Spice Up Your Life

You can now stay overnight on the Spice Bus, but don’t even think about partying on it!

Matt Alexander/PA Wire

If you know what the words scary, posh, baby, sporty, and ginger all have in common, please take a deep breath.

The Union Jack tour bus, made famous in the movie Spice World, can now be rented overnight.

That’s right, you 90’s pop culture connoisseur. The Spice Bus—that monolithic emblem of Girl Power and mediocre music—is not on display in a museum, where it clearly belongs so it can be treasured by the masses. A regular citizen bought it! And because this is 2019, the new owner gutted the interior, remodeled it, and turned it into an Airbnb.

It should be noted, of course, that the interior of the real-life Spice Bus does not resemble the interior of the Spice Bus in the movie. So don’t be disappointed if you rent it for the night, but then discover it is not a 90’s era party room complete with vinyl walls, overstuffed plush chairs in the shape of lips, and a swing for Baby Spice to perch upon while licking lollipops. Anyone who actually sat through Spice World already has experience with disappointment, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

The good news is, the real-life Spice Bus looks quite lovely, now that it’s been all remodeled and made to look, dare we say, pleasant.

Matt Alexander/PA Wire

At least they included a faux zebra rug, which is fun.

Matt Alexander/PA Wire

The downstairs lounge looks especially nice, with a seating area for hanging out with your mates. The Airbnb listing stipulates various rules, one of which is “no parties,” but good luck with that one. Asking people not to party on the Spice Bus is like asking Daenerys Targaryen to heed the ringing bells of surrender and not torch the village with her dragon. Yeah right.

Proprietor Suzanne Godley, who is managing all of the overnight rentals (the bus is actually owned by an unnamed third party), has already booked reservations for the initial nights on June 14 and 15, but she released a statement saying she will open some additional dates, and they will become available on the Airbnb page on May 22. This odd scheduling is presumably a publicity stunt, and all sorts of rentals will open up eventually. People will pay big money to stay on the Spice Bus and take selfies all night. Although the bus only sleeps 3, and obviously you need 5 people to represent each Spice Girl in your photos, so already that “no parties” rule is in jeopardy.

Related: 6 sizzling British cities so welcoming you will book the next flight

Please note, there is not a bathroom on the bus, so guests will have to depend on the facilities at wherever the bus is parked. For the June dates, it will be in Wembley Park in London, which is very much not a campsite, so hopefully, everybody involved will plan on showering at home. Check the Airbnb listing for future availability and location. Does the Spice Bus come with earplugs?

Are they prepared for having drunken Spice Girls fans congregate around the bus and sing the intro La la la lyrics from “Spice Up Your Life” all night?

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