Horse Barn into an Enchanting California Airbnb Retreat
How They Launched an Airbnb Glamping Resort for Under $700
How to Build a Modern Mountain Home That Stands Out on Airbnb
How They Built Bespoke Airbnbs to Help Fund Their Goat Dairy: The Story Behind Big Picture Farm
How to Transform a Backyard Shed into a Luxury Airbnb Cottage
How to Design a Luxury Airbnb in Harmony with Nature
How They Built 5 of the Most Unique Stays on Airbnb — Meet the Clark Family Silos
How to Choose a Design Style for Your Airbnb and Why It Matters
Fourth Generation Dairy Farmers, First Generation Airbnb Empresses — Meet the Brodt’s.
How to Build a Tiny House Airbnb with No Money — Meet the Woodruffs
How She Built It — Meet the Founder of Bees Nees Getaways Who Brought an Airbnb to Life During a Global Pandemic
From Flight Attendant to Top-Rated Airbnb Host — Meet the Creator of the Sparrow's Nest
Meet the Family of Hospitality Entrepreneurs who Turned a WW2 Train Car and an Aircraft Hanger into Top-Rated Airbnbs
An Escape to the Cape at Camp Adelaide — A Rustic-Chic Airbnb Stay in Barnstable, Massachusetts
Welcome to Behind The Stays — Trailer
About Behind the Stays
When COVID hit, we decided to break out of our 750-square foot apartment in Washington, DC, and beta test the digital nomad lifestyle by hopping around to new Airbnbs every 2-4 weeks. If you care to follow our personal journey and watch us pretend to be Instagram influencers, you can do so at AirGnZ.
After our first couple of Airbnbs, we found ourselves talking most nights about the character of the bungalow, apartment, or lake house we were staying in. Our hosts were all fantastic communicators, but there’s only so much you can learn via the guest book and the occasional “check-in” texts.
We were hungry to learn more about the story behind the place. Was this their first home? What’s up with the mural in the bathroom? Was the dining table custom made? Did they build the home from the ground up specifically to rent out on Airbnb?
And that’s when the idea of hosting a podcast that featured the stories of the hosts behind the stays was born.
Our goal is to use this space to bring you the stories behind your favorite Airbnbs and the hosts who’ve made them memorable.
