Resorts & Retreats Awards 2022

Page 32 www.lux-review.com LUXlife 2022 Resorts & Retreats Awards Hello, Célia. First, please could tell us about the work Love Home Swap does and the clients you serve? Many of our members have beautiful homes in the most desirable areas of the world, and when they travel, they want to enjoy the best possible holiday experiences. They want to stay in lovely properties that have all the mod-cons and comforts of home. They want to enjoy authentic travel experiences without being caught out by tourist traps, and they don’t want to stay in identikit holiday rentals that lack personality or high-end facilities. Most of all, they don’t want to pay an extortionate amount for a stunning holiday property – but with our members saving an average of 90% on their accommodation costs (around £2,000 on a seven-night stay in comparison to a holiday rental), they don’t need to compromise. Love Home Swap is a multi-award-winning home swapping platform. Based in London, it has in excess of 10,000 members in more than 100 countries, and has been helping its members swap their homes for more than 10 years. Originally based on the romcom ‘The Holiday’ in which Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet swapped their gorgeous properties for an unforgettable break, Love Home Swap Managing Director, Célia Pronto is committed to transforming the way the world travels. In light of Love Home Swap’s extraordinary awards success, we spoke to Célia to learn more about this exciting way of travelling. Jun22347 Love Home Swap Best Luxury Home Swapping Platform 2022 Our members come from every walk of life. We have a real mix of families, empty nesters, digital nomads who can work from anywhere and more. Their homes reflect this diversity, as our members’ properties span everything from chic city centre apartments through to luxurious poolside villas and sprawling country retreats. Specifically, what services do you offer? Why should people go for a house swap with Love Home Swap? There are many home swapping companies out there, but we firmly believe that we offer something quite unique across a number of points: 1) We were the first home swapping company to introduce the concept of Points – this is something that many other companies have since latched onto, and we continue to evolve what we offer our members. Points are our virtual swap currency, and they offer members the ultimate flexibility. Unlike a Classic Swap, Points allow members to travel without having to match their plans. Instead, members can earn Points for hosting, and spend the Points they’ve earned when they next home swap. This is particularly important for our members who own second (and third) homes, as they can use their Points to stay in everything from luxurious lodges for ski holidays through to tropical breaks in opulent surroundings. 2) Our Customer Care team are quite exceptional. Rated as ‘Excellent’ on Trustpilot, they provide comprehensive support six days a week in three languages (English, French and Spanish). The team are happy to support our members in whatever medium they prefer – be that on the phone, via email, through live chat, or even via video conferencing if that’s what they prefer! Our members can even book a call at a time that’s convenient for them. This commitment to a great customer experience has really made us stand out. 3) Our members are the friendliest community imaginable. Many of our members return to their favourite properties time and time again, and through our onsite rating system in which members leave honest reviews of each other and their homes, we can see that they build up genuine rapports with each other. What trends are you currently experiencing within the industry and how do you adapt around these? As a digital platform, we can respond quickly to changing trends, and as the world recovers from the impact of a global pandemic, never have those trends changed more rapidly than now. With an agile approach to delivering unforgettable travel experiences, we’re able to move with the times, ensuring our members offer and enjoy exceptional holiday homes. Happily, we have an excellent tech team behind us, so we can adapt and innovate to meet emerging demand. So, what does the future have in store for Love Home Swap? We’re delighted to reveal that we have a team who are dedicated to developing our app. We’ve been talking with members, building and testing the technology as we go, and the results are looking great so far. We’re aiming to release the app in early 2023 and we’re really looking forward to seeing how our members react to this great addition to the brand. Other than that, we’re continuing to create great content for our members so that they can get the most out of their memberships, and our Customer Care team are continuing to matchmake the most beautiful homes with lovely houseproud members! Company: Love Home Swap Contact: Célia Pronto Email: [email protected] Website: www.lovehomeswap.com

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