AirBnB – the online Facebook-like room renting service, is a nice option for travelers to St Croix, and a consideration for those of you considering purchasing a property here!

Recently, an article was published in our paper about the explosive grown that St Croix (and the territory) has seen in AirBnB rentals. The article, written by Elisa McKay and Bill Kossler, highlighted three popular properties on the island; one in Frederiksted (Caribbean Breeze Apartments) and two in downtown Christiansted (Bertley’s Place and Cottages on the Hill).

The owners of these properties all agree that their business lives have evolved positively since they joined Airbnb.

But rest assured, it’s not all about “the money.” These folks are making a life. They are happy in their work, even as they work hard at growing their businesses. Each of them is genuinely concerned with the comfort and care of their guests. They look forward to the return of a guest or a recommendation bringing a new visitor to their guest apartments. It takes a special kind of person to be a successful “AirBnB” owner, and a special home, too!

If you’ve never vacationed in an AirBnB, they provide a wealth of information about the area as well as the available properties and their amenities. Potential renters check reviews from previous guests and make their decisions from that. Both the traveler and the owner must pass a background check. Travelers must have government identification and a social media account so they can be easily tracked. AirBnB takes a small percentage of the rental income, and also automatically collects and remits the hotel occupancy tax. So the Government is benefiting as well!

St. Croix has been eagerly trying to attract a new hotel for many years, offering tax breaks, unique access to casino gambling and anything else the government could think of. But to no avail. Tourism Department heads have said more hotel rooms are needed to attract more seats on flights. But no one would build a hotel without knowing there would be visitors flying in to stay in the rooms!

Airbnb allows St. Croix in particular to sidestep that catch-22, making rooms available at no cost to any developer.

As of August 2018 there were 350 Airbnb listings in St. Croix, according to Department of Tourism budget testimony. Through the end of July, 2018, 4,800 people have stayed in Airbnb locations on St. Croix. That amounts to just under 8 percent of all air arrivals from January through July of 2018. At the same time there were only around 1,800 hotel, timeshare and bed and breakfast rooms online – down from more than 4,500 before the storms of 2017. By that measure, Airbnb appears poised to overtake traditional hotels.

It remains to be seen if the rise in AirBnB will mean tougher times for traditional hotels. But for now, its explosive growth has helped bring in visitors in spite of a lack of hotel rooms, put money in government and homeowner hands, and seems to be poised for yet more expansion.

Contact us and we’ll share some properties for sale here that would make for good AirBnB rentals!