On December 3, Accor launched its new Apartments & Villas website, boasting 50,000 listings in over 350 destinations. Despite a similar name and a similar origin (a global hotel group), we’ll see that this new venture is quite different from Homes & Villas by Marriott International.
Apartments & Villas, first and foremost, puts into one place the short-term rental offer that exists across all of the Accor brands. For instance, hotel brand Raffles offers luxury apartments and private villas under the Raffles Residences brand. And corporate travelers in Europe may already be familiar with extended stays at an Adagio aparthotel.
Note that the supply of luxury vacation rental startup Onefinestay, acquired in 2016, is officially included on apartmentsandvillas.accor.com, but our first tests show that it is not yet fully the case.
3 short-term rentals models under 1 roof
Companies like Accor have been offering short-term rentals for decades, under separate brands. COVID-19 has made even more obvious to hotel groups the need to offer self-catered entire homes, where guests can work and relax for a short or longer period of time.
Extended-stay hotel properties
The website is pulling together the listings from Accor’s 15 extended-stay hotel and aparthotel brands. According to Accor, these properties Hotels featuring residentially designed guest rooms, catering to stays of a few nights to several months. Accor’s extended-stay hotel portfolio spans the economy, mid-scale, premium, and luxury segments, and has recently been expanded to include lifestyle brands like Hyde Living and Mondrian Living.
- Raffles Serviced Residences
- Orient-Express Serviced Residences
- Fairmont Serviced Residences
- Sofitel Serviced Residences
- SO Serviced Residences
- Pullman Living
- Mondrian Living
- Swissôtel Living
- Mövenpick Living
- Hyde Living
- Novotel Living
- Novotel Suites
- Adagio Aparthotel
- Adagio Aparthotel Access
Branded residences
According to Accor, this property type offers private home ownership with luxury branding and a comprehensive menu of hotel and residential services. The group currently operates 30 branded residence projects globally, with another 70 under development. Purchasers of branded residences elect to make their homes available through a managed rental program.
Accor’s branded residences include bands such as:
- Raffles Residences
- Orient-Express Residences
- SLS Residences
- Banyan Tree Residences
- Delano Residences
- Fairmont Residences
- Sofitel Residences
- SO Residences
- M Gallery Residences
- Pullman Residences
- Mondrian Residences
- Swissôtel Residences
- Angsana Residences
- MövenpickResidences
- Hyde Residences
- Novotel Residences
Private rentals
This is onefinestay’s supply. Accor positions them as one-of-kind apartments, chalets, and villas which are available for nightly rental. It is a carefully curated collection of exclusive private rentals in some of the world’s most sought-after resort and urban destinations.
More about Accor’s own supply than about third-party property managers
Accor’s Apartments and Villas seems to be more about extended-stay listings and branded residences, as you can understand from Accor’s official statements:
“The launch of apartmentsandvillas.accor.com is an important milestone for our investment partners, guests, and private residence owners, and further reinforces Accor’s leadership position in the extended-stay hotel and branded residence segments”.
Jeff Tisdall, Senior Vice President Development, Residential and Extended Stay
The space, comfort and privacy of a home for a weekend, a vacation or working in a new setting, allied to the convenience of hotel services from Accor brands and to the best of loyalty advantages”.
Yassine Hachem, Vice President Guest Digital Product.
Homes & Villas by Marriott International vs Accor’s Apartments & Villas
Let’s compare and contrast Homes & Villas by Marriott International with Accor’s Apartments & Villas. As property managers and owners, you may quickly notice the differences:
| Group | Accor | Marriott International |
| Division | Apartments & Villas | Homes & Villas |
| URL | apartmentsandvillas.accor.com | homes-and-villas.marriott.com |
| Listings | 50,000 | 16,000 |
| Segment | Economy to Luxury | Luxury |
| Source | Mostly Accor brands + Onefinestay | Mostly property management companies |
| Loyalty program | ALL – Accor Live Limitless | BonVoy |
One quick question: How can Accor’s website launch with 50,000 listings, when Marriott International has 16,000 after almost two years? The answer may be reside in how you count the listings in a multi-unit property. For instance,
- 1 villa = 1 property = 1 listing
- 1 aparthotel with 25 apartments = 1 property = 25 listings
So, if you count 1 aparthotel either as 1 property or 25 listings, your final count changes a lot. Homes & Villas by Marriott International tends to have more villas, while Accor’s Apartments and Villas has more apartments contained in buildings. For instance, Raffles Residences apartments can be penthouses sitting atop one Raffles hotel.
Overview of apartmentsandvillas.accor.com
By looking at the words used, at the listing categories offered, and at the booking process on apartmentsandvillas.accor.com, you can learn more about Accor’s value proposition for its travelers:
Slogan
Feel at home! The privacy and comfort of a home with the convenience of hotel services.
Listing categories
- Apartment
- Bungalow
- Penthouse
- Room & Suite
- Studio
- Villa
Hotel services is one of the main filters
For instance:
- Bar
- Car park
- Airport shuttle
- Babysitting on request
- Meeting rooms
- Restaurant
- Business Center
- Convention center
- SPA
- Fitness
Featured brands
A sample in Accor’s home base, Paris, France, shows apartments and homes offers from various brands, some of which are defeintly more known for their hotel rooms:
- Adagiao
- Mercure
- Ibis
- Novotel
- Pullman
- Jo & Joe
- Raffles
- Ibis styles
- Hipark by adagio
- Ibis budget
The website helps discover short-term rental types of properties within brand offerings. For instance, who knew that Mecure was offering apartments for short-term stays?
Website benefits
- Book with Confidence -> Accor brands, cancellation policy, AllSafe cleanliness and hygiene protocols
- The perfect balance of work and play –> Remote working friendly, bleisure, long stays, leisure and business travel
- Self-catering accommodation for every budget -> From economy to luxury
Is Onefinestay’s supply really integrated?
Now, when looking for private villas on apartmentsandvillas.accor.com, you do not see actual listings. The site navigation and search results tell you that Accor does have offers, but that you have to go to onefinestay.com to discover them.
