This luxury vacation rental marketplace rivals Airbnb

There's a new vacation rental platform looking to optimize the rental process. The Plum Guide, developed by entrepreneur Doron Meyassed, was made to create an easy, and appraised marketplace for luxury homes. Originally launched in London in 2016, Plum Guide has expanded into the US and across Europe with four global locations: Los Angeles, New York, Rome, and Milan.

One such home is The Railway Cottage in Chalk Farm, moments from Primrose Hill. Owned by an interior designer, nothing within this two-floor light-filled property is accidental.  From the moment you approach its exterior, this two-bedroom flat in North London is inviting. The owner renovated the space herself, updating the kitchen with large contemporary skylights, giving a new sense of scale and grandeur to the room. Upstairs, the cosy master bedroom features the unexpected addition of a porcelain tub, a centerpiece in this already stylized room. Throughout, every appliance - from the stove top to the coffee cafetiere - is top of the line, the products in the bathrooms are the upscale Australian brand Aesop, nothing is overlooked.

When Airbnb works it's brilliant but the problem is it's not consistent. There’s no reassurance of the product and currently about 95 % of homes on Airbnb have 4 and a half stars or more, despite being of a hugely varying quality and price point. Plum uses an algorithm to scan the top 25 booking platforms in a city, ensuring every home has a five-star rating and is in a chic neighborhood with well-connected transport links.  Once passing this assessment, the property is reviewed by The Plum Guide’s in-house team, use a carefully designed 150-data point checklist - developed through a combination of analysis of customer reviews, as well as interviews with psychologists, designers, hoteliers, travelers and architects. From this process, only one in every 100 properties makes it onto the platform. And to learn more about the business as a whole your correspondent spoke with Doron Meyassed, the Plum Guide's founder and CEO.

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