AccorHotels to buy luxury rental broker Travel Keys

AccorHotels began exclusive negotiations for the acquisition of 100 percent of Travel Keys, a major player in the private vacation rental market.

Founded in 1991, Travel Keys is a travel broker representing a luxury collection of over 5,000 villas found in more than 100 destinations across the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii & the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa. The Atlanta-based company focuses on guest satisfaction, offering professional vacation planning and 24/7 concierge services.

The combination of Travel Keys with onefinestay and Squarebreak will provide AccorHotels with roughly 8,500 addresses in the luxury private rental market, with curated properties in both the vacation & urban segments.

The transaction is expected to close in Q2 2017 after customary due diligence.

120 Holden, a villa under Travel Keys' portfolio in Colorado

"We are extremely pleased to have Bobby Gibson and his team join the AccorHotels family," Sebastien Bazin, chairman & CEO of AccorHotels, said in a statement. "They have built a very robust business over the years that will be instrumental in our strategy to create the number one luxury private rental player in the world. Travel Keys brings an impressive portfolio of premium properties to our existing activities. This acquisition further demonstrates our agility and dynamic approach to offer comprehensive services to our clients."

"We feel a strong link with the AccorHotels' teams, and share in the vision of both Sebastien Bazin and the private rental leaders at AccorHotels about the future of our industry," Bobby Gibson, CEO of Travel Keys, said in a statement. "We are very enthusiastic about this partnership, writing a new and exciting chapter of Travel Keys' story. Our objective is to offer extraordinary experiences to our guests, i.e. the best homes in the best locations with the highest level of service. At the same time, we cater to extremely demanding hosts who find their unique assets mismatched to the mass market offerings found in emerging peer to peer marketplaces."