Marijuana enthusiasts, rejoice: there's a new 420-friendly accommodation booking site on the market.
If there were such a thing as #potheadproblems, one of the first complaints would probably be the lack of marijuana-friendly accommodations when travelling. Sure, there have been a few B&B’s and hotels popping up that cater to medical and recreational pot-smokers alike, but these days, most tourists are favoring the low costs, home-like amenities and privacy that websites like AirBnb offer.
As of November 2015, the private consumption of marijuana is legal in Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska, and the demand for pot-friendly services has been off the charts. There are bakeries that use marijuana as a key ingredient their baked goods. There are art-classes you can take while passing around a joint. There are even marijuana subscription services that will send you different strains of weed, as well as edibles and paraphernalia, depending on the vendor you choose.
But finally, the eternal problem weed smokers face on holiday—“but where can I smoke without getting in trouble?” —has been solved. Enter TravelTHC, Colorado’s first ever ‘Airbnb’ for pot-smokers (the service is also available in parts of Washington and will soon be expanding to Alaska.) According to co-founder Greg Drinkwater, “The idea came about as I was talking with a group of friends in a pub in Denver. Recreational marijuana had only recently been legalized in the state, but the rules precluded people from smoking in public or in most hotels. There was an obvious gap of 420-friendly places for people to stay and smoke—so we filled the gap.”
Previously, residents and tourists have been at odds with Colorado’s slightly confusing Amendment 64, which legalized the production and selling of marijuana, as well as consumption—but only in private homes. TravelTHC allows customers to get their smoke on indoors (or on-premise outdoors, depending on the host’s rules) without the paranoia of losing their security deposit. While users may be skeptical at first, a quick website perusal shows that many of the homes are quite luxurious—amenities including (but certainly not limited to) fireplaces, mountainous views, and Jacuzzis. Rates go for roughly $200 a night (for cabins) and climb to $1,000 a night for larger estates. TravelTHC also has recreational dispensaries that offer 10% discounts to customers, and browsing through the website’s listing will reveal various other amenities catering to different types of guests.
Perhaps the best part of the business is that it’s not only drawing more pot-hungry tourists to Colorado—it’s benefiting locals as well. As Drinkwater states, “We are meeting the needs of travelers who want to come to Colorado and other legal states and smoke according to the laws, but we are also supporting the people who live and work in Colorado. When marijuana was legalized, locals became concerned that it would lead to smoking in the streets or in parks or in other public places. Without TravelTHC that might be the case, but we give people a private place to smoke in a way that the law is intended.”
http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/travelthc-marijuana-friendly-airbnb
No comments:
Post a Comment