If you’re looking for Airbnb alternatives in NZ, you’ve got a sneaky amount of options.

I decided to write this post after mentioning a few of the options I know off the top of my head to friends. But as a lot of these NZ Airbnb alternatives aren’t household names and I struggle to remember them right away.

So this list will be something I can refer to. And hopefully helps you too.

If there are other great Airbnb alternatives in NZ you think I should add, let me know!

5 AIRBNB ALTERNATIVES IN NZ

1. Canopy Camping
2. Off the Beaten Track
3. Live Local
4. Bach Care
5. Okay 2 Stay

1. CANOPY CAMPING

Canopy Camping has been around since 2012, and the two friends who founded the site haven’t been worried about listing as many possible places as they can.

They’ve got 80+ options available now, but they continue to handpick all the sites to ensure all places are:

• Of the glamping kind
• Relatively off the beaten track

You’ll find tents, cabins, yurts, and a bunch more different sites that are anything from super fancy to rustic/simple spots.

And given most of these places are off the beaten path, you’ll likely be out of cellphone reception which sets them apart from mainstream booking sites where a listing without Wifi is not a good thing.

A few of the listings that jumped out at me are:

• Little Tin Shed
• Rocky Ridge Hut
• The Green Rabbit

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2. OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

Off The Beaten Track was founded by dairy farmers who created the site to help those with amazing places in rural locations earn a bit more income.

In short, they’re a marketplace connecting rural homeowners with lovers of off-the-beaten-track experiences.

Like Canopy Camping, they’re building their portfolio while keeping to their principles…all places must be on privately owned land for example.

I really like the categories they feature on their site. With options like ‘Furry Friends Welcome’, ‘Quirky Spaces’, and ‘Do Fun Stuff’, it’s easy to narrow down the properties to what you like.

Some of the properties that jumped out at me are:

• Quirky Carriage Hideaway
• Rainforest Hut
• Alpaca Landing

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3. LIVE LOCAL

Live Local is the newest of the Airbnb alternatives in NZ featured in this post and came about when the world shut down. Kiwis wanted to travel local, but many accommodation providers struggled to lower their rates to give kiwis a more affordable option…for one main reason. Large booking sites (like Airbnb) would take upwards of 20% of the commission.

So a bunch of awesome people came about to create an alternative accommodation booking site that cut out the middleman allowing providers to offer beds at lower rates while keeping more of the money, and making accommodation cheaper for kiwis.

They got some good media attention as they started the site which helped them get a good number of properties on their site. And they’re still going strong which is fun…and those who offered their expertise to launch the site never expected anything in return…if that’s not some good karma, I don’t know what is.

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4. BACH CARE

If there was a direct Airbnb competitor in New Zealand, Bach Care would be the candidate.

Bach Care have over 2000 properties available across the country. They say they have a unique collection, but the pure size of the portfolio means there’ll be some more generic locations (in fairness, they were Founded in 2003).

In general you’ll be searching for properties that are traditional holiday homes, baches, and apartments…slightly different to the two sites above 🙂

What I like about the properties on Bach Care is they contract out the cleaning of the properties to professional service providers so you know the place you book will be in good condition when you arrive.

If you’ve got a longer stay planned in one location around NZ, you can get some better rates than the nightly rate…though I still find them a little expensive.

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5. OKAY 2 STAY

Okay 2 Stay is a super fun site, though it’s the least like Airbnb in this list as you need a motorhome to be able to stay at the places on Okay 2 Stay.

Note: There’s a $59 fee to gain access to the hosts on Okay 2 Stay.

It’s a similar concept to others around the world like France Passion, Brit Stops, and Harvest Hosts in that you don’t pay to stay at the property.

Instead the property owners tend to be artisans producing local goods. aIn exchange for parking on their land, you’re expected to purchase some of the goods…that could be beer, wine, nuts, olives, cheese…who knows.

And as there’s no charge for accommodation, there’s no expectation of toilets or electricity to be supplied. Hence you need a self-contained motorhome.

The site founders Colleen and Dave are passionate about the business and still travel the country to visit hosts and seek out new experiences to list on Okay 2 Stay (there are well over 100 hosts now).

Some inspiring spots to stay I dug up after some creative research include:

• Wrights Vineyard
• Cartwheel Creamery
• Aitken’s Folly

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And there we go. If you’ve decided Airbnb is not for you (you aren’t the first), there are some awesome Airbnb alternatives in NZ.

Another couple of options are BachCare and HolidayHouses which are owned by larger companies so I’ve decided to exclude them from the list…for now.

That’s without considering the options like Agoda Homes, and Booking.com apartments which try to avoid the generic hotels being listed on their website when you search on them…but it doesn’t tend to work super well in my experience.

If you’ve got any questions, email me jub@churnewzealand.com, or leave a comment below.

WHAT TO READ NEXT?

Despite this article about being alternatives to Airbnb, you might want to check out these posts about awesome Airbnbs in Queenstown and Airbnbs in NZ.

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