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An Airbnb stay in someone’s garage doesn’t exactly sound like the height of luxury, but one British lad put it to the test and couldn’t believe what he saw when the shutter went up

If you tell someone you’ve booked a stay on Airbnb, most people will picture a pretty cottage or cosy flat. However for one UK holidaymaker, he actually booked out someone’s garage for an overnight stay.

Reviewer Zac Jones shared a video of his experience on TikTok, which has since garnered around 2.8million views, after he checked in for a stay at a garage in Bradford.

In the short clip Zac arrives for an evening check-in, standing outside the garage shutters. He phones up the owner who appears to open the shutter remotely. Instead of a grimy garage – which you’d rightfully expect to see – the shutters reveal a brick wall and front door.

Once inside, it turns out that Zac may have lucked out with what could be one of Britain’s plushest garages. He summed up his reaction in two words: “Pleasantly surprised”.

Instead of a car, storage boxes or a general mess that you’d find in most people’s homes, this garage has been decked out with modern flooring, and comes complete with a bed, bathroom with shower and toilet, a sofa, TV and even a fridge and microwave as reported by creatorzine.com.

Zac added: “Someone has put a lot of effort in. It’s got snacks, and tea and coffee-making facilities. Shout out to the owner of this place. This has been one of my most interesting check-ins in a while.”

As for keeping warm? The room appears to have all the modern comforts you’d need, including a radiator that Zac said was already on, with an extra plug-in radiator for those who might want extra warmth.

The garage in Bradford, West Yorkshire is available for £30 for a night. In the comments, overall people were fairly impressed with the offering. One person said: “For the price, it actually looks good.”

Another viewer added: “30 quid! “I’ve stayed in worse for 100.” A third agreed, describing the property as a “bargain”. However, a few pointed out that the garage doesn’t have windows which would leave them feeling a little closed in, with some questioning the planning permission that would have been obtained to build the room in the first place.

Of course if you are thinking of a stay in Bradford, there are plenty of other Airbnb stays you can book which are entire homes, and not a room in a garage. For a similar price to the £30-a-night garage stay, you can also find hotel rooms from £38 a night with Skyscanner.

Have you got a quirky stay or holiday story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com.

PHOENIX — The first pitch of the Dodgers’ 2026 season won’t capture the exuberance of the last pitch of 2025. But it will be meaningful in its own right, as the official first step of the team’s quest for a third straight championship.

How poetic that the same arm should deliver both pitches.

“It’s an honor for me,” Dodgers opening day starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto said Tuesday through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “And then it’s opening day at a Dodger Stadium home game, and that’s very [much an] honor to me. I also feel the responsibility.”

Yamamoto is scheduled to make one more Cactus League start, against the Padres on Friday, before taking the Dodger Stadium mound next Thursday when the Diamondbacks come to town. It will be the second opening-day start of Yamamoto’s MLB career, and his first at home.

It will also mark the end of a whirlwind offseason and spring training for Yamamoto, who not only shouldered a demanding postseason workload, but also navigated an especially quick turnaround to pitch for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic.

“It’s hard to put into words,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He is just very driven, he’s very disciplined in his work. That’s some of the things that allows him to compete at a high level. Where most people would feel that you win the World Series MVP, you don’t have enough to pitch in the WBC. He wanted to pitch for his country, and now he’s really excited about the start of 2026.

“He is a very determined person. He really is. We’re just lucky he’s on our team.”

No one needs to be reminded that Yamamoto was a playoff hero last year, but let’s really break down his efforts.

On Oct. 14, Yamamoto made his third start of the postseason and threw a complete game against the Brewers to put the Dodgers ahead 2-0 in the NL Championship Series.

Eleven days later, he tossed another nine innings to help the Dodgers even the series against the Blue Jays. And he wrapped up the World Series with appearances on back-to-back days, starting Game 6 and finishing Game 7.

Yamamoto threw 526 pitches in the postseason, 235 in the World Series alone, and he still touched nearly 97 mph in his final inning of work.

Most pitchers would need at least a full offseason to recover. When Blake Snell slow-played his offseason because of lingering shoulder discomfort after the World Series run, the decision made all the sense in the world.

Yamamoto, however, was already pitching in meaningful games by March 6.

In Yamamoto’s first start of the WBC, he held Chinese Taipei hitless for 2 ⅔ innings. Then in the quarterfinal game against Venezuela last Saturday, he surrendered a leadoff homer to Ronald Acuña Jr. and a second-inning RBI double to Gleyber Torres before settling in for two scoreless innings. The eventual 8-5 loss eliminated Team Japan from the WBC.

“As Team Japan, the result was not what we were aiming for,” Yamamoto said. “But at a personal level, my condition was good.”

The season will be the true test for Yamamoto’s training methods, which have been infamous since before his transition from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, and are already spreading across the Dodgers’ clubhouse. Look no further than shortstop Mookie Betts this week lauding the effects of throwing a javelin.

If they continue to work, Yamamoto could be in the running for the Cy Young Award, after finishing third in National League voting last year.

“There’s high competition, there are a lot of great pitchers out there,” Yamamoto said, “but I hope that I get there.”

Yamamoto’s offseason work, however, wasn’t simply geared toward getting to opening day or winning an individual award. He knows as well as anyone that this team has set a high bar with back-to-back championships.

“The same goal,” Yamamoto said of 2026, “winning a world championship with this team.”

Now over four months removed from that final pitch of the 2025 World Series, one lesson has stuck with Yamamoto.

“I learned how difficult [it is] to get one win,” he said. “As a team, I want to be able to share that joy.”

A Strictly pro who joined the show in 2022 has shared two words that sum up their thoughts on former host Claudia Winkleman, who announced her departure last year

A professional dancer from Strictly Come Dancing has shared two words that sum up their thoughts on former host Claudia Winkleman. A Chinese Strictly pro who joined the show in 2022 and lifted the Glitterball trophy with former Lioness Karen Carney last year, Carlos Gu was recently quizzed about whether he’d like to step into Claudia and Tess Daly’s shoes.

In October last year, the duo shocked fans by announcing they would be stepping away from their joint presenting duties on the BBC programme, sparking widespread speculation about their replacements.

Carlos doesn’t seem eager to throw his hat into the ring, though, noting that he doesn’t believe he could “ever be a presenter,” but he did have some kind things to say about the former hosts.

In a recent interview, Carlos was asked if he would like to take over from Claudia and Tess, to which he replied that he “didn’t see this coming” and that he loves them both.

He told Best Magazine’s Suddenly Single podcast: “I love Claudia and Tess. I love both of them. They are just iconic and obsessed about Claudia, too, personally. I love her.”

It was then suggested that Claudia was “kooky,” to which Carlos responded: “Very witty, very cool.” And, when it was claimed that the Traitors star “doesn’t like looking in the mirror,” he added that she knows her “value.”

Carlos continued: “No, it’s just, oh, she’s a woman who knows her value, and she knows everything about herself, and she’s so confident with it, which is so powerful. Like, Tess is, too, you know.”

In response to the original question, the dancer explained that he was a “born performer” and would “die on stage,” but doesn’t think he could “ever be a presenter.”

At the time of their announcement, Claudia and Tess shared a message on Instagram that reflected on their time on the show, noting that they “loved working as a duo and hosting Strictly has been an absolute dream.”

It represents the end of a remarkable 21-year journey for Tess, who, in addition to Claudia, also revealed that they were “always going to leave together” and that they felt it was the “right time.”

Speaking on Instagram, Tess shared: “After 21 unforgettable years, the time has come to say goodbye to Strictly Come Dancing. It’s hard to put into words what this show has meant to me, so here goes…

“Strictly has been more than just a television programme. It’s felt like having a third child, a second family, and a huge part of my life since that very first show back in 2004. I knew then it was something special, but I could never have imagined the magic it would bring.

“Strictly has always been about joy, celebration, and bringing people together – and I’m so proud to have played a small part in something that continues to mean so much to so many.”