With COVID cases in decline, the tourism industry, including Airbnb, is well on its way to thriving once more. Cannabis tourism in particular is ramping up as well, thanks to the continuing increase in the number of states that are either working on, or rolling out, their recreational and/or medical cannabis industries. One such example is a partnership between Airbnb and a cannabis farm called Sonoma Hills Farm in Petaluma, California.
The farm is located on 60 acres in Sonoma County, located southeast of Mendocino County, which is a famous region for prime cannabis cultivation. As is customary with Airbnb listings, this home’s official name is descriptive of what its hosts hope guests will experience during their stay: “Live the High Life at Sonoma Hills Farm.”
According to the farm’s Vice President of Cannabis Cultivation and Production, Aaron Keefer, he is proud to bring a relaxing and unique vacation experience to interested guests.
“If it sounds like a dream job, it’s because it is. While my background is in gardening and fine dining (I spent a decade as lead culinary gardener of the nationally recognized fine dining institution The French Laundry in nearby Napa as the lead culinary gardener),” Keefer shares. “My heart lies here at the farm, where I’m able to combine my love of food and obsession with gardening to cultivate my favorite flora: cannabis. I hope you leave our farmstead with the same passion I feel about this practice and perhaps even a budding green thumb.”
Keefer said in an interview with Forbes that his main goal is to “normalize” hemp and cannabis cultivation. “By offering an insider’s look into how we carefully cultivate our products—be they vegetables or cannabis strains—we hope to offer a stay that’s equal parts relaxing and enriching,” he said. “By connecting with the land, guests will leave with a different perspective than when they arrived and will have supported our farm in a meaningful way.”
Staying at the farm doesn’t connect guests directly with any licensed cannabis plants or products though. “Due to regulations and legal limitations, guests will not be visiting a licensed cannabis marijuana grow or interacting with cannabis marijuana,” the Airbnb listing states.
“Guests instead have access to a neighboring private home, vegetable garden and cannabis hemp farm. These plants look and smell identical to the cannabis marijuana plants, but contain less than 1% THC and are federally legal. In addition, they’ll have access to all of the other produce on the property.” The listing does mention a selection of CBD products from various companies in California, such as Green Bee Botanicals, Potli, Rose Los Angeles and Jane West, as well as candles from Garden Society.
The home will become available for reservation on April 20 at 10 a.m. PDT, with a current window for visits between April 30 and May 3. It offers a $60-per-night stay, which, Keefer shared, is in relation to the 60 acres of property on the farm. One of the listing’s many offerings includes “Regenerative Recreation,” allowing guests to explore the farm’s dedication to regenerative farming practices and hang out with the home’s two permanent residents, “Curly Sue the Mangalitsa pig and Tony the Highland cow.”
The listing also mentions a partnership with Airbnb, which will be donating to a worthwhile nonprofit organization that strives to promote regenerative agriculture and restore climate stability. “In appreciation for Sonoma Hills Farm’s regenerative and sustainable cannabis cultivation, Airbnb will make a donation to Regeneration International to support their mission to reverse global warming and end world hunger by facilitating and accelerating the global transition to regenerative agriculture and land management,” the listing states.
