8.12.2024
Just eight years ago, Smiling House, founded by Moriya and Ira Rockman, was a property management company with a handful of properties in Gstaad, Switzerland. Today, Smiling House is an OTA (online travel agency) for luxury vacation rentals managing 9,000 properties in over 50 countries and across 400 destinations, offering luxury and exceptional hospitality alongside unique experiences and exclusive services like chefs, butlers, and chauffeurs. What’s the key to this incredible growth? It starts with the company’s three-pronged approach: embracing technology, building a global team, and fostering exceptional host relationships.
Scaling with Technology: Recognizing the limitations of manual operations, Smiling House partnered with Guesty, a leading property management software. This allowed them to streamline processes and meet the demands of managing a constantly-expanding number of properties. Smiling House now manages thousands of properties through Guesty.
Global Workforce, Local Expertise: With properties across the globe, Smiling House built a team that transcended borders and time zones. Global teams brought local knowledge, but complexity of different taxes, different rules, license numbers and many other unique requirements for each destination in the world pose a very real challenge. Through Guesty’s dashboard, teams were able to find the solutions for all local and regional requirements from the smallest details to the most complex regulations. Guesty adds properties in 15 different countries every day.
Bridging the Tech Gap: Smiling House understood that not all their valued property owners were tech-savvy. The Smiling House team helps owners leverage technology to navigate the complexities of Short-Term Rentals (STRs) and Vacation Rentals (VRs), including mastering online distribution channels and learning to use technological tools.
Beyond Borders, Beyond Luxury
Smiling House’s collaboration with Guesty has been a winning formula in the luxury vacation rental market. Guesty’s streamlined onboarding process helped fuel Smiling House’s impressive growth, allowing them to effortlessly add hundreds of properties across the globe each week. Smiling House offers a diverse range of properties including ski chalets in the Alps, beachside retreats in the Caribbean, penthouse apartments in the Middle East, charming chateaus across Europe, and luxurious estates in the USA. Wherever there is luxury in the world, Smiling House is there with unique properties that uphold the highest standards of hospitality while reflecting the authenticity of each location. As a strategic distribution channel for Smiling House, Guesty maximizes exposure of these curated properties, securing high-value bookings from affluent individuals in both B2B and B2C markets.
With Guesty handling administrative tasks, Smiling House saves a remarkable 200 hours per week, freeing their team to focus on guest experiences. And beyond efficiency, Guesty understands Smiling House’s high-end clientele. With many properties offering a range of exclusive services such as private chefs, DJ’s and yoga and ski instructors, “The ability to tag our unique collections with high-end amenities as well as labeling sustainable properties, family-friendly accommodations, and event-suitable venues has been incredibly beneficial in efficiently sorting properties according to the needs of our high-end customers,” said Moriya Rockman, COO and Founder of Smiling House.
With Guesty, Smiling House Takes the World by Storm
Guesty has been and remains a true partner in the Smiling House success story. An early adopter of the platform, the Smiling House team today relies on the Guesty dashboard for everything from communicating with guests to managing distribution channels and complex pricing with various tax rules. “The Guesty dashboard is integral to our workflow and a core part of our daily routine,” noted Ira Rockman, the company’s CEO. “With Guesty, we streamlined our operations, saving significant time on administrative tasks and increasing productivity”.
Smiling House especially appreciates the seamless integration between Guesty and their own Online Travel Agency (OTA) – ensuring their properties are constantly and accurately updated across platforms. And Guesty goes beyond just integration – it actively adapts to Smiling House’s evolving needs. In fact, the platform’s ongoing development is a key reason Smiling House chose Guesty. Specific features, like the “on request” path for unique vacation rentals, cater directly to Smiling House’s offerings.
Furthermore, Guesty facilitates Smiling House’s global ambitions, distributing properties to a vast network of additional channels. Guesty integrates seamlessly with various calendar systems, including those used in hotels. This allows Smiling House to consolidate calendar feeds and maintain real-time availability across all platforms – ensuring guests always see accurate booking options and minimizing scheduling conflicts.
Smiling House’s success with the Guesty platform speaks volumes – they’re not just loyal users, they’re proud ambassadors. By exceeding guest expectations with exclusive services and local expertise, Smiling House and Guesty have redefined luxury rentals on a global scale.
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