Folsom Field. Photo courtesy of the University of Colorado.
Traveling to visit your son or daughter at college can be a challenging task. Often the timing of these trips coincides with high profile events at the college and finding lodging for your stay can be difficult.
Now thanks to CollegeWeekends.com some new options for your stay may be available. CollegeWeekends.com serves as a directory for local homes made available by their owners for short term lease in selected college communities around the country. CollegeWeekends.com was started by Gordon Sutton in 2004. Sutton received a masters degree in business administration from C.U. Boulder. The first community targeted was Charlottesville, Virginia, home to the University of Virginia. Since then CollegeWeekends.com has expanded listings into the Southeastern Conference and now includes Boulder.
Property owners register with the site and pay a yearly fee ranging from $179 to $229 depending on the level of exposure desired. Property owners range from owners of vacant investment properties to home owners who willingly vacate their homes for the weekend. Lodging rates on the available homes in Boulder range from $50 to $200 a night. The website is simply an advertising medium, but does offer property owners a standard rental agreement developed in part by the C.U. law clinic.
In communities like Boulder where lodging options are constrained, this model may expand the market availability without creating the need for more construction and development. Increasing space while adding an economic boost to the local economy, it may be a winner for everyone.
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