SEATTLE — A Seattle startup wants to help you save money on your next hotel room but there's a catch.
You have to share your room with a complete stranger.
"It came out of personal frustration," Winston Club founder Bryon Shannon said.
According to TripAdvisor, Seattle is home to some of the priciest hotel rooms - especially during the summer.
Shannon learned that the hard way.
"I was an Airbnb host and they wanted to stay at my place for three nights but I was going to be out of town for two," he explained.
Shannon works in marketing for a tech company.
He didn't want to shell out hundreds of dollars for a hotel room.
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"I was really frustrated on why I couldn’t leverage tons of untapped rooms in the area and just split a hotel with somebody," Shannon added.
That's when he says he came up with the concept for Winston Club which would allow total strangers to split the cost of a hotel room.
"We do a lot to vet our members," he said. "We go through five forms of verification."
But would you do it?
KIRO 7 posed that question to some people in downtown Seattle.
"I think I'd rather stay by myself," Steve Tolzman said.
"Certainly as a woman I definitely wouldn’t because I wouldn't feel safe," Laura O'Shea added.
“Prices are really high so if it's going to have a discounted price, yeah," Justin Padilla said. "Also the factor of meeting someone new could be exciting."
The other folks Shannon thinks might use the service are convention-goers.
"You really have to pay out of pocket for own trip, can't lean on corporate to pay for trip, that's where we really resonate," Shannon said.
Shannon said hundreds of people have already signed up.
Winston Club plans to launch in March in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
Shannon said they will be partnering with 4 and 5 star hotels.
KIRO
