BERLIN, The online portal www.rooms-worldcup2006.com provides World Cup visitors with a free accommodations search service featuring low cost rooms in private homes; Germans eager to accommodate fans in their homes

With less than 100 days to go before the starting whistle of the 2006 Soccer World Cup, visitors are still somewhat slow about making their travel arrangements. And with a great many German hotels already booked up, a lot of fans are wondering where they should stay. Budget hotel rooms are in particularly great demand.

Private accommodations are the optimal solution for cost conscious World Cup fans who would like to get a first hand look at life in Germany. Such fans will find a helpful partner for their room search in the leading German real estate portal ImmobilienScout24, which operates a service called "Staying with friends." The service is available at www.rooms-worldcup2006.com, where soccer fans from around the world can search for accommodations in World Cup cities and their environs comfortably and free of charge for the period extending from June 9 to July 9, 2006. Fans who use www.rooms-worldcup2006.com will also be contributing to a good cause, since all of the profits on the fees paid by individuals who rent accommodations through www.rooms-worldcup2006.com will go to the foundation for young soccer players headed by German trainer Jürgen Klinsmann.

As was the case with World Youth Day in 2005, for the 2006 World Cup Germans are eager to welcome guests from all over the world into their homes, a fact attested to by the over 7000 rooms currently available at . "We have more rooms available than any other portal in Germany," said Arndt Kwiatkowski, CEO of ImmobilienScout24. "And the number of listings is growing steadily."

World Cup visitors can find accommodations online within a 200 kilometer radius of each of the World Cup stadiums. Visitors can choose between various types of rooms, apartments and houses, and can also define a price range as well as numerous other parameters such as the number of persons in their party, and a smoking or non-smoking accommodations. The listings contain information regarding furnishings, location, availability, price and so on. Photos enable the prospective guest to get a feel for what the accommodations look like. Visitors can contact the owner immediately and reserve their accommodations via . Payment is arranged directly between owner and guest.

The www.rooms-worldcup2006.com portal is mainly intended for private individuals who would like to advertise a room or apartment. These individuals pay an 11 euro fee. In addition to a German Web site www.WM-Zimmer-2006.de , there is also an English Web site www.rooms-worldcup2006.com . The portal also offers a series of other useful travel planning services and information. .

"The large selection of private accommodations available at www.rooms-worldcup2006.com shows that the World Cup motto, 'A time to make friends' is not just empty words, but is a flesh and bones reality," said Mr. Kwiatkowski. "Many of the people that list with us are interested not so much in the money, but rather in the opportunity for an intercultural experience."

About ImmobilienScout24 | Berlin based ImmobilienScout24 is the real estate market leader amongst Germanophone Web portals. The site registers more than two million unique users and 400 million page impressions monthly, making it by far the most frequented online Germanophone real estate portal. In addition, each month over 60 million virtual real estate visits are realized and over 700,000 properties are offered on the Web site. ImmobilienScout24 employs 200 and is jointly held by Scout24 Holding GmbH, Aareal Bank AG, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, and J.H.Whitney.

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