Luxury Retreats (formally Luxurious Retreats Worldwide Inc.) was a Canadian on-line market and full-service villa rental company, headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. [1] Based in 1999 by Joe Poulin, the company offered curated excessive-finish vacation rentals across a wide range of worldwide locations, pairing properties with personalised concierge services. [3] [2] In February 2017, Airbnb acquired the company in what was, on the time, its largest acquisition so far.

History
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Founding (1999)
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Luxurious Retreats traces its origins to 1999, when Joe Poulin, a 17-12 months-old internet designer living together with his parents in a small city outdoors of Montreal, was approached by a villa proprietor in Barbados who wished a rental web site constructed. [2] [5] He launched the company initially below the identify CaribbeanWay, focusing completely on high-end villa rentals in the Caribbean region. [4] Poulin traveled to Barbados to visit the property, and was inspired by the experience to create a broader on-line platform for luxury villa rentals.

Inside two years, CaribbeanWay reached $1 million in annual sales, increasing its choices throughout Mexico, Florida, and Central America, and adding personal islands for its most exclusive clientele. [2] Flush with profits from the Caribbean-focused enterprise, Poulin then determined to go global. [7] [6] In 2002, he launched a second firm beneath the name Luxurious Retreats, which coated in style European destinations equivalent to Italy, the French Riviera, and Greece.

Development and growth
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Over the next years, Luxurious Retreats grew steadily both organically and through acquisitions. The company acquired Fabulous Homes, a Maui-based mostly property administration firm, which considerably boosted its Hawaiian villa portfolio throughout Maui, the massive Island, and Oahu. [7] [7] It also acquired Carimo, the main villa rental and actual property provider on the Caribbean island of St. Martin, a effectively-established broker with around thirty years of experience available in the market.

To accommodate its fast development, Luxurious Retreats relocated its Montreal headquarters to a 100-year-outdated loft on the Lachine Canal.[7] By the point of its acquisition by Airbnb, the company employed approximately 250 individuals and listed over 4,000 luxurious houses throughout one hundred locations worldwide.[8]

In 2012, Poulin obtained the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Quebec in the Enterprise-to-Consumer class.[9] The next year, the corporate launched its High quality Inspection (QI) Program, beneath which 140 full-time and half-time global inspectors ensured that every property met the corporate’s hundred-point standard of excellence.[9]

Funding
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Luxurious Retreats raised a complete of $sixteen million in enterprise capital funding over the course of its impartial existence. [10] [10] This included a Series B spherical led by Inovia Capital, a Montreal-primarily based enterprise capital firm specializing in rising know-how corporations. [7] The company had reportedly been worthwhile for years prior to seeking outdoors investment.

Acquisition by Airbnb (2017)
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On February 15, 2017, Airbnb completed its acquisition of Luxury Retreats International Inc., marking the most important acquisition in Airbnb’s historical past to that point. [11] [1][11] Airbnb reportedly outbid each Expedia and AccorHotels for the company; in accordance with Bloomberg, Poulin chose Airbnb partly as a result of he foresaw having extra operational management than he would have had at both of the competing bidders. [3] No official purchase value was disclosed, however estimates positioned the worth of the deal at between $200 million and $300 million USD, paid in a mixture of money and inventory.

Following the acquisition, Joe Poulin joined Airbnb to steer its luxury properties division, reporting on to Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky. [8] The Luxury Retreats crew remained based in Montreal, and Airbnb indicated its intent to proceed increasing the Canadian workplace. [8] [8] Within the quick time period, Luxury Retreats continued to operate as a standalone entity, with its listings progressively integrated into the broader Airbnb platform over time.

The experience in luxurious journey gained by means of the acquisition later informed the creation of Airbnb Luxe, Airbnb’s devoted high-finish rental tier, launched in 2019.[12]

Enterprise model
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Luxurious Retreats operated as an internet marketplace connecting excessive-internet-price travelers with house owners of luxurious villas and vacation properties. Unlike broader rental platforms, the company adopted a strict curation mannequin: all properties had been subjected to a rigorous multi-level in-individual inspection earlier than being listed on the positioning, with around 90 % of applicant properties reportedly turned away. [9] [6] This vetting course of was managed by a community of high quality inspectors distributed globally, with outcomes reported back to the central team in Montreal by way of a dedicated firm software.

The platform provided visitors quite a lot of help companies at no extra membership price, including devoted villa specialists, a 24/7 concierge service, and help with journey logistics corresponding to airport transfers, automobile rentals, and customised grocery pre-stocking.[13] The corporate’s typical clientele have been described as affluent, well-traveled individuals, primarily based in North America, spending a mean of $2,000 USD per night time for a villa stay.[13]

Property homeowners paid a commission to Luxury Retreats based on the assessed dollar worth of every booking, fairly than a flat itemizing fee.[6] Rental costs on the platform ranged broadly, from a number of hundred dollars per night time for smaller properties to as a lot as $60,000 per day for exceptional estates similar to Richard Branson’s Necker Island.[7]

Sharing economy

^ a b “Airbnb Acquires Vacation Rental Firm Luxury Retreats, Officially Strikes Into Luxury”. Skift. 2017-02-16. Retrieved 2024-01-15.

^ a b c “Luxury Retreats will get a boost from rising curiosity in brief-time period rentals”. Inman. 2015-06-08. Retrieved 2024-01-15.

^ a b “Luxury Retreats International Inc”. Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. Retrieved 2024-01-15.

^ “Interview With Joe Poulin CEO & Founder of Luxurious Retreats”. JustLuxe. Retrieved 2024-01-15.

^ “Montreal tech entrepreneur sells luxurious trip app to Airbnb”. CTV News Montreal. 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2024-01-15.

^ a b c “Meet Luxurious Retreats, the Airbnb of the World’s Most Lavish Mansions”. Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2024-01-15.

^ a b c d e f “About Luxurious Retreats”. Luxurious Retreats. Retrieved 2024-01-15.

^ a b c d “Airbnb, Luxury Retreats Unite to provide Extra Unique Lodging, Wonderful Experiences to Travelers”. Airbnb Newsroom. 2017-02-16. Retrieved 2024-01-15.

^ a b c “The Grand Getaways Plan”. Benefit Journal. 2016. Retrieved 2024-01-15.

^ a b “Airbnb is shopping for Luxury Retreats for round $200M”. TechCrunch. 2017-02-09. Retrieved 2024-01-15.

^ a b “Airbnb bests Expedia, Accor for prime-end rental business”. Lodge Administration. 2017-02-16. Retrieved 2024-01-15.

^ “Airbnb Luxe Reimagines Luxury Journey”. Airbnb Newsroom. Retrieved 2024-01-15.

^ a b “Interview with Joe Poulin, Founding father of Luxurious Retreats”. Superyachts.com. Retrieved 2024-01-15.

Airbnb Luxe (successor service)

Official Airbnb acquisition announcement

Retrieved from “https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luxurious_Retreats&oldid=1357221496”

Corporations established in 1999

Firms disestablished in 2017

Airbnb

Vacation rental

Online marketplaces

Companies based mostly in Montreal

This page was last edited on 1 June 2026, at 12:46 (UTC).

Luxury Retreats