Homestay Beijing 2008

Rent Homestay - Information for tenants

The information below is for (future) tenants, people that are interested renting available homestay accommodation found in the directory. If you want to know more about making your apartment available for homestay, please go to the page 'sublet'.

We have tried to be as transparant as possible, so you can understand how we work and you don't get surprises and additional fees you did not expect after your arrival in Beijing.

*** IMPORTANT CHANGES EFFECTIVE PER AUGUST 5, 2007 ***
All the information below is also described in our Terms & Conditions, which you accept by making use of the services Homestay Beijing 2008 offers.

apply for homestay accommodation

booking your homestay accommodation

payment of homestay rental

arriving in Beijing

contact Homestay Beijing 2008

Applying for homestay accommodation

If you are interested in renting available homestay accommodation you can contact us via the contact-form for tenants. Before you do this however, there are some things you need to know.

You can choose up to 3 homestay apartments for your stay in Beijing. Each homestay apartment in the directories has a Booking Code, make sure that you apply with these codes!

We will check according to your preference whether these apartments are available during the period you have chosen.

If your preferred apartment indeed is available we will immediately book it for you and send you a confirmation via email.

If do not have the time or interest to browse all the profiles of homestay accommodation listed on our website, we can assist you with Search Order.

Booking your homestay apartment

After you have received the confirmation email, you have a tentative booking. The booking will only be permanent the moment you have sent us the booking fee.

The booking fee is a commission for the services we offer you and to be sure that you are serious about staying at our homestay accommodation during the period requested.

The booking fee is non-refundable and comes on top of the rent per night charged by the landlord.

The amount of the booking fee is 20% of the total rent (rent per day x days you stay) with a minimum of one night's rental and you can pay this via bank transfer. The exchange rate we use for payment of the booking fee is the interbank rate +4% of the day we send out the notice of payment.

The sooner you pay the booking fee, the more chance you have of booking your choice of apartment for your stay in Beijing.

After we have received your payment we will send you another email to confirm payment and booking. We will then also contact the landlord that he/she can expect you during the period you booked.

Payment of homestay rental

After you have paid the booking fee and have received the confirmation email, you have a confirmed booking.

The rent for your homestay then needs to be paid in two phases. The first half of the total rent is due at booking (same time you transfer the booking fee) and the rest of the total rent is due no later than 30 days before your arrival in Beijing.

The exchange rate we use for payment of the rent is the interbank rate +4% of the day we send out the notice of payment.

Upon cancellation at any time and for whatever reason we will not return any of the booking fee and/or rent paid and therefore we only expect bookings by people who are 100% sure of their trip to the Beijing Olympics.

Arriving in Beijing

We will send you the full address details of your homestay address before you arrive in Beijing. We will include the different options to get to your homestay address. By August 2008 the airport will be connected to the city with a fastrail link and of course there are also many taxis available.

Upon arrival at your homestay address, your landlord will let you sign a checklist of the (valuable) household effects present in the apartment. Cabinets that must stay closed during your stay are sealed with tape marked with the Homestay Beijing 2008 logo.

The landlord expects you to pay a deposit in foreign currency, usually this will be around EUR 1,000. Of course you will receive your deposit back if all goods on the checklist are still in the same state as when signing the checklist.

Contact Homestay Beijing 2008

If you have read the above, understand the process of applying for and booking your homestay in Beijing and you agree with our terms and conditions, you can now proceed to fill in the form on the next page. Make sure you have the Booking Codes for your 3 preferred apartments ready!

The Frequently Asked Questions page can be an additional source of information on more practical matters.