AccorHotels has acquired onefinestay, a high-end hospitality pioneer specializing in luxury serviced home rentals in key worldwide gateways, for €148 million (AUD$224 million) and has made a further commitment of €64m (AUD$96 million) to help the company scale internationally.
Launched in 2010 in London by Greg Marsh (CEO and co-founder), Demetrios Zoppos, Tim Davey and Evan Frank (co-founders), the company today operates a portfolio of 2,600 properties under exclusive management with strategic locations in London, New York, Paris, Los Angeles and Rome (representing an estimated asset value of more than £4 billion).
onefinestay is the leading brand in the luxury segment of the Serviced Homes market, combining the best homes and the finest service.
Leisure and business guests stay in hand-picked distinctive private homes with made-to-measure, personal service from a personal welcome on arrival to a team on call 24/7.
For homeowners, onefinestay provides peace of mind, convenience and flexibility, by taking care of everything from marketing, distribution and insurance to screening each guest, to professional cleaning, management and maintenance.
“onefinestay has successfully captured a sweet spot: a combination of needs that neither traditional hotels nor new actors of the sharing economy can meet,” said AccorHotels Chairman and CEO, Sébastien Bazin.
“With the acquisition of this exceptional brand, unique operating model and outstanding management team, AccorHotels is developing as the worldwide leader of the Serviced Homes market.
“Today, together with our recent investments, we are accelerating the transformation of our business model to capture the value creation linked to the rise of private rentals and also strengthening our presence in the luxury market with a complementary offer,” he said.
Bazin said onefinestay will remain an independent business unit within the AccorHotels Group and will continue to be led by Marsh and the key management team.
“AccorHotels’ investment in onefinestay is a tremendous invitation for us to write the next chapter in our story,” Marsh said.
“We share their deeply held conviction about the scale of the home rental opportunity, and greatly value their expertise, their practical and financial support as we plan the launch of more than 40 new markets over the next five years.
“With AccorHotels’ help, onefinestay will become a globally recognized byword for exceptional experiences, extraordinary service, and handmade hospitality,” he said.
With its global presence and strong expertise in both operations and digital services, AccorHotels will support a new development phase of onefinestay, accelerating its expansion across new key urban markets, providing it with its powerful distribution capacity, strong customer base, incremental synergies and its know-how as a world-leading hotelier.
As a result, onefinestay has an ambitious strategy to expand to 40 new cities around the world over the next five years growing revenues tenfold.