Roomorama

Roomorama is a booking site that provides a platform for individuals and property managers to rent unoccupied living spaces and other short-term lodging to guests.^[1] The company offers affordable short-term rentals in 5,000 locations.^[1][2]

Jia En Teo and Federico Folcia founded Roomorama in 2009. The company is headquartered in Singapore with an additional office in New York.^[1]

History

Roomorama received US$2.1 million in seed funding from PROFounders, Lerer Media, Thrive Capital, and Jose Marin, who also invested in travel sites like HipWay and GuestMob.^[3]

Roomorama absorbed competitor Lofty to fill growing demand for inventory.^[4] Roomorama had a higher number of registered users and folded Lofty’s properties into their own inventory.^[4]

Roomorama opened in 2009 with 11 properties available to rent.^[1] As of 2012, Roomorama had 70,000 registered properties.^[5] Most of the site’s registered users are business travelers and groups of friends or families who do not want to book multiple hotel rooms.^[6] Roomorama reported a 215% increase in bookings from 2010 to 2011.^[7]

In April 2012, Roomorama reported an average booking value of $1,300. 80% of bookings lasted between eight and fourteen days.^[1][5]

Roomorama worked with travel site Tripping.com to research the factors that drive travelers to choose short-term rentals rather than hotel stays.^[8] Their research concluded that travelers are seeking more unique stays, safer alternatives to hotel rooms, and larger, more spacious alternatives for family travel.^[8]

Roomorama’s properties are located across North America, Europe, Asia, South America, northern Africa and Oceania. Hosts can black the out days, weeks, or months they want to retain use of their property, ensuring that they have access.^[6]

Roomorama is the first company in the short-term rental space to introduce an open API to its customers.

Security

The site allows the host to see the full name of anyone applying to visit their property. This allows homeowners to complete a background check on their expected guest.^[2][9] Site users are required to send in a photocopy of their ID. This extends the registration process but is designed to increase accountability.^[2][9] Roomorama’s hosts safety features that are not available when looking for short-term rentals on free sites, like Craigslist.^[9] Roomorama is the first in the short-term rental industry to introduce a payment code process, which ensures that payment is only released to the host upon a successful check in. Roomorama provides a 6 digit code to the traveler, which is turned over to the host upon arrival. The homeowner then redeems the code for payment from Roomorama.^[10] This process ensures that payment is not given unless the apartment is as portrayed online and is designed to protect the traveler.^[10]

The company also does manual and automated fraud detection and background checks on its hosts and guests.

References