One enterprising UF student is shaking up the local housing market by listing his dorm room on the popular AirBnB app.
UF Sophomore Kenneth Higgins saw a business opportunity when he realized that the Gainesville Holiday Inn was making up to $200 a night for a room no bigger than his own economy triple. He immediately posted his Broward Dorm as a vacation home on Airbnb.
“The Holiday Inn was serving cold hotdogs as a breakfast entrée. At least Gator Dining’s hotdogs are warm until they crawl off the plate.”
Said Higgins, who sleeps on the top bunk on the right.
Higgins said that he hopes to sleep in Marston Library when he has guests in his Twin XL, and if the library is closed he’ll ‘probably just ride the 20 bus around for a while.’ Kenneth’s other roommates also seemed oddly open to the arrangement.
“I welcome anyone as long as they have an open mind and don’t get freaked out by voodoo ceremonies.”
Said Kenneth’s roommate Josh Duval.
“He was a random roommate.”
The dorm has not been highly thought of in the past, as Kenneth’s family couldn’t spend more than 15 minutes in the room without having to leave to ‘give him some space,’ but Kenneth is thinking about making some architectural adjustments in order to accommodate to his future guests.
“I definitely think we could put a sound-proof wall up between the two bunks and maybe install a few traps for the human sized cockroaches in his room,”
Kenneth said.
“Plus my mom spent like $10 extra for those nice curtains at Target that keep the sunlight out so I’m definitely putting that in the description.”
The Airbnb package for Kenneth’s dorm will feature a two night stay, some extra pizza coupons, and a tour of the communal bathroom.
However, Kenneth is already seeing competition on Airbnb with a TA posting their lab room as a place for families to stay a few nights and learn about the fundamentals of statistics.
