With lockdowns lifting in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, people are more eager than ever to explore the world outside their homes. This new generation of travelers is hitting the road like never before, but what should you do if you need a place to stay and are too nervous about renting hotel rooms or Airbnbs? Well, there’s another rental property platform you can check out called Hosteeva. Hosteeva is adhering to stronger cleaning procedures in response to COVID-19 and providing a safe alternative to vacation rentals by owners (VRBOs).
Hosteeva for Travelers
Hosteeva is a luxury vacation home rental platform that helps travelers find 5-star vacation accommodations. They also provide corporate housing for customers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Accenture. Hosteeva cofounder and CEO Sam Makaryan started his entrepreneurial journey in 2006 with his own parking service in Canada. After running his service for several years, he sold it and moved back to the U.S. to pursue other business ventures. In 2014, when Airbnb was gaining traction, Sam looked at several properties he owned in New Orleans and decided to stake his own claim in the hospitality industry.
Sam developed Hosteeva as a way for travelers and private property owners to keep track of pricing, booking, and checkins all in one place. Since 2014, Hosteeva has served over 400,000 travelers, and maintains 1,400 properties. After the COVID-19 pandemic broke out earlier this year, Hosteeva donated 135 units to doctors and nurses caring for affected patients in Miami for two months. They also opened spaces to healthcare providers in Nashville for a few weeks. For Sam, it is extremely important that his company does everything it can to assist in the pandemic, and that includes finding ways to donate spaces in more cities and also making sure current rental properties are sanitized for customers.
Sanitizing Rental Properties
According to Sam, there is a misconception that hotels are much cleaner than private property rentals. In fact, Sam claims Hosteeva has higher cleaner standards than most hotels and even more so than Airbnb. When renting a private property through Airbnb, the owner is solely responsible for the cleaning process. This is all under assumption the owner does conduct a full cleanse between each customer visit.
Hosteeva is providing numerous ways to ensure the safety of their customers. This includes a professional staff that fully cleanses each property between customer visits. Hosteeva adheres to strict cleaning checklists and Sam claims they have received high remarks for their efforts. They also do not conduct daily housekeeping to limit customer exposure to staff.
Hosteeva also implements contactless checkins, which is crucial for preventing the spread of coronavirus through social interaction. Unlike hotels and Airbnbs, Hosteeva’s properties have smart locks that can be controlled from a mobile device. Most hotels today still have front desk checkins and Airbnbs often require customers to meet property owners in person to exchange keys. With their many precautions in place, Hosteeva is eliminating face-to-face interactions to limit exposure of the coronavirus to travelers.
Why Choose Hosteeva Over Hotels?
The rise of private property rentals like Airbnb and Hosteeva in recent years has shown that travelers want more out of their vacation experience than just a fancy hotel room. Private properties make customers feel at home with full kitchens, cozy living rooms, and comfortable furniture. All this combined with Hosteeva’s greater cleaning standards means that you will have a much more peaceful stay when traveling during COVID-19.
Though the past fews months have looked grim for the world, Sam states that every crisis brings its opportunities. Business at Hosteeva has started to pick up since the end of April and he expects things to be even busier this summer. He is most excited about adding new rental properties to Hosteeva’s database and it was recently announced that Hosteeva has been selected as a trusted property management partner of Homes & Villas by Marriott International.
“Following an evaluation of our operations and unique property collection, Marriott recognized that our expertise, premium quality homes, and high standards for regulation, design and amenities are reflective of their own rigorous standards and commitment to delivering exceptional service and superior experiences to their guests.”
Sam Makaryan, CEO and Cofounder of Hosteeva
With people’s bests interests at heart, Sam and his company are vowing to make traveling away from home safer for Hosteeva customers.
What has your traveling experience been like during COVID-19? Let us know down in the comments.
This article originally published on GREY Journal.
