|
Onefinestay
onefinestay is a British hospitality company founded in 2009.[1] The company provides a service to homeowners of distinctive and upmarket properties, by enabling them to let out their home to guests while their home is unoccupied.[2] As of June 2024, onefinestay operates in over 40 destinations[3] including London, New York, Paris, Los Angeles, Mexico, the Caribbean, Rome and Asia.[4] In January 2024, onefinestay became a member of Walpole, the official sector body for UK luxury.[5] HistoryThe idea behind onefinestay was thought up by co-founder and former CEO Greg Marsh[6] in 2009, following a trip to Pisa.[7] A tip off from a local friend took him off the beaten track to Piazza delle Vettovaglie. He realised he would never have experienced Pisa the same way without having a connection to someone who lived there. When Marsh returned to his flat in London, he had a second realisation, it had been empty while he was abroad, and every time he travelled someone else could be experiencing London while staying in his home.[8] Marsh’s home was the first to be listed on the onefinestay website when it launched in London, in May 2010. The business grew, and soon expanded internationally, launching in New York in May 2012, in Los Angeles and Paris in September 2013[9] before launching in Rome in March 2016.[10] In April 2016, AccorHotels acquired onefinestay for at least $170 million (£117 million). The company also committed to a $70 million investment in onefinestay (£50 million) over the next few years.[11] In September 2016, Greg Marsh resigned from onefinestay.[12] Fabrice Carré was appointed as CEO in 2023. As of January 2024, onefinestay has five C-Suite executives, Dorothée Guiol, Deputy CEO; François Mare, Chief Marketing and Digital Officer; Kelly Wheeler, Chief Financial Officer; Isabelle Garcin, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer; Sophie Howse, Chief Sales Officer, they joined Global Chief Operating Officer, David Whiteside and Guillaume Fontana, Chief Technical Officer.[13] FundingMarsh, along with Demetrios Zoppos and Tim Davey founded onefinestay in September 2009, and raised a small amount of seed funding from family and friends in 2009.[14] The website launched in May 2010 with just six homes listed. In February 2011, onefinestay raised $3.7 million Series A funding in a round led by Index Ventures. Other angel investors included: Brent Hoberman, co-founder & CEO of Lastminute.com, Andy Phillipps, co-founder of ActiveHotels, and David Magliano, former Director of Marketing for London’s 2012 Olympic bid. In June 2012, the company announced a $12.2 million Series B funding round, led by US venture capital firms.[15] In June 2015, the company announced a $40 million Series D funding round. It included participation from investors including Intel Capital, Quadrant Capital Advisors, and leading global hospitality brand Hyatt Hotels, as well as a number of angel investors including Joss Kent, CEO of &Beyond and former global CEO of Abercrombie & Kent.[16][17] OperationsHomeownersonefinestay allows homeowners to rent out their homes to vetted guests. In city destinations, onefinestay manages everything for the homeowner including all reservations. Its in-house housekeeping team prepares everything for the guests’ arrival. They will clean the house before the guests arrive and after they leave. They will put away any valuables the homeowner does not want on display. Members keep onefinestay up to date on their home's availability using an online calendar.[18] Once a homeowner has been selected to join the service (the company turns down 9 out of 10 homes) onefinestay learns everything about the home, enabling them to answer any guest queries.[19][20] The homes listed range from one-bedroom apartments to town houses and farmhouses in Tuscany to beach villas in the Caribbean. Travel Trade and partnersonefinestay works with hospitality distribution partners, travel agents, Centurion (the travel agent from American Express) and Signature.[21][22] ServicesEvery guest stay includes a personal welcome and a tour of the home or villa, professional housekeeping and all linens. As well as a wide range of professional hospitality services, guests will also have 24/7 support available throughout their stay. The concierge team can also help plan the guest’s holiday and share recommendations based on their travel needs. Additional hospitality services include organising a car rental and grocery delivery to arranging a private chef.[23] DestinationsIts homes, villas and chalets are located around the world. This includes London,[24] Paris, Tuscany, Ibiza, the Caribbean,[25] Los Angeles[26] and New York. In New York City it offers stays of 30 nights or more only, priced on a nightly basis. It was the first luxury hospitality brand to offer fully furnished leases with all utilities included, along with its dedicated concierge service and guest support.[27] MarketingThe Guardian described onefinestay as “a fantastic option for staying in London” as it is “Better than house-sitting, in that you have no responsibilities, more interesting than a self-catered property or serviced apartment because the owner's possessions, their style, their touch and their personality remain.” [28] Country Life magazine also encouraged it readers to try onefinestay when they wrote “So next time you're heading into town for a meeting, dinner or trip to the theatre, think twice before booking the familiarity of your usual hotel, and live like a local instead”.[29] This point was echoed by The Financial Times who said "Glitterballs, private lifts and antique cocktails might be fun but how much more compelling is the chance to step into the shoes of a local?".[30] These reviews have also been reflected by the European Startup Awards which named onefinestay as Best Travel and Hospitality Startup in 2011. In October 2024, the Condé Nast Traveller's 2024 Readers' Choice Award placed the company number 3 in the Villa Rental category.[31] References
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
