For many travellers on a tight budget, bagging a room for just 50p would be a dream come true.
One hotel, the Asahi Ryokan in Fukuoka, located on Japanese island Kyushu, advertised such a deal back in 2019, but with a bizarre catch.
Guests could stay in room eight on weekdays for just 100 yen, equivalent to 50p.
However, they had to agree to be livestreamed to the hotel's YouTube channel from inside the room during their entire stay.
Guests would have full control over their room, such as being able to turn the lights on and off, and no audio was recorded.
The bathroom was also out of view of the camera for privacy.
At the time, the owner Tetsuya Inoue told CNN: 'This is a very old ryokan and I was looking into a new business model.'
The manager planned to make money from ad revenue on the YouTube channel and streams.
'Our hotel is on the cheaper side, so we need some added value, something special that everyone will talk about,' he added.
The hotel owner revealed that the guests he had attracted at the time of the interview were mostly younger.
Tetsuya explained: 'Young people nowadays don't care much about the privacy.
'Some of them say it's OK to be [watched] for just one day.'
The hotel decided to make the unusual business move in an attempt to fill the room, which often had low booking rates.
Guests had some rules to follow during their stay - 'lewd acts' were not allowed, and travellers were urged not to show private details, such as bank cards, to the camera.
When the room was unoccupied, Tetsuya would livestream from his office.
Some years ago, a guest who stayed at the hotel shared their experience on Reddit and revealed visitors 'must spend three hours a day in the room outside of sleep time to give people something to watch'.
They stayed for four nights and described the owner as a 'good vibe'.
The guest added: 'People on the livestream so far are very nice (thought I've struggled to connect to the free wifi) and personally as someone who's lived in some very odd situations over the years the whole thing doesn't phase me at all.
'The space is clean and it's about 1km from Hakata Station.
'In my view it's an excellent option for budget travellers who are sick of sharing a room physically but don't care so much about privacy.'
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