Travel Keys acquired by Accor Hotels

AccorHotels entered exclusive negotiations in February 2017 to acquire the entire share capital of Travel Keys, the Atlanta-based luxury villa rental broker, with completion expected in the second quarter of 2017 after customary due diligence. Founded in 1991, Travel Keys rented private villas to holidaymakers. It selected the properties it listed rather than accepting any owner who applied, planned each trip with the guest, and provided concierge service throughout the stay, arranging transfers, staff, catering and activities. At the time of the transaction it managed a collection of more than 5,000 villas across over 100 destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa. Its owners were individuals whose properties were too valuable or too specific to be listed on open rental platforms, and who required vetted guests and a managed stay. The purchase fitted alongside two earlier moves. AccorHotels had acquired onefinestay in April 2016, which rented serviced homes in major cities, and held a stake in Squarebreak, a French platform renting holiday villas. Travel Keys brought a third type of inventory, resort destinations, and a presence in the Americas. Together the three would offer some 8,500 properties covering both city stays and holiday rentals, and the group subsequently brought all of them under the onefinestay brand. AccorHotels operates and franchises hotels worldwide, from economy to luxury. Private rental had become a segment it could not address with its own brands, as travellers in groups or on longer stays turned to homes rather than hotel rooms, and the group had been assembling a position in it rather than competing from its existing estate.