Kathryne Grisim doesn't normally have strangers stay at her home, but now she's opening it up to the world.
Grisim has FIFA fever and she ventured into the world of AirBnb ahead of the 2015 Women's World Cup.
"My husband and I have always wondered what it would be like to have a B&B, so we thought this would be a great little test," said Grisim, who is offering two rooms to visitors from across North America.
“The day I posted, we had our first response,” said Grisim.
For more than a month, Winnipeg hotels have been close to filling up during the week of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in the city.
Now with the event just weeks away, hotels are at about 90 per cent capacity.
"In the city, we’ve got 7,400 hotel and motel rooms that are already sold out on (June) 8, 9 and 10,” said Chantal Sturk-Nadeau, senior VP of Tourism Winnipeg, who added that when rooms do become available, they’re re-booked within the hour.
Jim Baker, president and CEO of the Manitoba Hotels Association, said many hotels are working with tour operators to create Manitoba-based activity packages.
“This is much bigger in my mind than a Grey Cup. It’s much bigger than a Juno, all those are wonderful events especially for the hotels, but this is even broader than that,” said Baker.
For people looking to get into a hostel, their chances are even more slim. Tourism Winnipeg said hostels were sold out up to two months ago, and bed and breakfasts have filled up as well.
“Now we’ve also even been helping (people) over the last month get hotel rooms that are everywhere from Morden to Steinbach to Selkirk, and as far as Brandon,” said Sturk-Nadeau.
Visitors are now left trying to find a last minute place to stay. Some have contacted Tourism Winnipeg asking where they can camp close by.
Others are opting out for ads on Kijiji, or postings on AirBnB.
Daryl Rona is offering six separate rooms.
He said he posted them on AirBnB Tuesday, and has already filled up half the spaces in one day.
“People are coming from Europe and the States. (It’s) a good way to show our hospitality,” said Rona.
Kathryne Grisim says she’s running out of space as well.
"We're almost at capacity, we've only got two nights left," she said.