Dollar General Airbnb

Manistee, Michigan

The conversation we recently had as a family

One of the boys asked, “Where are we staying tonight?”

Adrienne “The Dollar General.”

Another boy, “What, you can’t stay at a Dollar General?”

Adrienne, “Yes, you can, that is where we are staying tonight.”

Sure enough, we spent two nights in an Airbnb at the rear of a Dollar General store in Manistee, Michigan. The building once served a different purpose, operating as a bowling alley and a skating rink, but the apartment where we stayed was likely either an office or the home of the previous owners. It was wild to enter your address as the Dollar General on Google Maps while you were looking for the place you were staying that evening. We had our own parking spot on the backside of the building, and we were unable to hear any of the commotion from the store, as our housing was not located above the retail area.

Staying at a Dollar General has its advantages. We did not have to go far to purchase groceries. We knew that area would be patrolled for security. We also knew that we would not get easily turned around or lost when we left for the day and returned. And because it was a Dollar General, if we had any boxes delivered, they wouldn’t have been opened.

Overall, our Airbnb met our purposes. There were beds for the five of us, a kitchen, a living room, a dining room, and a couple of bathrooms. We were able to spread out, and it would have been a comfortable place to stay for longer than the two nights we were in Manistee. Staying at Airbnbs can put you in some cool locations overnight, even if it is the yellow glow of the local Dollar General.