2 Idaho offerings make Airbnb’s list of ‘wacky’ rentals

Looking for someplace unusual to rent on your next vacation?

Airbnb recently shared its top 16 “wacky roadside Americana stays” across America.

Naturally, two of the possibilities are in Idaho.

Why naturally? Not just because we Idahoans are proud oddballs. Also because Boise is home to entrepreneur Kristie Wolfe, who’s made a career out of creating off-the-wall Airbnb properties.

Airbnb’s collection of 16 “roadside curiosities” includes jaw-dropping spots ranging from “a luxury dome in North Carolina” to “an eccentric tree house in Florida that has been wishlisted over 28,400 times within the past year.”

But none is quirkier than Wolfe’s world-renowned Big Idaho Potato Hotel southeast of Boise — or as she calls it on her website, “the five-star darling of Airbnb.”

Before it became a “hotel,” the 28-foot Russet Burbank was a promotional tool for the Idaho Potato Commission. Working as its spokesperson, Wolfe traveled the United States with the 6-ton “potato.” Hauled on the back of a semi, it visited 48 states over seven years.

Instead of retiring it after the tater tour, the commission gave it to Wolfe. She converted it into living quarters and planted it on a piece of land with a cow.

City slickers were smitten. That Big Idaho Potato Hotel — available for $207 a night — has been featured in all sorts of media nationwide and drawn attention across the globe.

A-peeling as the potato might be (yes, that pun is stolen), it’s hard to top another of Wolfe’s visions: the sky-high Crystal Peak Lookout, which Airbnb also considers one of its elite curiosities.

A former fire lookout tower in Washington state, it was relocated to Fernwood in north Idaho. “It has since been repurposed as an immersive deep-forest getaway,” Airbnb gushes, “surrounded by 13 wooded acres and complete with its own wood-fired sauna!”

It’s got a pretty sweet outhouse, too.

Deeds writes for the Idaho Statesman in Boise.

Novelty is a niche market

Finding distinctive places to stay is something that an increasing number of Airbnb customers want. Guest searches for unique spots has exploded as much as 10 times since 2019, Airbnb said:

l Yurts (1,701 percent) l Islands (1,668 percent)

l Huts (1,379 percent) l Earth houses (1,285 percent)

l Barns (1,068 percent) l Farm stays (1,055 percent)

l Houseboats (1,015 percent) l Tiny homes (791 percent)