The Short-Term Apartment Rental Site That Isn’t Focusing on Community
Photo Credit: Elisabeth Cristia and Alon Eldar are the co-founders of Only Apartments, a Barcelona-based short-term rental site that is expanding into North America and Latin America. Only Apartments
Skift Take
Despite some differentiation, Only Apartments faces a daunting task of standing out in new markets where some of its competitors are advertising on TV and have so much money to burn. If it can scale up by using channel managers, so can everyone else.
Barcelona-based Only Apartments is making what appears to be a modest push into North America and Latin America, having opened a Miami office recently with the hope of soon staffing it with 10 people.
But, while much larger competitors such as Airbnb and HomeAway emphasize community with owner and guest profiles and reviews, Only Apartments shuns the idea.
"I don't think owners really want relationships with their guests," says Alon Eldar, the short-term rental site's co-founder and CEO. "This is a business. Owners want bookings and guests want safe stays."
Only Apartments offers instant bookings and confirmations, Eldar says, and in some cases publishes the apartment's floor plans, as well as other details about the unit and surrounding neighborhoods. There is next to nothing about the apartment owner or management company.
"Our platform is instant booking and then you receive the information for getting the keys and everything," says Lucia Casado, a spokesperson. "What ma
