By Saki Kambe
Airbnb has new inventory in Port Angeles. Collegiate Housing International announced that summer stays are available in the Peninsula College dorms. They haven’t gotten any official reservations yet, but one of the instances is marathoners coming to town this summer. Visitors can make reservations at the 1138 East Park Avenue dorm.
CHI has been moving students in 1138 over to 1134 so that they can have summer visitors separate from tenants.
“So far, it’s been quite easy because 1134 is mostly filled up. All we are going to be doing is putting everyone that we can in 1134 and compressing everyone in 1138 to few selected pods,” Manager Isaac Smith said.
Curtis Brackett, the assistant manager added, “We also give the tenants a huge heads up, ahead of time.”
The fee for a room with two twin beds and a bathroom with shower is $79 per day for Monday through Thursday and $159 per day for Friday through Sunday. The cleaning fee of $30 will apply per stay.
Moreover, because property taxes, cost of utility, and cost of the internet have gone up, CHI will be raising the rent from Fall quarter. It is currently $1485 per quarter and $525 if paying monthly with utilities included. However, it will be raised to $1545 per quarter, and $515 a month.
The current tenants’ rent will remain the same, and as well for future tenants, as long as applicants sign the lease agreement before the Fall quarter starts.
“One of the lesser scene issues that we had to face when we first started is that we felt like we were really underestimated due to our age,” Brackett said.
Smith 19 and Brackett 20, are both students at Peninsula College. “A lot of adults who we dealt with were much older than us; the city of Port Angeles, the postmasters, contractors, and a Chamber of Commerce, but negotiating with them has been a huge learning experience that we are proud of,” Brackett said.
It has been four months since the management changed at the dorms, and it will have been a year this August since the students started moving in. The concerns that were brought up before are either solved or in process.
After months of communicating and negotiating with United States Postal Service, CHI now has mailboxes although the management is still working to make sure that the mails are sorted correctly and enable each pod to get keys to access the mailboxes.
The management checks in once a week for cleanliness, but they also believe that it is an opening for effective communication with the tenants as well. As for the installation of recycling bins, which was a request from the tenants, they are thinking of installing in the near future in cooperation with the city.
CHI is launching an ad campaigning at the Pirate Union Building on May 9.