Overview
When you book an Airbnb, a set of rules normally greets you when it comes time to check in. We know one that'll be on list at the platform's latest stay: don't say "Beetlejuice" three times. Just to be safe, you mightn't even want to say it twice in a row, even if the spot that you'll be visiting is all about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Adding to its Icons category, aka the pop culture-themed abodes that you wouldn't be able to step inside without Airbnb making them a reality, the service now has the Beetlejuice and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice house on its books. The latter movie hit cinemas in September and is available to watch at home on digital now, ready to inspire a whole new round of Halloween costumes — and get you primed for a vacation like the ghost with the most this November.
The Deetz residence has been at the heart of both of Tim Burton's (Dumbo) Beetlejuice flicks, starting back in 1988 when Michael Keaton (The Flash) first began sporting black-and-white suits on-screen. In the initial movie, Barbara and Adam Maitland (GLOW's Geena Davis and Dr Death's Alec Baldwin) met an untimely end, found themselves haunting their own abode with a Handbook for the Recently Deceased in their ghostly hands, weren't thrilled about the new family who moved in and called upon a certain bio-exorcist for assistance. Those new occupants: the Deetz crew, of course, including Schitt's Creek's great Catherine O'Hara (Argylle) as matriarch Delia and Winona Ryder (Stranger Things) as her daughter Lydia, plus Jenna Ortega (Miller's Girl) as the latter's daughter Astrid in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
If you've seen one or both films, you'll recognise the home, complete with the black mourning veil it sported in the second picture after the death of the Deetz family patriarch. You'll also spot plenty of familiar bits and pieces inside, including artwork and the portal to the afterlife.
Delia is listed as the listing's host. "Now that my work is posthumously appreciating in value and recognition, it's only fair that artistic souls be invited to my magnificent home," the character said in a statement.
"So, come admire my life's work and Create with a Capital C in the first-ever art class from beyond the grave. Just watch out for that pesky trickster in the attic!"
Until 5.59pm AEST on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, ten bookings are on offer for visits between Saturday, November 16–Wednesday, November 27, 2024; however, there is a difference with this Icons spot compared to the others. This time, you'll only be there for three hours, nor overnight. There is still a stay involved, though, just at an Airbnb listing in Princeton, New Jersey at no additional cost.
Upon arrival at the Beetlejuice house, you and up to five friends will get to wander around checking out Delia's work, plus the Maitlands' model of Winter River — the town that the Beetlejuice movies are set in, even though you'll be physically heading to Hillsborough Township, New Jersey — in the attic. Although saying a certain name isn't recommended, naturally everyone is going to utter it, which is how you get to the afterlife. Yes, the glowing green light, the waiting room and the disorienting hallway are all there.
Then an art class is on the agenda, before you head to where you're bunking down for the evening — all if you nab one of the bookings. As always, your travel there and home (including to and from the US from Down Under) is at your own expense.
It was back in May that Airbnb announced that it was doing things a little differently in 2024 with these once-in-a-lifetime listings. The platform is no stranger to giving travellers dream vacation options — see: Shrek's swamp, Barbie's Malibu DreamHouse, the Ted Lasso pub, the Moulin Rouge! windmill and Hobbiton, to name just a few — which it previously announced at random, with no advance warning. Now, it has created the Airbnb Icons category, grouping them all together but also still unveiling surprises along the way, like this one.
In the past, Airbnb has also featured the Bluey house, the Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine, The Godfather mansion, the South Korean estate where BTS filmed In the Soop, the Sanderson sisters' Hocus Pocus cottage, the Paris theatre that inspired The Phantom of the Opera and a Christina Aguilera-hosted two-night Las Vegas stay.
Its Airbnb Icons category has also made sleeping at the Purple Rain mansion, the Up house, Inside Out 2's headquarters, the X-Mansion from X-Men '97 and the Ferrari Museum a reality, as well as stays hosted by Doja Cat, Bollywood star Janhvi Kapoor and Kevin Hart.
For more information about the Beetlejuice house on Airbnb, or to book it until 5.59pm AEST on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, for visits between Saturday, November 16–Wednesday, November 27, 2024, head to the Airbnb website.
Images: Emily Shur, Damien Maloney and Randy Slavin.
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