Villaway Earns A Spot On Inc. Magazine's Fastest-Growing Companies In America
The Inc. 500 List Welcomes Villaway
Villaway is incredibly proud and immensely grateful to have earned the incredible rank of #142 on Inc. Magazine’s 2018 list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in America. That number indicates a growth rate of 2986% over the last 3 years!
When this company was founded in 2014, our mission was to “revive and reinvigorate the human spirit with amazing travel experiences, one villa vacation at a time.” Based on this incredible accolade and acknowledgment from the global business community, it appears that we may have achieved that goal.
Affluent travelers seek a higher level of luxury, amenities, and service than even many 5-star hotels can provide. Villaway recognized this niche and developed its business model with this traveler in mind. As a seasoned world traveler and expert real estate professional with a rather sizeable entrepreneurial streak, Villaway founder and CEO Joe Liebke was the perfect man for this endeavor. He has been on the forefront of the luxury vacation rental trend and has successfully steered Villaway into its enviable position of Inc.’s top 500 list. Villaway’s focus has always, and will always be, on exemplary 24/7 VIP concierge services and impeccable attention to detail.
“Our business is entirely client-focused. Our clientele have a true passion for travel and appreciate the care we put into making their stay the best it can be”, adds Liebke. At Villaway, part of the service we offer is bridging the gap of trust between our homeowners and clients alike. We do this by not just listening to their needs and wants, but truly understanding and then delivering on them. Every single time.
“Consistency of quality experience is the key that our clients count on”
- Joe Liebke, founder and CEO of Villaway
Luxury vacation rentals are a significant segment in the upscale vacation market, since the inception of sites such as Homeaway.com and Airbnb.com, which have promoted the idea of a different vacationing paradigm, moving away from hotels and into a more independent situation. Villaway has been referred to by industry insiders as the “luxury Airbnb” and we gladly accept this compliment. Our guests tell us that they love the privacy, the individuality and the “home away from home” feel which our luxury properties provide, as opposed to the “cookie cutter” resort or hotel room, however lavish.
As world travel becomes more desirable and even more accessible, “People are realizing their money can go much further than a 600 square foot hotel room and we’ve expedited our initiatives with Villaway to deliver affluent travelers what they want,” Mr. Liebke reveals. “There’s more privacy, more luxury and, most important, the unique feeling of being at home wherever you go when you stay in a private villa. If a group of friends or an extended family go on a holiday, most likely they’ll want to be together, not two floors up and twenty doors down from each other.”
The magic of travel is one that can be realized within any financial constraints, but for those who have the means to command more from their experience, Villaway is a perfect match. The client is always the mainstay ingredient in Villaway’s exceptional business model.
According to Mr. Liebke, Villaway’s original premise was to provide an umbrella platform for property managers to showcase their certified and vetted luxury vacation properties from all over the world. The goal was to promote the top tier of inventory and allow users, whether agents or consumers, a streamlined, safe and secure online booking experience. It was also vital to our strategy that this platform be very simple, elegant, sophisticated and most importantly, user-friendly.
But we also knew that we had to raise the bar higher than just offering luxury properties and a user-friendly website. This was the way we designed our unique concierge model. Most online rental marketplaces simply offer a place to sleep. In wanting to create a different paradigm, Villaway has unlocked the power of concierge services by offering each of our clients and guests a personal concierge professional. This professional takes care of all the details so that our guests can enjoy the seamless vacation experience they expect and deserve. Our clients and guests count on their professional concierge to, among other things, arrange for airport pick up and drop off, stock their villas with groceries and spirits, arrange in-home chef services, massage, wellness and yoga services, babysitting services, restaurant reservations, event and activity tickets and many other incidental luxuries that our clients desire.
We appreciate that planning a trip is time and energy-consuming and we seek to enhance our client’s experience by eliminating this burden from the planning process. Vacation should be about relaxation and our services allow our clients to do just that.
Our guests appreciate the consistent level of impeccable service, luxury and discretion they receive from our hand-picked concierge staff. “Consistency of quality experience is the key that our clients count on,” states Liebke.
Industry predictions indicate an even more meteoric rise in success for our model. As technology brings our world together and international travel becomes more commonplace, there is a defined market and desirability for the properties and services we provide to the affluent traveler. As these individuals understand that there are alternatives available for a standard high-end hotel room, we believe we will start to see a significant shift in business and leisure accommodation decisions and habits for the discerning guest.
We are separated by our competitors because we go far beyond talking points when it comes to customer service. Providing an exceptional experience, from the first contact to the last wave goodbye, is truly what drives each member of our team. We are fully committed to each of our clients, and every one of their experiences.
We think we’re on the right track. Currently representing over 7000 properties in over 120 world-class destinations, we expect to add an additional 1800 properties by the end of 2018. Our lofty goal is to be the largest luxury villa platform in the world. We have painstakingly amassed an impressive inventory of worldwide luxury properties and displays them all on one clean, well-designed and user-friendly website. This unique advertising method allows affluent travelers to search, discover and enjoy the finest luxury vacation homes and villas around the world in one convenient, and time-efficient, place.
“Owners trust Villaway to exclusively represent their estates because of our track record and thorough screening process that eliminates hassles and concerns. Our clients know their property will be in the same pristine condition after a guest leaves as when they arrived”
- Joe Liebke, founder and CEO of Villaway
Some of our most popular destinations include California, Hawaii, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Vacationers staying within California seem to favor Palm Springs and Malibu. Among those who choose Hawaii, the island of Hawaii (Big Island) and Maui are top choices. In Mexico, Cabo San Lucas, Punta Mita, and Riviera Maya are perennially popular. In the tropical Caribbean, guests seem to opt for the locales of St Barts, St Martin and Turks, and Caicos.
Our clients include a veritable who’s who of billionaires, celebrities and jet-setters. Among them are those who entrust us to market and the care of their properties. “Owners trust Villaway to exclusively represent their estates because of our track record and thorough screening process that eliminates hassles and concerns. Our clients know their property will be in the same pristine condition after a guest leaves as when they arrived,” said Liebke.
Our homeowners trust us to take the same care of their exceptional properties as they do. Our guests trust us to plan their vacations as though they were their own.
To each of them, we say thank you for allowing us to earn your trust. Thank you for being our treasured clients and guests. Here’s to our future together.