Oyo Launches Premium Vacation Rental Homes in UK
Skift Take
Key Points
- Oyo launched Belvilla by Oyo in the UK in partnership with Sojo Stays.
- Properties are located in major cities with prices ranging from $102 to $191 per night.
- The expansion aligns with Oyo's global growth strategy, targeting key markets in Europe, Asia, and the U.S.
Summary
Oyo has launched its premium vacation rental brand, Belvilla by Oyo, in the UK through a partnership with Sojo Stays. The properties are available in prime locations across London, Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Sheffield, and Leeds, with prices ranging from $102 to $191 per night. This expansion is part of Oyo's broader strategy to grow its presence in key markets including Europe, Asia, and the U.S. Oyo aims to leverage its experience managing premium rental properties in Europe to succeed in the UK market, where it has already seen a significant revenue uplift.
Oyo is expanding the footprint of its premium vacation home rental brand, Belvilla: On Tuesday, it announced the launch of Belvilla by Oyo in the UK.
Through its partnership with Sojo Stays, an apartment rental chain in the UK, Oyo said Belvilla would offer a “curated collection of homes in prime locations across London, Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Sheffield and Leeds.”
Prices are expected to range from £80 ($102) – £120 ($153) per night outside London, while average nightly rates for a property in London are expected to be around £150 ($191). Guests would be able to book the homes for both short-term and longer stays via the Belvilla platforms and on platforms including Airbnb and Booking.com.
Founded in 2019, by James and Stephanie Murphy, Sojo Stays has more than 250 apartments across the 5 UK cities.
Oyo has been pushing the expansion idea. “I see growth ahead not just in India with emerging travel trends such as premiumization, spiritual travel, business travel and conferences, destination weddings but also in our other key markets of Nordics, South East Asia, U.S. and UK,” co-founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal said in a recent tweet touting Oyo’s first profit.
Market Expansion and Strategy
Oyo has an existing footprint in Europe with more than 50,000 homes in more than 20 countries across Europe, including Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Spain.
Belvilla by Oyo has also expanded into Asia. Last December marked the entry of the brand in Indonesia as Oyo launched premium vacation homes in Ubud, Nelayan Beach, Canggu Beach and Pandawa Beach.
The company had said at the time that its target was to reach 500 Belvilla vacation homes by the end of 2024.
“Oyo’s years of operating Belvilla holiday homes across Europe has been an invaluable learning experience,” said Gautam Swaroop, CEO of Oyo International. “The company has taken learnings from managing premium rental properties in diverse European markets and applied them to the UK market by integrating the best global practices with local market insights.”
In April, Oyo also said that it plans to increase its U.S. presence by adding over 250 hotels this year. It added 100 last year.
In September 2018, Oyo made its debut in the UK market, signaling the company’s initial foray beyond its core Asian territories, including India, China, Malaysia and Nepal.
In 2023, Oyo had reported that its UK operations saw a 140% uplift in revenue, surpassing pre-pandemic levels of 2019. Till last year, Oyo had over 150 small hotels in over 65 cities in its network in the UK.
Photo Credit: A Sojo Stays property in London. Oyo
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