New Delhi: Ekostay is a homestay business venture founded in 2018 by the fantastic four entrepreneurial quartet–Husain Khatumdi, Sohail Mirchandani, Varun Arora and Zishan Khan. It has a prominent presence in Maharashtra, North and South India, in over 15+ cities with more than 200+ properties under its umbrella. It is known for its opulent and comfortable villas and aims to capture newer markets and locations. Ekostay has many exclusively crafted luxury villas, apartments and homestays and has a vast option of properties for guests, from budgeted homestays to gold-category luxury villas built to create lasting memories with friends and family. It has been awarded as the most iconic Getaway Brand by Midday International, and Eko Membership’s introduction has enabled Ekostay to provide exclusive and last-minute discounts for guests.
Hussain Khatumdi, the co-founder of Ekostay, said, “The journey of Ekostay began in 2018 with a small number of 3 properties and today we are a strongly embedded family of more than 100+ employees efficiently managing operations of more than 125+ villas. The Ekostay endeavour right from the beginning was to make Ekostay synonymous to homestay and provide immersive and top-notch experiences to craft a charming stay with elusive amenities and an efficient in-house team to provide guests with a seamless and hassle-free staycation”.
Ekostay has designated city managers and diligent back office staff responsible for ensuring that guests have a smooth experience, from check-ins to check-outs, without any hassles. Professional Ekostay caretakers are available at the property throughout the stay to make the stay as comfortable as possible without glitches. Sohail Mirchandani, co-founder of Ekostay said,” The idea behind having an in -house team of electricians, plumbers, carpenters and handymen at every property allows our guests to relax and unwind without having to waste time in contacting or searching for labor, in case of a power-cut failure or furniture malfunction. Once a guest books our villa, we make the utmost effort to look into every detail, small or big, for a stay that is truly impeccable and unique”.
Ekostay’s mission is to provide a standardized yet personalized homestay experience with a customer-centric approach built to create collaborations with homeowners. Ekostay collaborates with homeowners by listing their properties under the Ekostay banner and acts as an efficient platform for hosting their exclusive properties. It’s a win-win situation where homeowners enjoy a source of income and are relieved from the hassle of hosting and managing guests.
Varun Arora, the co-founder of Ekostay, said, “We welcome homeowners to list their properties with Ekostay to create collaborations that last for a lifetime. At Ekostay, we take the onus of repairing homes in an event where a homeowner can’t afford refurbishing or repair properties”. The goal is to create a harmonious landscape of properties that serve guests from all over the globe, and lend a high focus on quality, elusiveness and comfort with every stay”.
Ekostay has created a unique niche by creating homestays and villas for all budgets and needs. Ekostay focuses on hybrid models and rentals so that there’s an Ekostay property that can be experienced by everyone irrespective of budget. Ekostay’s EKO Gold and EKO Luxe villa categories include budget villas, luxury villas, party-friendly villas, villas for corporate gatherings and offbeat villas. Ekostay’s unique customer-centric strategy provides standardized amenities like free Wi-Fi, barbeque arrangements, dedicated caretakers, timely inspections and dedicated host managers at every Ekostay property. Zeeshan Ali, Ekostay co-founder, said, “Ekostay’s business model revolves around a mix of fixed rental and revenue-sharing models with a 75 % focus on fixed rentals where we lease a property and further sublease it to tourists for short stays. The other 25 % works on a revenue-sharing model where we do an exclusive tie-up with a homeowner and split the profits at a pre-decided fixed ratio”. We only take up properties that give us exclusive control to manage operations and administration”.
Ekostay’s greatest competitive advantage is that it has an absolute and elusive authority to manage properties, leading to the standardization of services. The huge focus on client servicing and personalization has exponentially increased Ekostay properties’ demand. Hussain Khatumdi, co-founder of Ekostay said, “Ekostay has experienced exponential average growth of more than 250% over a short span of less than 5 years, despite the pandemic, which I attribute to teamwork and a vivaciously futuristic take on expansion to add more than 500+ properties by 2025 under the Ekostay umbrella. We plan to expand in the Nilgiri ranges, Jammu & Kashmir and are also eying lucrative international holiday destinations like The Middle East and South East Asia with a consolidated and futuristic expansion strategy in place”. https://www.ekostay.com
