CEO Jay Roberts co-founded the apartment-stay company Domio
in 2016 after a positive experience making money through listing his personal
place on Airbnb. But he saw even greater potential in the home-share market for
a luxury branded experience.
"Customers and business travelers are looking for
consistency, especially business travelers," Roberts told BTN at the NYU
International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference in June. "They
need a clean bed, a room, fast Wi-Fi, a gym to work out in. So Domio is signing
and opening apartment hotels. It's similar to the WeWork model. We sign leases
on condos and apartments." Indeed, Domio recently hired a new COO, Nicole
Mozeliak, who comes from WeWork and previously worked at Zipcar.
The company signs properties in locations with easy access
to transportation, and near office buildings and conference centers, as well as
to restaurants and "where everyone wants to be when they visit cities. We're
also partnering with different conference centers in our local markets to drive
group bookings," Roberts said, adding that in each of Domio's locations,
he's also hiring a sales manager dedicated to corporate and group bookings.
Domio opened its first property in January in New Orleans
and was active in eight cities through June, with seven more due to be added
over the summer. Chicago is its busiest location. Each property is stylishly
designed and technology focused. Roberts' goal is to expand quickly and be in
25 markets by the end of 2019 and to go international in 2020, with properties
in London, Paris and Hong Kong, among others. He also plans to launch a loyalty
program in 2020.
The company focuses on larger spaces—90 percent of its
inventory is two, three and four bedroom units—so they can accommodate groups.
"The value proposition we offer over hotels is you get more space and can
be together at about 75 percent of the cost," Roberts said. "It's
very cost effective for companies. You can send three to four people to stay in
one Domio, each has a private room and bathroom, then there's a central place
to do work and each place has a gym."
Some corporate guests have used the larger units for
meetings, others have taken advantage of some properties' large outdoor space
and held group dinners, which a concierge can help plan.
One challenge that traditional home-share offerings have is
a lack of consistent amenities that are required by business travelers. So even
though an increasing number of business travelers want to stay in Airbnb-style
apartments, they often don't book them because they need to be sure they can
access the space as soon as they arrive, the Wi-Fi will be strong, the location
will be convenient and there will be someone available to contact who will be
responsive right away should anything be amiss. Domio's platform allows 24/7
check-in, the units "have everything at their fingertips," and there's
24-hour guest services.
There's also sometimes a security concern. "Hotels have
always griped that amateur hosts don't have to abide by the same safety
regulations hotels do, with sprinklers and fire exits, etc.," Roberts
said. "But Domio is now getting full hotel zoning on the properties we
sign, so we have to abide by the same regulations."
Another challenge is that short-term rental apartments
aren't usually in online booking tools. Domio recently joined the GDSs and that
has been driving more business bookings. Roberts added that they are working
with large corporations, like American Express, Bank of America and JP Morgan, to
make sure Domio has enough product for them and that their staffs know they can
book at a Domio. "We're building the technology to make it seamless for
them to go into the system," he said, adding that Domio is also trying to get added to
Concur. "It's a process," he said.
The model seems to be working. Roberts sees a growing
portion of Domio's bookings come from business travelers—they've already doubled
from 10 percent to 20 percent since opening, and he anticipates that figure to
double again in the next 18 months as he continues to focus on that segment of
the market.
How the company will do compared to Airbnb for Work and
Sonder, another upscale home-stay company with hotel standards geared toward
the business travel market, remains to be seen. Domio has raised more than $70
million to date. The company is now raising Series B funds.
Roberts believes that offering a branded experience is the
key to success. "Brands in the home-sharing industry are the future,"
Roberts said. "It's where the world is going."