This Japanese Hotel Costs $ 1 If You Stream Your Stay Live
Last year, we wrote about the painful problem of Airbnb renting with hidden cameras and tracking guests. (Back in April, the family even found a hidden camera live streaming their stay on Airbnb Ireland.) But in our latest Hack or Wack, we ask another important related question: would you be willing to book a cheap hotel or Airbnb knowing that you will be broadcasting your entire stay on YouTube?
Well, this scenario is not hypothetical: One hotel owner from Fukuoka, Japan, allows guests to stay at his rental property for as little as 100 yen, or $ 1 if they want to stream their experience live on the hotel’s YouTube. a page that currently has over 6,000 subscribers. Commentators can communicate directly with guests during the trip and during the broadcast.
There are certain rules and boundaries in the deal. “Obscene acts” (eg SEX) are prohibited. For obvious reasons, you shouldn’t show any personal information like credit card numbers. And the channel is only for video, which means that your conversations will not be overheard. (Although, according to the Washington Post , the microphone can be turned on for those guests who are “thrilled to be watched,” and I think they hear.)
But is your $ 1 privacy in your room worth it?
Probably! While I love my privacy, the streaming options seem to be limited. According to the owner of the hotel, you will not be filmed in the bathroom, which should allay fears of a complete lack of privacy. Plus, if you were on vacation in Japan, chances are you wouldn’t spend much time in your room anyway.
And yes, $ 1 is $ 1.
But don’t you feel uncomfortable being watched, you ask? Well, I guess it depends on your comfort level. I do not do anything that is embarrassing or shameful in my own house that I would not do in public (besides, talking to myself or my cat a lot). For this reason alone, watching several thousand people in a comfortable hotel room will not be so disorienting.
Since this is YouTube, I suppose the comments section won’t be full of compliments either, but we’re unusually equipped to handle arguments in our own comments at Lifehacker headquarters. I guess it’s also a matter of your comfort level and your ability to handle the unmoderated demands of YouTube viewers.
Anyway, if I were in Fukuoka, I would probably book it, take a full look at the camera, and disappoint all viewers (or turn off the lights throughout my stay).
Verdict? A hack, provided it hasn’t become part of some broader voyeur hotel trend and that you don’t care who’s watching.