A St. George?s guest house has offered to rent guest rooms to residents for $500 a week.

Aunt Nea?s Inn proprietor and former MP Delaey Robinson placed an advertisement on Page 51 of on Friday.

?Some years ago we were approached by the Department of Financial Assistance who wanted to place people here,? Mr. Robinson said on Friday. ?We were reluctant at first. But in the off-season we didn?t mind. We have very few rooms for that purpose.?

He said the special rates were partly in response to the affordable housing shortage and partly to fill rooms in the off season.

?The price is very good compared with residential rents,? he said. ?But it is only a room, there is no kitchen.?

His wife Andrea Dismont said there was only one room at their inn with a kitchen.

Mrs. Dismont said the rooms were not meant as a permanent housing and were more for people looking for houses or who had just moved to the Island.

However, under the Hotel Licensing Act, the maximum period of stay is six months.

?It is definitely on a weekly basis not a rental,? she said. ?And under the hotel rules, they can be asked to leave at any point,? she said. ?But we would give them advance notice.?