Home stay

Homestay is a popular form of hospitality and accommodation by which visitors stay in a house or apartment of a local of the city to which they are travel. The length of stay can range from one night to even a year and can be free, in exchange for monetary compensation, in exchange for a stay at the guest’s property either (home exchange), or in exchange for help on the host’s property. Long stays are popular among students who participate in study programs abroad. Homestays are examples of communal consumption and sharing. They are examples of a barter economy or gift saving when money is not exchanged for a home.

Students who study abroad and wish to participate in a host family usually organise them through the same local educational consultant who also organizes the academic aspect of their programme. Independent students who assume all of their own travel arrangements can contact a local homestay placement agency to tailor their accommodation details, or alternatively may inquire via their respective school of study.

Travelers who want to participate in a home stay usually do so through a hospitality service The terms of the homestay are generally worked out ahead of time and will include items such as the type of accommodation, length of stay, chores required to be performed (e.g., cleaning, laundering, farm help), curfews, use of utilities and internet, television or telephone, and rules related to the homestay.