UAE proptech startup Stella Stays has announced its expansion into Saudi Arabia, with the first tech-enabled residential hospitality concept Stella Stays Riyadh Olaya Tower opening its doors in June 2022.
Stella Stays Olaya Tower offers modern, fully equipped, tech-enabled apartments and hotel suites, a coworking space, and recreational and commercial amenities.
Stella Stays offers holidaymakers, business travellers, and residents a seamless hospitality experience, through leveraging ground-breaking technology and modern service. Guests and residents in Saudi Arabia will be able to use the Stella Stays app to navigate the entire journey - from booking and managing their stays, checking in, and controlling smart home systems, to ordering a wide range of guest services. Payment terms are flexible and can be made through various methods, including debit, credit cards and crypto payments.
Riyadh and Jeddah are strategic locations for Stella Stays’ expansion with more than $1 trillion of real estate and infrastructure developments underway. The Kingdom’s economy has fuelled solid growth in residential construction with developers progressing a booming number of freehold apartment projects. Saudi Arabia also offers some of the most attractive set-up costs in the real estate sector in the region.
Mohammed Al Ghussein, Chairman of Stella Stays said: “Stella Stays aims to disrupt the Kingdom’s hospitality sector landscape by partnering with real estate developers and property owners, such as Four Direction Development, to provide innovative residential hospitality concept, with unmatched profitability potential.”
Four Direction Development has extensive experience in terms of investment returns since 2014 with several development projects around the Kingdom.
“We are excited to announce our agreement with Stella Stays in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that will boost both the hospitality and travel industries. Stella Stays offers us, the property owner, hands-off management with real-time analytics that delivers significantly more income and less operational costs compared to traditional hotel models,” said Abdullah Al Majed, Co-Founder at Four Directions Development.
Stella Stays’ real estate portfolio growth strategy in Saudi Arabia is through master leases or profit-sharing agreements with property owners and developers. To create a global real estate pipeline, the company uses proprietary algorithms that identify, evaluate, and select the most desirable properties around the world, based on location, financial projection, and trends.
Mohannad Zikra, CEO and Cofounder of Stella Stays, said: ‘‘The digital economy, Covid-19, and tech-savvy millennials are driving massive behavioural shifts related to how people live, travel and work. Business travel is also bouncing back and increasing significantly, requiring the flexibility for longer stays.
“When Stella Stays began operations in 2019, the average length of stay was 3 nights per booking. Today, the average length of stays has increased to 28 nights per booking, with many repeat guests and permanent residents. Stella Stays continues to capture these opportunities by creating modern living spaces, futuristic technology and a highly profitable business model. Our occupancy is now higher than the pre-pandemic level, reaching 100% around events such as Expo 2020 Dubai and the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix 2022.’’
With a vision to create the future of living and hospitality, Stella Stays is well recognised for its innovative and guest-centric approach, currently operating in the UAE, Bahrain, Canada, and now, Saudi Arabia. The company expects to expand rapidly into major cities in the Mena region and around the world in the next 12-18 months, with flagship projects in key markets.
“Stella Stays’ 4.9-stars rating across retail platforms is a testament to our effort to create the future of living and hospitality. And it’s just the beginning. The next step for Stella Stays is to leverage our secret sauce - ground-breaking technology and a highly profitable business model - to expand globally,” added Mohammed Al Ghussein, Chairman of Stella Stays.
