This archive report was first published on 16 July 2020.
Home-Sharing Goes Beyond Airbnb ¶
Victoria O'Connell's 2017 experience with a home-sharing site in London left her feeling vulnerable. A guest she rented to looted and wrecked her apartment, leaving her a review saying, “Great host.” This incident convinced her that there had to be a more secure way to share homes than dealing with total strangers.
Earlier this year, she founded Golightly, an invitation-only platform for women. “I wanted some kind of accountability, to know the renter as a friend or the friend of a friend,” she said. “I felt I would feel more safe if I had a woman renting.”
Launched in January, Golightly has grown 30 percent during the pandemic, to 590 properties. Most are in the United States and Europe, but there are also homes in Argentina, Israel, and South Africa. Prices range from $80 for a mid-century-modern studio in Coronado, Calif., to over $1,000 for a country estate in Ireland.
The trick is gaining access to the offerings. Golightly members, currently at 2,500, must refer any new members in order to preserve the “friend of a friend” network. The one-time membership fee, currently suspended during the pandemic, is $100.
Other new platforms are also emerging, each with its own unique twist on home sharing. Time-share owners can rent their vacation weeks through Koala, a service that aims to help them break even on expenses. MyPlace allows users to share their homes only with trusted friends and family, and perhaps their friends and family. And Zeevou Direct offers a direct booking platform for property managers and owners.
But can these new platforms compete with Airbnb and Vrbo on a booking level? Joseph DiTomaso, the founder and chief executive of AllTheRooms, a vacation rental search engine and data analytics firm, says, “You’re going to always see people who are trying to nip at the heels of Airbnb. The real question is scale and can these other folks compete with Airbnb and Vrbo on a booking level. Can they drive demand? That’s going to be one of the hardest things to do.”
