Airbnb offering eye-opening paediatric ICU experience at SickKids

For many sick children, spending countless nights at the hospital is a regular occurrence.

However, it’s a feeling that many families will hopefully never have to endure. But now, you can personally experience the sights, sounds, and emotions that come with a night in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at SickKids in Toronto through a new social experience with Airbnb.

The eye-opening experience is meant to shed light on the reality of the hospital infrastructure. During this immersive experience, you’ll begin to understand what it’s truly like for sick children and their families who have to spend countless nights in the ICU without space, quiet, or solace.

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Created in an area in the hospital that is no longer used for clinical care, the SickKids Airbnb gives guests the opportunity to go behind the curtain at this world-class hospital.

The experience features a true replica of a stay in the PICU at the hospital.

SickKids Airbnb experience

The three-hour experience is valued at a total of $16,744, the cost for one night of operating a four-patient room in the PICU and is now available for booking on Airbnb.ca.

For one night, you’ll receive state-of-the-art care while you share a room with up to six others.

However, there are only three single beds, so four guests will have to sleep on chairs. There is no TV and Wi-Fi is spotty… so be sure to bring reading material.

SickKids Airbnb experience

“What they did for my daughter, there’s not really words for it. Nothing short of amazing. But the facilities were the worst part,” said Teri, a past SkickKids PICU guest.

“The space let me down. I felt helpless and overwhelmed in the Paediatric ICU. The humming and the beeping from all the machines, the families, the agitation of the other patients. It didn’t make us feel secure. It was scary.”

SickKids Airbnb experience

“SickKids is an amazing place, but Tanika shared a room with other patients, and we were constantly being asked to leave when they were doing a bedside procedure, which made our little girl very anxious,” recounted Nicky, another former SickKids PICU guest.

Availability for this experience is limited, and it starts at $2,392 per person.