Want to stay in the world’s coolest Airbnb? You’ll find it on an unassuming industrial estate in Bristol – and there have been some interesting ex-owners, to say the least.
Businessman Johnny Palmer, 41, fulfilled his dream of allowing guests to live like billionaires after Bristol City Council approved his request to rent out a decommissioned Boeing 727 plane just outside the city centre.
Johnny has completely repurposed the vessel, which was first built in 1968 and later transformed into a private jet in 1981 before being decommissioned in 2012.
For him though, the intrigue isn’t just that it’s a plane – but that it was rumoured to have previously been owned by notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, as well as the Mafia and an Arab Prince.
He uncovered the stories behind the plane’s potential past ownership through conversations with online researchers, having realised that there are vast communities of plane spotters on the internet.
‘A couple of them have said that they reckon that Pablo Escobar had it because it was registered to a Cayman Island company,’ Johnny shares.
‘People who research airplanes and tail numbers get bits of information and cross-reference it to the registration date.
‘However, when things are registered to these offshore tax havens the whole point is that it is very hard to know what is true and what is not or to get any evidence for it – that’s the nature of offshore registrations.’
Johnny believes that the Airbnb allows guests to indulge in an element of ‘cosplay’, as ‘people enjoy that experience and living that fantasy for a little while and then living their normal lives.’
‘The contrast – billionaire and real life – is actually really healthy to people,’ Johnny believes.
Unlike your typical experience boarding a plane, where you’ll cruise at up to 42,000 feet, this boujie version sees punters stationed at just 32 feet, surrounded by luxury amenities including a hot tub, sauna, gold-plated shower, leather seats and walnut panelling.
The prices are premium too, starting at £250 at a more economic rate and skyrocketing up to £850 for the most in-demand evenings.
Johnny has done an impressive job of converting the space, which now boasts two double bedrooms complete with ensuite toilets and showers, as well as seats which can convert into extra bed space for larger groups.
Many of the original features are still intact too, including the fully fitted cockpit, which hasn’t been touched.
Elsewhere, the wings or engines have subsequently been removed, but many of the classic features are still in operation, including the airstairs, lighting, three toilets, shower, kitchen, fridge and many of the cockpit lights.
Naturally, Johnny himself is an aviation fan – and he always wanted to have a private jet for himself.
‘This was an opportunity to get one – the thing that I wanted was never a plane that flew it was just having a private jet so this was perfect,’ he notes.
‘I just think they are cool – I just like airplanes. Everyone wants a private jet, right?’
When it comes to the other businesses on the industrial estate, his project has been welcomed with open arms.
In fact, he believes that if he tried to get permission to station it elsewhere, he might not have been able to pull it off.
‘On industrial estates, people don’t really care what you do because visually they are not very nice as they are so that gives a creative opportunity to do weird things like airplanes,’ Johnny adds.
‘Whereas if I tried to do this in an agricultural or residential setting you just wouldn’t get planning permission for it.’
But the renovations weren’t a quick fix – they were years in the making. Most of the details were originally fitted in 1981 – before Johnny was born – and so naturally required considerable restoration efforts.
‘I did a lot of the electrics myself, I had a plumber, a carpenter – there have been lots of people who have been involved in the process,’ Johnny notes.
Now, he hosts regular open days where residents of Bristol can come and tour the plane in return for a charity donation.
‘I like that it brings joy to people and a lot of people have great nights on there, kids are inspired by it. People come up here and take selfies with it,’ he says.
He also offers local artists the space for free should they want to use it for photoshoots or music videos and uses the income he receives from paying Airbnb guests to put back into the project rather than pay himself.
‘The money we get from it just goes back into the project to make it better and better for future guests. It has never been intended to make money,’ he concludes.
And, at the end of December 2024, Johnny put in an application to place a second plane in the same space – one that he hopes will be ‘bigger, higher, and much more impressive.’
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