Pack your trunk! Lucy the Elephant now on Airbnb for a limited time
Courtesy of Matthew Reamer Photography
MARGATE CITY — For the first time, the landmark Lucy the Elephant will be listed on Airbnb.
But it's only available for three one-night stays and only two guests at a time can stay there.
Richard Helfant, executive director of Lucy the Elephant, said Airbnb likes to offer ongoing promotions where they offer overnight stays at exotic locations like The Goodyear Blimp and The Oscar Meyer Weiner mobile. He said they thought Lucy was a great fit.
Airbnb bookings for Lucy begins March 5. But here's the catch: it's only three one-night stays on March 17, 18, and 19 and only one couple at a time. The listing is at airbnb.com/lucy.
Lucy is one giant room but Helfant said the people at Airbnb, through their design company, have transformed Lucy into what she may have looked like in 1902 when she was a residence. Typically, she's an empty room with some artifacts. But now Lucy has been transformed to look the way she did 118 years ago during the Victorian era.
The cost for the one-night stay inside Lucy is $138 in honor of Lucy being 138 years old. She was born in 1881 and Richard said they'll be celebrating her 139th birthday in July.
In addition to staying inside Lucy for a night, guests will receive dinner for two and breakfast for two at local restaurants and goodie bags from the Atlantic City area.
Helfant said these Airbnb nights are being done as strictly a promotion to increase awareness of Lucy and her significance to the history at the Jersey Shore. He said there is no intention to extend the promotion but he won't rule anything out.
"This is a very significant anniversary for her because it's also the 50th anniversary of the day she was moved from her former location to where she lives now," said Helfant.
Airbnb will be choosing the three lucky couples to stay inside Lucy. Helfant said most likely they will be chosen on a first-come, first-serve basis and there will be a vetting process to make sure the right people are chosen to stay.
But Helfant said for those who are not chosen to camp inside the six-story structure, they can still take tours all year round. He said Lucy is open weekends through March, then five days a week in April and seven days a week from May through October.
Helfant said Lucy is the oldest, surviving example of zoomorphic architecture, which means a building in the shape of an animal.
Lucy is also the oldest roadside attraction in America, even older than the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower. She welcomes more than 130,000 visitors a year.
If that wasn't enough to make someone want to visit Lucy, "she's the cutest elephant in the world," bragged Helfant.
More from New Jersey 101.5: