Accor’s Villa Unit Delivers Luxury Urban Experiences

Affluent travelers have been staying in private villas for years, luxuriating on Mexican beaches and sipping wine in the Tuscan sun.

But as shared economy accommodations have grown more popular in urban centers, companies like Accor SA’s onefinestay are developing their city collections, offering a combination of privacy and luxury that clients can’t find in traditional metropolitan hotels.

Operating more than 10,000 private residences in traditional destinations like the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, Europe, Asia and now Australia, onefinestay is especially bullish on its 2,500 collection of urban homes as it emerges from two years of dramatic growth and change.

Accor SA, the parent of AccorHotels, purchased the company in April 2016, part of a rapid rollup that also included the consumer shared economy brands Travel Keys (strong in resorts) and Squarebreak (predominantly European homes).

The three companies were consolidated under the onefinestay brand last year, and is now building its outreach to travel agents, including recently hiring industry veteran Robert Eastman away from the Airbnb-owned Luxury Retreats, to be onefinestay’s Americas head of national accounts.

A white globe Airbnb
“Agents see us as a white glove Airbnb,” said Eastman, during a recent interview at 84 Jane Street, a 5-bedroom, 3-story, West Village brownstone that rents for $2,550 per night during summer and around $3,800 per night during peak holiday season.

In February 2017, Airbnb purchased Montreal-based Luxury Retreats, adding more than 4,000 high-end homes in 100 destinations around the world to its portfolio, beating out Accor SA and online travel site Expedia, Bloomberg reported at the time.

“We won’t ever be as big as Airbnb. We don’t think you can sustain this level of luxury at that scale. But the difference is, we take a little more care of our clients than they do,” said Eastman.

Onefinestay has preferred partnerships with most of the major consortia, including Signature Travel Network, Ensemble, and Virtuoso, Eastman said.

Each of the company’s privately-owned properties are reviewed in person and vetted against a checklist of 300 characteristics. Also, onefinestay requires homeowners in its network to stock their properties with 5-star hotel amenities, including linens and toiletries.

“We don’t just take houses from an owner who finds us on the internet. We send someone to each home, and we review them in person periodically,” Eastman said. For properties like 84 Jane Street, “we do a lot of the maintenance ourselves, even things like supplying linens to meet our standards.”

Elevating service for discerning clients
Earlier this year, onefinestay launched “Higher Living,” an on-call concierge service guests can call on to obtain everything from finding a family photographer, snaring hard-to-find theater tickets, to procuring a ping pong table for a family.

Once enrolled, the guest can use the concierge service for 12 months, even if they aren’t a guest at a onefinestay property. A 12-month membership renews the moment a new stay is booked.

“When an agent books a client, generally a day or two days later, the client will receive a call from one of our 25 concierges explaining how we can arrange just about anything they need, whether it’s transfers from the airport, car hire in the city while they are here, restaurant reservations,” Eastman said. “It’s our single biggest differentiator from Airbnb and the others – the level of service.”

Demand is growing for products like onefinestay. According to the Travel Market Report Outlook on Luxury, 48 percent of agents say their luxury apartment/home bookings are increasing, compared with 49 percent who say it is holding stable.

Eastman said that the combined result of the acquisitions and higher demand led to a 25 percent growth in sales in 2017, and 50 percent growth in 2018.

“What has also helped is the association with Accor, and the high profile it has in the travel trade. Their sales department adds our portfolio to our pitch. So, when they talk about their Luxury Division (including iconic brands like Fairmont and Raffles), they also talk about us,” Eastman said.

Onefinestay offers agents a 10 percent commission, so a one-week stay at a property like 84 Jane Street can lead to commission checks of several thousand dollars.

Able to comfortably host 10 people, the property comes with a full-size kitchen, terraces off several bedrooms, and a small backyard garden, on a quiet, quaint West Village neighborhood in New York City.

Eastman said that urban properties like this one not only are popular with celebrities and other guests needing the privacy a hotel might not be able to provide, but they are also accessible for couples and families of means who split the cost.

“The economics are compelling,” he said, noting that this particular property is at the higher end of onefinestay’s scale. “We also have 2-bedroom homes at $400 a night.”

 “We tell agents that whenever their client needs two or more hotel rooms, that should immediately give you a thought we might be a good option. The benefits of the larger space and privacy are obvious. And they can experience a destination like New York City more as a resident than a tourist,” he said.