New app provides students with low-cost alternative for hotels

Michael Ayers

Stay the night or the weekend at other college students’ house with a new home sharing application on the IOS app store. 

Designed for college students, Spots offers a fun, quick and low-cost alternative to hotels for students who want to travel and meet new people. Spots is a college specific home sharing app specifically for college students and built by college students.

Spots, based in Atlanta, was founded by Georgia Tech graduates, Walter Seals and Edoardo Moauro. 

“Basically, have people stay at your home or you’re able to travel and stay with other college students through the app,” Seals said.

Many high-profile SEC football games will be bringing an enormous demand for accommodations into small college towns that lack an adequate supply. This perfect storm will jack up hotel prices as much as 500 percent while leaving the average student without a place to stay. 

Right now, the Spots developers are traveling to SEC schools trying to get hosts on board to house traveling students for football away games.  

You can either be a general user or a user and a host. Once a profile is created, hosts add their address, pictures and what traveling items guests need to bring. Hosts also set prices, and rules on smoking, drinking and pet-friendliness.  

Before being accepted by a host, the host address will not show on a map. The address will appear after the users receive a confirmation number. After confirmation, users can talk to their host. The pin shown is a vicinity pin, which shows a general layout of where you are but not your exact location. 

Currently, Spots has three required security measures to ensure the safety of its users: a .edu email verification; connection of your personal Facebook account to your Spots profile; background check for all hosts.

“Our app isn’t only limited to travel during college football season,” Seals said. We are partnering with greek organizations and clubs alike, creating a network through which members can stay with other chapters, travel together for conferences, etc.”