A Room at This Hotel in Japan for Just $1, But You Have to Livestream Your Stay
Between transportation, food, accommodations, shopping, and visiting local sites and attractions, traveling can be expensive. Well, if you’re headed to Japan and want to save on where you’re boarding, you can stay at this hotel for 100 yen, which is just $1. But there's a catch: You have to livestream your entire stay.
The Asahi Ryokan is located in Fukuoka and run by Tetsuya Inoue, whose grandmother owns it. Since the hotel is already fairly cheap and its occupancy rate has decreased recently, Inoue came up with the idea to try and generate revenue by advertising revenue from a livestream, rather than accommodation fees.
"This is a very old ryokan and I was looking into a new business model," Inoue told CNN Travel. "Our hotel is on the cheaper side, so we need some added value, something special that everyone will talk about." The livestream is on a YouTube channel called One Dollar Hotel. When the room is vacant, Inoue posts a livestream of himself working or in his home.
According to CNN Travel, there are some restrictions to the livestream. The feed is video-only, so viewers won’t be able to hear guests’ conversations. The bathroom area isn’t located in the room, so it’s out of the camera’s range, and guests can turn the lights off in the room.
Prefer privacy over frugality? The rate for a hotel room without the livestream requirement at Asahi Ryokan is 3000 yen, or about 27 dollars. So it’s still pretty affordable if you want to visit Fukuoka, which is home to gardens, shrines, temples, museums, and delicious ramen.
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