Domio CEO Jay Roberts and chief strategy officer Adrian Lam, the apartment-style accommodation company's co-founders, have resigned from the company effective Sept. 20, a Domio spokesperson confirmed to BTN in an email. Roberts also will step down from the company's board of directors.
Domio CFO Jim Mrha will replace Roberts as a director and as interim CEO, according to a company statement. Mrha joined Domio in March 2020. He previously worked at Marriott International, MGM Hospitality and Hilton Worldwide.
The resignations come on the heels of Airbnb delisting Domio in August and conducting a review of the company's listings dating back to 2016, when Domio was founded.
"Airbnb's thorough examination uncovered certain past practices by Domio from a number of years ago in violation of Airbnb's Community Standards regarding authentic reviews," wrote Airbnb in an email. "As a result, we communicated to Domio our decision to remove their accounts. Domio requested reinstatement after its board removed all members of its leadership team present at the time of the unacceptable activity, and therefore Airbnb made the decision to reinstate Domio's accounts, in addition to removing all prior suspicious reviews from Domio's listings. We will not hesitate to permanently remove their associated accounts if there are future violations of our standards and policies."
Domio's statement also said that Airbnb confirmed this activity has not occurred in years, and Domio's listings, which according to Domio total 494, will be reinstated on Airbnb's platform beginning Sept. 26.
Airbnb added that Domio has certified that the entirety of its new leadership team joined after 2018, when the "unacceptable activity" stopped, and that the Domio board has agreed to comply with all Airbnb policies. The company is operating on Airbnb under a final warning.
Roberts spoke to BTN in June 2019 about doubling its share of business travel bookings, but that may no longer be the company's goal. Since then, and amid the pandemic, "the traveler segments have completely changed, and Domio is committed to delivering an equally agile accommodation experience to these new guests," according to the spokesperson. "Two of the most relevant travel profiles are the 'digital nomad' and 'distance learners.' These are people that can work from anywhere or have children attending school from home."
Domio recently launched its "Residence Experience," which includes "key staples to the home ecosystem including 'Work from Domio' kits (computer monitor, wireless keyboard and mouse), package and grocery acceptance, as well as exclusive resident floor and early hours to access our amenities," wrote the spokesperson.
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