Onefinestay’s Innovative Bet to Stay Ahead of Airbnb

Nearly two years into Accor SA’s $168 million play for a piece of the home-sharing pie, the multinational hotel group is throwing down the luxury gauntlet: free, round-the-clock concierge service for an entire year after your vacation. Called “Higher Living,” the offering was announced on Friday by Onefinestay, the luxury rental brand founded in 2009 and acquired by Accor in 2016.

Higher Living is being pegged as a loyalty program of sorts as Accor rapidly expands its footprint, becoming the first major hotel group to actively embrace home sharing. Last year they purchased Travel Keys and Squarebreak and merged them with Onefinestay, quadrupling the rental company’s portfolio overnight, from more than 2,000 units in 13 locales to more than 10,000 rentals in 200-plus destinations.