Every single guest asks about the plants.
Not some guests. Not most guests. Every single one, across 22,500 stays and 38 properties in Columbus, Ohio. They ask what they are, where we found them, how we keep them alive with guests coming in and out, and whether they can have one for their apartment.
We take that as a sign we’re doing something right. Here’s the honest answer to all of those questions — and why the plants are not a design trend we borrowed but a genuine obsession that became the identity of everything we do.
How It Started
Jungle House didn’t begin with a brand deck and a plant strategy. It began with a single property, a personal collection of rare tropical plants, and the realization that a space filled with living, breathing, genuinely unusual plants feels completely different from a space filled with furniture.
Most vacation rentals — even beautiful ones — have an absence at their center. The furniture is chosen, the art is hung, the linens are folded. But the space doesn’t breathe. It doesn’t change between visits. It doesn’t have anything in it that’s actually alive.
Plants fixed that. Not because we read that plants were trending or that guests respond positively to greenery in surveys. But because when you walk into a room with a six-foot Monstera Deliciosa casting shadows across the wall, or a Philodendron Gloriosum trailing across a shelf with its velvety heart-shaped leaves, or an Alocasia that looks like it came from a rainforest in Borneo — the room feels like somewhere. Not just somewhere to sleep. Somewhere worth remembering.
That first property filled up with plants. Then the second one did. By the time we had five properties, guests were tagging us in posts specifically about the plants. By the time we had ten, “the one with all the plants” was how people described us to their friends when recommending where to stay in Columbus. We stopped fighting it and leaned all the way in.
What You’ll Find in a Jungle House Property
Every property has a curated collection of rare and unusual tropical plants. Not the standard grocery store succulents or the fake fiddle leaf fig in the corner. Actual rare specimens sourced from specialty nurseries, collector trades, and growers around the country. A few that show up most consistently across our properties:
Philodendrons in Varieties You’ve Never Seen
Philodendrons are one of the most diverse plant genera on the planet, with species ranging from the common heart-leaf to genuinely rare collector specimens. Our properties have both. The Philodendron Gloriosum, with its velvety dark green leaves and striking white veins, is a ground-crawling species from the tropical forests of Colombia. The Philodendron Melanochrysum — sometimes called the Black Gold Philodendron — has iridescent leaves that shift color depending on the light. Neither of these shows up in a standard home decor shop.
Alocasias: The Drama Plants
If you’ve ever stood in front of a plant and thought “that doesn’t look real,” it was probably an Alocasia. These plants grow from tropical regions across Southeast Asia and produce leaves with a sculptural quality that makes them look more like art installations than houseplants. The Alocasia Zebrina has spotted, zebra-striped stems. The Alocasia Frydek has dark, velvety leaves with bright white veins that look hand-painted. The Alocasia Azlanii — native to Borneo — produces foliage with iridescent leaves that can shift from deep green to red to purple depending on the angle of light.
The Ones We Don’t Name on Purpose
Part of the Jungle House experience is discovering what’s in the property when you arrive. We don’t publish a full inventory of every plant in every home, because that would ruin the moment when you walk in and find something you’ve never seen before and immediately need to know what it is. That moment — that genuine curiosity — is something we protect deliberately.
The plants change over time too. New specimens get added. Some get moved between properties. Some grow into completely different versions of themselves over a year’s worth of time. Guests who return for a second or third stay often notice the changes and ask about them. We consider that the highest possible form of a guest paying attention.
Why We Take the Care This Seriously
Running 38+ properties with live rare plant collections is not operationally simple. Every plant in every property requires its own care schedule, its own light placement, its own watering cadence. Our operations team is trained on basic plant care as part of onboarding. When a guest stay ends and the cleaning and preparation process begins, the plants are part of that walkthrough.
We’ve had guests ask whether the plants are real. They are, always. We’ve had guests worry they’ve accidentally killed a plant during their stay. They almost never have — and when something does happen, it’s a plant, not a crisis. We’ve had guests water the plants themselves without being asked because they fell into the routine of caring for them. We consider that one of the more quietly beautiful things that happens inside our properties.
The plants stay healthy because they’re treated like residents rather than props.
What the Plants Do to a Space (and to a Stay)
This is the part that’s harder to explain in a photo and easier to understand once you’ve actually been inside a Jungle House property.
A room with live plants in it breathes differently. The air quality is genuinely better — tropical plants are among the most effective natural air purifiers available, removing compounds from indoor air and releasing oxygen consistently. The humidity around them is slightly higher, which matters during Ohio’s dry winters in a way that you notice without necessarily identifying.
But beyond the measurable effects, there’s something less quantifiable that guests describe consistently: the space feels alive. Not “themed.” Not like you’re staying inside a greenhouse. More like you’ve walked into a home where someone actually lives and actually cares about what’s in the room with them.
That feeling is the whole point. Every rare plant we’ve sourced, every specimen we’ve maintained, every property we’ve filled with green — it’s all in service of that feeling. A stay at Jungle House shouldn’t feel like a hotel or a generic rental. It should feel like the most interesting place you’ve stayed in recent memory.
The plants are how we make that happen.
Come See Them for Yourself
If you’re curious about what’s actually inside a Jungle House property, the best way to find out is to book one. Every property in our Short North portfolio has a curated collection — no two are identical, and part of the experience is discovering what’s yours for the duration of your stay.
Book direct at junglehouse.org and save at least 10% compared to Airbnb, with free parking and late checkout until noon included. If you have a specific question about a property’s plant situation before you book — whether you’re a plant person who wants to know exactly what you’re walking into, or a pet owner who wants to confirm safety — reach out at stay@junglehouse.org and we’ll tell you everything.
5,800+ five-star reviews. 38+ properties. 22,500 guests who’ve stood in front of a plant in one of our homes and asked some version of the same question you probably have right now.
The answer is yes, they’re real. Yes, they’re rare. Yes, you can ask about them when you arrive.
