The Growing Trend of Themed Vacation Rentals

25.12.2023 - 13:13 / skift.com / Willy Wonka / Star Wars / Srividya Kalyanaraman / James Bond

This year has been an eventful one for short-term rentals around the world: The boom-bust saga and seeming unending fights about new regulations.

One aspect of the business that gets overlooked is themed rentals. Airbnb’s Barbie House in Malibu, the Hobbiton in New Zealand and Booking.com’s latest Willy Wonka-inspired rooms in Los Angeles and New York City are all examples of themed accommodations. Often categorized as “unique stays” for data purposes, these are becoming a sub-category of their own. 

Let’s start with Orlando. By some rough estimates, 79% of Orlando’s rental market consists of entire home rentals. Kissimmee, Florida, which is 30 minutes south of Orlando with over 30,000 vacation homes, is touted as the vacation home capital of the world. 

It is mandatory for those operating in this busy market to differentiate themselves. And if one can hitch a ride on the backs of Disney World and Universal Studios – why not?

“Themed rentals put you at the top of the category, and you’re just piggybacking off of Universal Studios’, Disney’s and SeaWorld’s marketing dollars to bring people to the area and your property sits at the top and is getting rented,” said Josh Luttrell, co-founder of Home Theme Orlando, which specializes in theme-based renovations. 

Luttrell is also a realtor in the area who works exclusively with investors interested in themed short-term rentals. His company, Home Theme Orlando, does room renovations to turn them into specific themes inspired by Star Wars, James Bond, princess castles, superheroes and more. 

Home Theme Orlando, founded in 2020, manages 30 themed properties, has done 60 full-home renovations, and about 200 individual rooms. 

Oliver Wallace, CEO of Shine Villas, which manages 100 properties in and around Disney World, acknowledges the benefits of Orlando. 

“It’s a very busy market with around 60,000 vacation rental properties,” Wallace said. “So we tell owners they’re going to be full at Christmas, at Thanksgiving, and spring break. Orlando never really has an off-season because the weather’s great, and here we have resorts that are built that can only ever be used for short-term rentals, servicing the Orlando theme park family destination.” 

If you’re wondering how these themed rentals are for business, let’s break this down: The Barbie house in Malibu, owned by a private family estate, which Airbnb listed for a limited period this summer, may be valued at $10 million due to its connection with the iconic doll, according to Ruby Home, a luxury real estate firm in California. 

These rentals are good for branding too: The Barbie house was Airbnb’s most popular listing ever with over 250 million social media impressions. 

That’s why Luttrell thinks themed rentals