US: Hotel group Hyatt has taken a minority investment in short-term rental platform Oasis.
Accor, which last week merged all its vacation rental operations under the Onefinestay brand, was formerly an investor in Oasis, but no longer holds a stake in the company.
Last week, Hyatt made an investment in Oasis, bringing the company’s total fundraising to $35 million. Oasis CEO and co-founder Parker Stanberry described Hyatt’s stake as a “significant minority position”.
“You’ve seen some statements they’ve made before about their interest in entering adjacent spaces and serving their upscale customers. This wasn’t a big surprise,” Stanberry said. “It was a very natural fit, more natural than previous investors, given the location of the companies, the consumer base, the types of brands that Hyatt has. It just seemed like it was great combo of us offering something they didn’t have at all, but which spoke to a similar guest experience and a similar customer. It felt natural, and with them coming in, Accor is no longer invested. They are consolidating under their onefinestay brand and have bought a couple of players in the space. It seemed like a better fit to take it into this direction with the new partnership.”
Oasis – also known as Oasis Collection – and Hyatt said the new investment will allow Oasis to expand its portfolio to additional cities in the US, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The investment is expected to also allow Oasis to eventually be integrated into Hyatt’s distribution and loyalty systems.
“I don’t think they or us see this as a purely financial investment. It’s definitely a collaboration. There are plans in the works for integration into their offerings that we’ll probably have some news on fairly soon,” said Stanberry.
Steve Haggerty, global head of capital strategy for Hyatt, said: “Travellers who book Oasis Collections homes are looking for something different than a traditional hotel experience. They’re leisure and often business travellers who seek more space for a longer time, but also want the peace of mind, personalised service and amenities they expect when staying with Hyatt. We look forward to expanding our knowledge about private accommodations from our partners at Oasis Collections and, while we are at an early stage, we believe this category has the potential to serve new stay occasions for our customers and to add meaningfully to Hyatt’s growth over time.”
Stanberry said he hopes the partnership with Hyatt will help Oasis reach its goal of being in 50 markets by 2019 and expanding into the Asia-Pacific market, as well as increasing brand awareness for Oasis and accessing a larger customer base.</p
