Sheboygan residents rent out homes for PGA
With hotels booked almost a year in advance for the week of the PGA Championship, some homeowners in Sheboygan County are turning to the web to rent their homes to tournament-goers and capitalize on the growing need for local hospitality.
According to the Sheboygan County Chamber, the approximately 1,800 hotel rooms in the county were booked a year or more in advance by tournament organizers and media organizations, leaving few local rooms for visitors to the four-day golf tournament, which begins Aug. 13.
“How that works is the rooms are blocked usually a year or more ahead of time,” said Amy Wilson, tourism and planning director of the Sheboygan County Chamber. “Groups, such as TV staff, PGA staff and the media come in early and block rooms to make sure they are secure in the area.”
Hotels often create waiting lists in case blocked rooms are released closer to the tournament, but those looking to secure a room often have to look outside the immediate area.
Hotels are booked in an approximately 75-mile radius of Sheboygan, with hotels to the south, near the Milwaukee airport, filling up faster than those north and west of Sheboygan.
“I do know that there are a few rooms left in the West Bend area,” Wilson said. “Then, some of the hotels in the southern part of the Green Bay area still have rooms. I found out some of those hotels I believe are doing shuttles.”
About 4,000 to 5,000 total rooms are booked throughout the region during the tournament, Wilson estimated.
Home accommodations
However, if people want closer accommodations to the tournament, local homeowners have been renting their homes through online websites such as Airbnb.com.
“I knew that hotels for PGA week were booked and I noticed that the closest airbnb’s were in Milwaukee or on the west side of Lake Winnebago, so I wanted to give people an opportunity to be close and convenient to the tournament,” a Plymouth woman named Elise, who is renting a room on Airbnb for $130 a night, said in an email. “Should be a fun time, I’m looking forward to it.”
Elise said her children had stayed at vacation listing rentals on Airbnb in the past and had positive experiences, but this is their first time listing their home on the site.
“We are renting rooms in our home, so we will be staying here at the same time as our guests,” she said. “I love to meet people, so I’m excited to have this opportunity.”
Random Lake resident Chad Hoftender said he will be out of town on vacation the week the PGA is in town, so he decided to list his three-bedroom, two-bath home on the site.
“I think it is more beneficial for our community to try and keep the spectators as well as the families and friends of the participants closer, as not only would it provide a better experience in my mind, but help stimulate more local business with the rare, but drastic, increase in visitors to our area,” Hoftender said in an email.
Insured against damage
Airbnb has a “Host Guarantee” that reimburses homeowners up to $1 million if homes are damaged by renters. Hoftender said he is a little worried about nosy guests, but plans on locking off certain rooms and removing valuables prior to anyone staying.
“I will have some locks on certain areas of my house that would be off limits and will be taking things that are valuable, both monetarily and sentimentally,” he said.
Homeowners have priced rooms and homes anywhere from $130 a night to $425 a night, which means individuals could make more than $2,000 for rentals spanning the duration of the tournament, which also includes practice rounds preceding the major championship.
The City of Sheboygan has no ordinances against renting rooms or houses using services such as as Airbnb.
“At this point in time, we don’t have an ordinance that necessarily says it is permitted or prohibited,” Steve Sokolowski, manager of planning and zoning in Sheboygan, said. “What it comes down to is these events happen so infrequently that we haven’t taken the position of getting the language that says ‘you will need to follow this process and procedure before you can do that.’”
However, Sokolowski said it could cause concern if renting gets out of hand — or if neighbors of the renters complain.
“What will likely happen is at some point in time, just like many of the other lakeside communities who experiencing the same issue, we’ll probably have to take a look at things more closely,” Sokolowski said. “Usually, that is once an issue develops because we receive some complaints.”
Reach Phillip Bock at pbock@sheboyganpress.com, 920-453-5121, or @bockling on Twitter.