Photo: Courtesy of LoveRoom.
While Airbnb has spent the past couple of months trying to maintain their practice in New York, a new apartment rental service has rolled into town — and it's claiming all the hot people. LoveRoom is "a platform where single people from all around the world can share their living space," but with one stipulation: "They need to be attractive."
Though the site initially began as a very convincing hoax, its founder now plans to make it a reality. A free service that matches users based on questions like, "Hardwood or carpet?" (in case you hadn't had your fill of double entendres today), LoveRoom matches beautiful, single people who happen to have an extra room to share with other beautiful, single people who need a place to stay. Note: This "extra room" can just be the other half of your king-size bed.
There's no question about it: This is a dating site. And, one that even LoveRoom itself advises you should use with caution. The service suggests researching the person on Facebook and other social media, or even bringing a friend to stay with you — "This makes potential losers resist any misbehavior." Of course, LoveRoom also warns that you should "make sure your host is a hottie! You don't want to book with a host who may be using outdated or misleading photos. So we suggest video chatting with your host on Google Hangouts, Facetime, Skype, etc. before "booking." The red flags of this service abound. We're totally guilty of some social media stalking before a first date with someone we met online, but this seems like a whole new level of vetting. Plus, doesn't this service violate the code that roommate booty is bad booty? There are just two things we're still left grappling with: Who's deciding if someone is hot, and is this site creepier than craigslist?