Military-focused rental site Crewdogs based in Charleston grows nationwide

Quartering soldiers may be a relic of the past, but opening your home to military members is having a modern resurgence. 

Based in Charleston, Crewdogs has created a short-term rental website that caters directly to military personnel and their families. 

Adam Hill, a 2012 U.S. Air Force Academy graduate from a military family, was still serving part-time as a reservist when he began developing the rental site. He met Tony Romeo, class of 2002, in 2015 on Sullivans Island.  

The two launched Crewdogs in 2021 while Hill was deployed in Qatar, working on the platform in his free time between operations. 

“There are multiple service branches like Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marines here … and then this is an area that we have a lot of retirees as well as people traveling, so Charleston is one of the perfect petri dishes for the platform,” Hill said.  

Anyone booking through Crewdogs is required to be a part of the military community whether on active duty, a veteran, retiree or family member.  

Hosts are not required to be part of the military; Hill considers them “patriot hosts.” Each host is verified through ID.me, a verification service created by an Army veteran, and most are also listed on Airbnb. Roughly 10% of all Airbnb hosts are from the military community. 

Though the site is used primarily for short-terms rentals, there are also cases where families need flexible and more affordable options while they are in between housing. In scenarios where families are waiting for space to open on base or waiting for a house to be built, Crewdogs offers stays from a few weeks to a few months.   

In other cases, Hill said people can stay in a home for free, similar to “couch surfing,” while they are moving around.   

“Our goal is to be anchored around every military base in the country, to have at least 10 listings, to where the military community, whether moving to that base or whether it’s family coming to visit that member, has a place to stay,” Hill said.   

Crewdogs has listings in all 50 states right now. Once reaching each of the military bases, Hill said he hopes to have listings in all the large travel

destinations in the United States.   

Hill said that on average, booking through Crewdogs is 20% cheaper than booking the same stay on Airbnb. Through Crewdogs, there is a discount on fees in addition to a military discount, which is required from all hosts when joining. 

In addition to discounts for the booker, each property owner is partnered with a military nonprofit. When checking out, customers can donate to one of the 11 partnered veteran nonprofits in addition to the 10% of all profits Crewdogs donates from its total revenue.  

For organizations like the Fisher House Foundation, which helps house military members going through medical care, funds can go a long way to avoid paying the higher hotel and Airbnb prices, Hill said.  

“Our goal is to completely offset the lodging expenses for some of these incredible foundations like Fisher House, Gary Sinise Foundation, Folds of Honor,” Hill said. “They can take that money that they usually spend on lodging, and they can put it back into something that’s more worth worthwhile of their of their money, that makes a bigger impact.” 

For people unfamiliar with military jargon, Crewdogs may just sound like a fun name. For military members, it means much more.  

Hill said in World War I and World War II the bombers would bring dogs with them that they called crew dogs. Over time, the term has evolved to mean a trustworthy and endearing person you want on your team that is used often in the aviation industry. 

“The idea is that it’s not as much about the place, it’s about the person who’s hosting you,” Hill said. “You want to stay with people who you trust and who feel secure.”