In many ways, the question of where to stay while traveling was defined in the era of tech optimism in the early 2010s. Before Airbnb became a household name, accommodation options were largely limited to hotels, motels, and hostels. Bed and breakfasts existed to a smaller extent, and some cities had personal room rentals. Those, however, could be unpredictable — especially for minority groups and the LGBTQ+ community.
Photo: lazyllama/Shutterstock
The Most Popular LGBTQ+ Cities, Restaurants, and More in 2024, According to 1 Million+ Travelers
More formal homesharing companies existed long before — Vacation Rentals By Owner, now known simply as Vrbo, started in 1995 — but after the Great Recession and the rise of the gig economy, the idea of using part of your home for extra income stopped sounding so outlandish. As did staying in a stranger’s spare room.
“Things were still a bit precarious a decade ago,” Matthieu Jost, cofounder and CEO of the LGBTQ+ booking company misterb&b, tells me over email. “They’ve gotten much better since, but lots of work still needs to be done. Having anxiety before being fully open with a host when booking a home was common, because one could never know how the host would react.”
Photo: Matthieu Jost/misterb&b
In 2014, Jost rented an apartment in Barcelona with his partner. It was quickly clear that the woman who owned the home was uncomfortable that Jost and his partner are gay, going as far as to ask if they were sleeping in the same room.
That experience inspired Jost to start misterb&b. Today, it’s one of the largest accommodations platforms for the LGBTQ+ community and partners with not-for-profits through its philanthropy arm, Mister For Good. It has 1.3 million members, with some 310,000 vetted hosts, hotels, and travel guides in more than 135 countries. Jost says the number of hosts, both allies and those in the community, has largely grown through word of mouth. Hotels are found through partnerships and have signed an LGBTQ+ acceptance pledge.
And it’s still growing. Recently, misterb&b added Weere after seeing a desire from users for a section of the company that acts like a social network for travelers looking to link up with locals for tips, activities, and tours.
To help gauge the state of LGBTQ+ travel this year and see what the most popular destinations will be in 2024, Jost and misterb&b shared the most popular LGBTQ+ cities in the world based on the number of searches by misterb&b’s million-plus registered users. They also shared for the first time with Matador the top restaurants, nightclubs, and spots in the United States determined by the number of favorites on the misterb&b platform by users and Weere local experts.
The 25 most popular LGBTQ+ cities in the world for US Travelers in 2024
- New York City
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Palm Springs, California
- Chicago
- Los Angeles
- Washington DC
- Wilton Manors, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Central London, UK
- San Diego
- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Paris
- San Francisco
- Las Vegas
- Miami
- Atlanta
- Dallas
- Orlando, Florida
- Phoenix
- Provincetown, Massachusetts
- Barcelona
- Denver
- Seattle
- Boston
- Austin, Texas
- Philadelphia
The 5 most favorited spots for LGBTQ+ travelers in the US
- Central Park in New York City
- LA Fitness (all of them) in Los Angeles
- City of Wilton Manors in Florida
- Hunters Nightclub Wilton Manors in Florida
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City
The 10 most favorited restaurants for LGBTQ+ travelers in the US
- Rosie’s Bar & Grill in Wilton Manors, Florida
- Sandfish Sushi & Whiskey in Palm Springs, California
- Urban MO’s Bar & Grill in San Diego
- Trio in Palm Springs, California
- Gloria’s Latin Cuisine in Rockwall, Texas
- Cecconi’s West Hollywood in Los Angeles
- Ethos Greek Bistro in Wilton Manors, Florida
- Foreign Cinema in San Francisco
- Oceanic in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Campagnolo Restaurant in Atlanta
The 5 most favorited nightclubs for LGBTQ+ travelers in the US
- Hunters Nightclub Wilton Manors in Wilton Manors, Florida
- Piranha Nightclub in Las Vegas
- Eagle Wilton Manor in Wilton Manors, Florida
- Eagle NYC in New York City
- Baltimore Eagle in Baltimore