It has three bedrooms, five beds, two baths, and can accommodate eight guests.

It even has a swimming pool and a game room with a pool table, foosball, and an indoor pop-a-shot basketball set up.

The going rate is $158 a night with a minimum two night stay.

It’s clearly a business but it’s not a hotel. It’s a fulltime Airbnb that is a home in a central Manteca neighborhood.

And it is among 38 homes in Manteca listed on Airbnb competing directly with hotels for vacation and business travelers while skirting the collection of 12 percent transit occupancy taxes. In most cases those listing homes do not have business licenses.

Council Gary Singh after receiving several complaints about noise and excessive vehicles in connection with such short-term rentals said he brought the issue up with municipal management.

Their response, according to Singh, was essentially it was no big deal and not worth the city’s time or attention.

Singh disagrees.

He pointed out the city requires businesses (hotels) that cater to those traveling for business and pleasure to secure business licenses and follow regulations.

Manteca also requires them to collect a 12 percent room tax which an Airbnb does not collect.

He also said in the case of several homeowners that say they can accommodate up to 10 people at a time there is sometimes excessive noise issues and more often or not a significant influx of vehicles from multiple parties staying in a home.

Singh said it is not just an issue of essentially hotel use in areas designed as residential or a question of fairness given what the city requires of hotel owners.

He noted a justification for assessing the 12 percent room tax is to offset the costs that visitor traffic generates for municipal services plus concerns regarding the wear and tear on streets.

“It’s a matter of fairness,” Singh said.

He noted the Airbnb listings are not homes with long-term tenants who may rent a room with kitchen privileges and such for months or even years. Instead they are competing with hotels.

At the same time he noted residential neighborhoods were not designed for hotel-like operations. Singh added complaints people have about excessive vehicles and noise are legitimate as they are connected not with people living there but guests staying in homes that in some cases are never occupied by the owners that are running them as full-time businesses.

A number of the Manteca listings make it a point to say their homes are at a mid-way point between San Francisco and Manteca taking clear aim at the 4 million annual visitors that make their way to the national park.

Most of the listings are for one or two rooms. Several are casitas that have separate entrances such as one just outside the city at Oakwood Shores.

The lowest nightly price is $46 with the highest $252. The nearby area has two higher listings — $500 a night for what is described as a luxury home in Lathrop and $300 for a separate suite with a kitchen south of Manteca

Assuming 50 percent vacancy with average nightly charge of $115 the revenue potential from a transit occupancy tax would be $46,851.50 a year. 

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com