One of Florida’s top Airbnbs can be found in this state forest. Would you stay here?

SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. – This week, Airbnb unveiled some of the most wishlisted properties in every state — including one right here in Central Florida.

That property is located near Brooksville, and it comes in a pretty unique package: the repurposed fuselage of a CH-47D Chinook helicopter.

More specifically, the Airbnb is situated on a 5-acre compound in the Withlacoochee State Forest and Croom Motorcycle Area, operated by Moto Ranch at Croom.

One of the owners of Moto Ranch, Brent Venderley, told News 6 that the idea came about after he and co-founder Pete Kucinski began renovating the area.

“We were looking to put another unit where the Chinook helicopter (now) sits on the property…” Venderley explained. “When we were talking about it one night, Pete was like, ‘I saw a helicopter on Facebook Marketplace.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, why are we even talking about that?’”

Despite the odd concept, the pair decided to buy the old fuselage off Facebook Marketplace and renovate it into the two-bedroom, one-bathroom Airbnb unit that sits there today.

The property became available to guests beginning back in November 2023, and Venderley said it’s been busy ever since.

“It took us about six-to-seven months to redo it and get it up…” he stated. “It’s really cool. And we’ve come from a background of renovating houses and construction and other Airbnb units, so we already had the crews and had the people to do it all.”

According to Venderley, the Moto Ranch also features five other units, though this one in particular has garnered a lot of attention.

While the ranch is mainly used by motorcyclists and ATV riders who want to take advantage of Croom’s many trails, Venderley said the Chinook has brought in a new wave of tourists who sought it out specifically.

“We rent that to mainly people who come up there to ride, and we’re kind of you either camp or you stay with us. That’s like the only option, really. So we were basically catering to that crowd,” he said. “But once we got the Chinook, then we started getting a lot of people that were just coming to stay.”

In all, the site’s Airbnb page lists out the following features at the property:

• Two bedrooms and a full bathroom

• Fully equipped and stocked kitchen

• Sleeps up to 6 people, with a pull-out double twin trundle sofa

• Satellite Wi-Fi, TV, and air conditioning

• Fenced yard with seating, a grill, and a hammock

• Parking for cars and haulers

• Motorcycle/ATV wash station in the fenced yard

• Washer and dryer/laundry room in the “Graffiti Container”

To book a reservation or for more information on pricing, visit the unit’s Airbnb page here.