Since you have to subscribe to the NY Times website in order to view the article I saved the trouble of those interested. You can read the article in it's entirety below.
Decorate a Couch With a Tourist
-Joseph Siano
Casey Fenton says he has never seen "The Man Who Came to Dinner." Maybe he should, to understand the potential risks in his newest venture, the CouchSurfing Project, in which he and his partners have set up a Web site that guides house guests to willing hosts around the world.
His site, www.couchsurfing.com, which started last January, arranges meetings between travelers who want to save on accommodations (and meet local people) with residents who want to meet interesting people from faraway places and are willing to put them up for free on their couch or in a spare bedroom.
Mr. Fenton, 26, said he got the idea before a trip to Iceland a few years ago.
"I spammed 1,500 students at the University of Iceland and got about 50 to 100 responses," he said. He said he wound up staying at the home of an Icelandic rhythm-and-blues singer.
Mr. Fenton, who is a computer programmer, urges prospective roommates and hosts to talk on the phone and exchange e-mail messages until they are comfortable with one another, and his site does offer some safeguards. One option is to check references on a guest or a host, if any have been posted by other participants.
Also, participants can have their identities confirmed by agreeing to have CouchSurfing charge a credit card $25, thereby verifying a name and address. CouchSurfing then mails a letter to the address with a special code, and when a traveler or host enters the code into the Web site, the address is verified.
The Web site allows registered users to search for hosts by location. Hosts who register can turn down any potential guests who contact them, if they do not feel comfortable.
Jim Stone, 26, of Crane, Tex., said he has arranged about 30 trips through the site (as far off as Vienna and Prague), and all have turned out well. "If I had the money to stay in nice hotels, I'd still do it this way," he said. "The people make the experience."
Mr. Fenton said about 3,800 people have registered, from 87 countries. Guests are expected to repay their hosts by being good conversationalists, sharing details about life in their country and hometown, helping with housekeeping and otherwise behaving like engaging guests (which includes knowing when to leave - generally in two or three days).
Although there is no charge to be a guest or a host, the Web site does ask for donations to cover operating costs.
Mr. Fenton isn't the first person to come up with this idea. Veit Kühne, in Dresden, Germany, says that he created a similar Web site in 2000. According to his site, www.hospitalityclub.org, about 20,000 people have signed up. It offers safeguards similar to those at Mr. Fenton's site.
"It has always been a pleasant experience," said Tijs Breuer, 33, an environmental lobbyist in The Hague who said he has been a frequent host. "In fact, I've had better experiences than when I've rented my house to visitors."
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