Meet Eleanor, one of Brighton’s creative hosts

Each year, the Brighton Fringe Festival takes place to celebrate all things creative. A little-known fact is that the festival draws more than 50% of participants from the local community in Brighton & Hove. As this year’s festival draws to a close, we took a few minutes to catch up with a Brighton local.

Eleanor works as a director and enjoys coming up with ideas then developing them into a reality. For the past 10 years, she has lived in Brighton where her home overlooks the Spiegeltent, more commonly known as the ‘Heart of the Fringe’, and Brighton Beach. She absolutely adores the month-long event, saying,

“I love the Festival and Fringe in May, it’s such an incredible creative hub for new ideas and everything from theatre to art installations and cabaret. I also love the lanes and the beach – it’s quite an outdoor lifestyle for the UK with loads of different ways to amuse myself and my children. I am never bored!”

For many creatives across different industries, chasing their dreams or following their life’s passions can often come with roadblocks. To that end, hosting on Airbnb presents a helpful alternative.

Eleanor explains, “To get ahead you have to put in the time and money to make unpaid things like short films and if you are too tied to having a regular income, it’s very restricting. Hosting on Airbnb enables me to pursue this career more because I’ve found that making a bit of money from having a holiday let takes the pressure off and leaves me freer to consider more projects and develop ideas.”  

While financial benefits are part of Eleanor’s reasons for hosting on Airbnb, that’s not her only motivation because meeting new people and showing off the best of Brighton factor in as well. “I like the idea that hosting on Airbnb allows you to meet people from all over the world, even if it’s just exchanging a couple of emails! I’m a passionate traveller myself so I genuinely want people to come and have an amazing time in Brighton.”

It was hard for Eleanor to pin down her favourite part of hosting on Airbnb but she closed by saying, “It’s always lovely to suddenly read a really glowing and personal review and know that the time you took to make sure they made the most of their stay was appreciated.”