The site, which allows hosts to lease out a room or their entire home to registered guests, has recorded a tripling in area listings in the past year.

A search for ‘‘Wollongong’’ now yields more than 200 accommodation options in the Illawarra and its western fringes.

Listings range from a room in modest Fairy Meadow apartment - yours from $39 a night - to the luxurious, tennis-courted Jerrymara farm at Willow Vale, near Gerringong, where stays start at $1000 a night.

Somewhere between the dirt cheap and the jaw-droppingly expensive, the site has unearthed some fascinating and unique accommodation options.

In Mangerton, $145 will buy a room for a night at the historic art deco Orana mansion on Norman Street, while visitors with an eye for the unusual can experience a stay in a converted church at Kangaloon, near the top of Macquarie Pass, from $275.

Nigel Burnett listed his five-bedroom Wombarra home on the site in December as a way of supplementing his income while his family went on holiday and the house was vacant.

The home’s ocean-front views saw it command $900 in nightly rent - reason enough for the family to have vacated several times since by staying with friends or family, or to take off on a separate mini-break with the proceeds, Mr Burnett said.

‘‘It’s an opportunity for us to go and do our own holiday, and have somebody pay for the house rather than leave it empty,’’ he said. 

‘‘It’s been a really pleasant experience so far. Everybody’s been really respectful and it’s been nice to have people that are, I guess, in awe of the house, and just love the area.’’

Airbnb became a $13 billion company in 2014. 

Its founders Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk and Joe Gebbia have been dubbed the first billionaires of the ‘‘sharing economy’’ - a trending concept for businesses built on the sharing - not owning - of goods. The site has more than one million listings in 190 million countries.

Airbnb Australian Country Manager Sam McDonagh said listings with the site were doubling year-on-year in Australia.

Though hosts listed their homes for varying reasons, many did so to supplement their income, he said.

‘‘The majority [of hosts] rent the home they live in occasionally and earn a modest income from it,’’ he said. 

‘‘Our research tells us this income makes a real difference though, helping make ends meet and pay bills. In fact, they spend about 50 per cent of their Airbnb income on essential living expenses such as mortgage repayments, electricity bills and groceries.’’ 

The website is built so that both host and guest have the option of reviewing one another post-stay.

Naomi Janzen listed a room in her Robertson home in August as a way of building up good hosting reviews for herself and partner Derek Sheppard as the pair prepared to go travelling overseas.

They planned to become Airbnb guests during their travels - sometimes with last-minute bookings - and didn’t want to give hosts any reason to hesitate.

The couple hosted a wedding photographer and stylist who were visiting the Highlands for work; a couple in the medical profession who were exploring different parts of Australia, one Airbnb home at a time, and a woman from Western Australia who had travelled to the region to do a course in organic farming.

‘‘I love being able to see what other hosts have said about people in the reviews,’’ said Ms Janzen.

‘‘People always say, ‘what’s it like having strangers come and stay in your house?’, but right away it’s not like a stranger, it’s like having friends recommend somebody. Before I accept a reservation, I’ve checked them out.’’