Ok, let’s face it—traveling and cannabis don’t exactly go hand in hand.
Despite tourism upticks in legalized states, the fact remains that actual consumption of the drug is still pretty tricky. Laws mostly prohibit users from lighting up anywhere other than private accommodations.
Though some hotels in places like Colorado have designated smoke-friendly rooms, they sell out quick, leaving many enthusiastic tourists in the lurch. But there’s hope yet, with the arrival of a new search engine designed to meet the needs of cannabis-seeking vacationers called Bud and Breakfast.
Offering a seriously diverse array of accommodations, from $25 a night hostels in Portland to a $1000 a night ranch in Denver, the site has only been online since April 1st, but already boasts around 100 properties stateside and abroad. “Interest is budding exponentially,” says travel industry veteran and founder of the site, Sean Roby.
“Each week new states, countries and districts around the world are legalizing, and as they do, their residents list,” says Roby. “We’re anticipating around two-dozen new rentals in The Netherlands, properties in South Australia, and more listings in legalized regions of Spain.”
This isn’t Roby’s first foray into the niche travel industry. He and his wife formally created a marketplace for wine themed farm-to-table packages in California, giving visitors the chance to get their hands dirty in vineyards. The pair then ran an eco-adventure operation in Hawaii, leading travelers to natural foodie-destinations, like ancient vegetable patches.
When cannabis become legal in Colorado, their next step was obvious.
“Airbnb may be the big Daddy of the market, but they’re generalists. We created a new niche,” says Roby.
The site functions similarly to Airbnb, but caters to the full spectrum of cannabis users. Bookers can pick from rentals of all scales: some simply provide a safe place to indulge while other listings range to a bed and breakfast that supplies and prepares the herb itself.
Bud and Breakfast also gives travelers a more personalized experience, as many landlords are heavily knowledgeable or involved in the local cannabis community. This means guests can request the full experience — a tour of the area’s best nightclubs, social venues, festivals and dispensaries.
Roby says renters can rest assured that everything booked through the site is fully legal. In medical-only legalized states, vendors must have a valid prescription and rules about where and when to smoke on site are enforced.
Roby says Bud and Breakfast is working hard to meet the sensitive needs of the medical community, especially those traveling specifically for cannabidiol (CBD) treatment that utilizes the non-psychoactive compound in cannabis that is toted as a miracle drug for certain diseases like epilepsy. Partnering with a pharmaceutical brand that manufactures the Charlotte’s Web strain most noted for CBD treatment, rooms will be available that come complete with CBD gift baskets.
“Many people think you can just arrive in a legalized state, grab your goodies from a dispensary and light up outside, but you can’t,” says Roby. “Ultimately we’re all about providing people with safe access to a product already legal in many places, or headed that way.”
Interested in making your own booking? Head to Bud and Breakfast here, and tell them we sent you.
