BridgeStreet Pushes Corporate Housing Towards a Mini-Revolution in Online Booking
Photo Credit: BridgeStreet, a firm that has long leased and managed corporate housing, is becoming an online travel agency dedicated to business travelers looking for vetted, serviced apartments. BridgeStreet
Skift Take
A fresh approach to online distribution will heat up the corporate housing sector. It will make it easier for property managers to distribute serviced properties and for travel managers to book them.
Sometimes a website relaunch is more than a website relaunch. Sometimes it represents a watershed moment in a sector. This week's relaunch of bridgestreet.com has the hallmarks of being a watershed moment for corporate housing — especially for the travel managers who book it.
BridgeStreet Global Hospitality is a Reston, Va.-based company that provides corporate housing to more than 4,000 companies, such as Tesla, Disney, and Liberty Mutual. It leases or manages 4,000 furnished apartments and houses. It also aggregates 60,000 properties supplied by professional property managers.
Its website, which officially is relaunching on Wednesday, will make all of these properties instantly bookable online. The site, in essence, becomes a mini online travel agency (OTA) like Expedia -- with inventory from multiple property operators, including many of the luxury vacation homes managed by AccorHotels' Onefinestay brand.
Easier for Suppliers
Until now, suppliers of corporate housing have
