They are normally booked as a getaway for people to relax away from work.
But Scotland is home to the world’s only ‘bookshop Airbnb’ where guests spend the night – and run the store in the day.
Those booking the £150-a-week Open Book get to stay in a flat above the shop, in Wigtown, in the south west of the country, and spend their days selling downstairs.
Airbnb say it is ‘the first ever bookshop holiday residency experience’ – and is so popular it has a two year waiting list from guests around the globe.
It was set up by The Wigtown Festival Company and aims ‘to celebrate books, independent bookshops and welcome people from around the world’
The shop welcomed its first holidaymakers in August 2014 and since then the charity-run property has become a sensation.
More than 450 guests have enjoyed the unusual experience in the town, which hosts an internationally renowned book festival, from all over the world, including Hawaii and Beijing.
The Wigtown Festival site says: ‘Live your dream of having your very own bookshop by the sea.
‘Nestled in the pristine surroundings of Galloway, The Open Book is a charming bookshop and apartment, situated on the main street of Wigtown.
‘A holiday home with a difference, it presents a unique opportunity for visitors to run a real bookshop at the heart of the town’s vibrant community.
‘Booked through Airbnb, paying guests live in the self-catering apartment upstairs and run the bookshop below it for the duration of their stay.
‘During their stay, guests are free to change displays, price books, re-categorise them, and make inventive use of the blackboard that entices visitors in to browse or chat.
‘Some guests are happy to quietly run the bookshop, while others come with firmer plans and creative ideas.’
The guests this week are Daisy Yeung, 41, who travelled from Hong Kong, and her friend from secondary school, Lydia Man, 42.
Ms Yeung, who works as a psychologist in a Hong Kong prison, said: ‘We are enjoying it very, very much.
‘My dream to be a bookseller one day and thought it would be fun to have a taste of it.
‘The shop is quite busy to be honest!’
Ms Man, who moved from Hong Kong to live in Nottingham three years ago, said she is also ‘very happy here’.
She added: ‘We are having a lovely time. It’s a calming and nice place – and the bookstore looks really fantastic.’
The shop is the brainchild of author and filmmaker Jessica Fox and contributes about £10,000-a-year to the Wigtown Festival Company’s charitable work.
She said: ‘I thought I couldn’t be the only crazy American who dreams of working in a bookshop by the sea in Scotland, there has to be more of us.
‘I wanted to create the same experience for those book-curious people who had the same dream of running a bookshop for a week, and living upstairs.
‘It is a success because of Wigtown, the volunteers who make the guests so welcome, the owners of the building, who believed in my idea.’