AccorHotels has taken a strategic 49% investment in Squarebreak, offering to guests through a digital platform private upscale properties in resort locations, primarily in France, Spain and Morocco, and leveraging local property managers on behalf of homeowners by using hotel management techniques and services.
Squarebreak is a French start-up created in 2013 by Hugues van Heesewijk and Maxime Lesaulnier, both with a combined professional background in the hospitality, e-tourism and real estate business.
AccorHotels’ Deputy Chief Officer – Marketing, Digital, Distribution and Information Systems, Vivek Badrinath, said their area of expertise is worry-free propositions to guests and homeowners.
“With this investment, Accorhotels is positioning itself to better understand the expectations of guests in a sector where the stay experience and the quality of service are particularly important,” Badrinath said.
“In partnership with innovative players, Accorhotels continues to forge ahead along the path of changing and new behaviors in hospitality and travel.”
In related news, AccorHotels has also acquired a 30% stake in Oasis Collections, the company which offers private rentals with the service, quality-control and amenities of a hotel.
The company was launched in Buenos Aires 2009 and counts 1,500 properties in 18 destinations, in Latin America, the US and Europe.
The company offers personalized services to leisure and corporate guests alike, including on-the-ground concierge service and access to members’ club venues, as well as targeted exposure to international travellers for home owners.
“Oasis Collections allows us to explore new complementary offer to upscale hotels,” Badrinath said. “We are delighted to work with young talents who share our hospitality and digital culture.”
Oasis Collections Co-Founder and CEO, Parker Stanberry, said: “We are pleased and proud to have AccorHotels alongside us and to benefit from its experience as a global operator and its support in infrastructure and demand generation.
“We share the same hospitality DNA, and this partnership will give us the means to match our ambition to reach 70 top key cities by 2019.”