An interesting question the BBC reporter asked me is "What will swappers find when they enter your home?"
That's a good question. But first, let's look at what a traveler sees when entering a hotel room.
The biggest difference between the hotel room and the swap home is going to be size. Even in Manhattan, where I live and where apartments cost an average $1,400 per square foot, the main difference is going to be the size of the accommodations.
Walk into the typical Manhattan hotel room and you see everything all at once. The average hotel room is so tiny you can take it in with a quick glance. One thing I often notice in hotels is some sort of stain on the carpet. It is impossible to keep a hotel room in pristine condition with thousands of travelers walking around in it in their street shoes.
Swap homes, by contrast, may be clean as a whistle or looked quite lived-in, but they will inevitably be cleaner, at least in terms of bacteria and viruses, than any hotel room.
Opening the door to my home you find antique Persian rugs over parquet floors. To the right is a coat closet. To the left is an umbrella stand. Never underestimate the convenience of a borrowed umbrella.
In the foyer is a tall etagere containing my parents' collection of hand-crafted stoneware pieces, Asian Buddhas and Southwestern Indian pottery.
Off the foyer is a renovated kitchen with granite counters and new stainless steel appliances, including a dishwasher. Other kitchen items available to our swappers include a large set of le Creuset enameled cooking pots and pans; a countertop water filter; a grind and brew coffee maker; a bread machine, slow cooker, electric grill and electric pressure cooker. There is also an HD TV in the kitchen with every premium channel available.
As with the living room next door, the kitchen is wired for surround sound. The stereo system includes Sirius satellite radio with hundreds of commercial-free channels. The kitchen also has a phone with unlimited calling to anywhere in the US.
One wall of the living room is covered with a built-in floor-to-ceiling book case. On it are close to a thousand volumes of classic fiction, biographies and art books.
Opposite the book case is a wall with two dozen pieces of art, including an original sketch Andy Warhol did of my father when they went to college together.
The living room furniture includes a custom-made Carlyle sofabed, a leather club chair and a Barcelona lounge chair.
Off the living room is an enclosed terrace which we use as a dining room. The table can seat 12, so swappers could plan a family get-together if they wish.
Past the living room are a bathroom and three bedrooms, one with its own en suite bathroom. The mattresses are a new pillow-top twin bed, a queen Tempur-pedic mattress and a low children's bunkbed. Two of the bedrooms have HD TV's with all premium channels. Both bathrooms were recently renovated and have marble counters.
You could fit a dozen average-sized Manhattan hotel rooms into my apartment. But why try? Instead, just swap with me.
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