Canada: Vancouver-based vacation rental firm Cozystay has announced plans to open a shared living and co-working space for business travellers in Kitchener-Waterloo in Ontario.
Cozystay, which launched in 2015 as an online marketplace for clients to book vacation rentals and hotel rooms, has ramped up its expansion across Canada recently by taking over entire properties such as Lake Okanagan Resort and Abercorn Airport Hotel.
The company envisages the latest property in Ontario becoming a co-living space for ‘members of the innovation economy to share with like-minded industry peers’, which will also join its ‘signature’ collection offering. It will reportedly include seven suites and at least 20 individual rooms to accommodate its clientele.
Cozystay is a subsidiary of property management company Cozy Living Suites Inc., which manages vacation rentals in cities such as Los Angeles, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver.
In addition, the firm claims to be the largest offshore online vacation rental property platform for Chinese-speaking travellers worldwide.
Cozystay CEO Galen Cheng said: “We see the Kitchener-Waterloo property becoming a co-living space for entrepreneurs building innovative technology companies. We are looking to the community to discover what they want in shared accommodation space and welcome new ideas, because, truly, the best ideas come from the community itself.”
News of Cozystay’s venture into Ontario follows the trajectory of British firm Node, which is also setting its sights on opening a co-living space in Kitchener-Waterloo, under the leadership of Canadian entrepreneur Anil Khera.
The company, founded in 2016, offers rental ‘communities’ in a number of urban settlements across Europe and North America as it targets opening the space by early 2021.
The phenomena of co-living and co-working have emerged as growing trends among millennial renters who cannot afford the high living costs generated by inner city residence. Spaces like those proposed in Kitchener-Waterloo offer not only affordable housing facilities but also convenience and the chance to mix with communities of professionals facing similar financial situations.
In a busy period for the company, Cozystay also announced that it had exceeded the total number of bookings it recorded in 2018 by 600 per cent in just the first six months of 2019.
Speaking to Travel Daily, Cheng observed why his company is gaining greater traction this year.
He said: “2019 is becoming a breakout year for Cozystay. We officially launched our Vacation Rental Service Standard (VRSS) and are rolling it out to all properties, regardless of whether the property is a vacation rental, hotel or resort.
“Our vision is to offer our guests the feeling of home, wherever they choose to stay, and provide guests at each of these different categories of accommodation with the same, consistent high level of service. When you visit a Cozystay property – no matter what type, you will know what you can expect,” he added.
In another sign of ambition, the firm is integrating with short-term rental platform Tujia, the equivalent of Airbnb in China, meaning users seeking rental accommodation through Tujia can be directed through to Cozystay branded properties and book them directly and seamlessly.
Cheng added: “This integration will help to increase the number of reservations that these properties receive.”
For more information, visit the Cozystay website here.
