To offer travelers a high-end seasonal rental and concierge service, the Avant Garde IT group and Blueside have joined forces to develop a modern platform. Juba Nait, founder & CEO of Avant Garde IT, and Natacha Jovanovic, founder & president of Blueside Home & Host, tell us about it.
What inspired you to launch this seasonal rental platform?
Natacha Jovanovic : I am originally from Serbia, and since my childhood I have been fascinated by travel. I started my Parisian life in 2002, as a cleaning lady. Ten years later, I developed my first cleaning business.
In 2021, I launched the Blueside Home & Host project. We are ambassadors of owners who wish to rent their property with confidence. We select exceptional accommodation and provide guests with a unique experience with unparalleled comfort and elegance, combined with high-end concierge services.
What inspired this platform is my passion for travel, hospitality, meeting people and Paris, the city I fell in love with…and also the fact that something was missing from the offer on the market.
What expertise did Avant Garde IT bring?
Juba Nait: The Avant Garde IT Group is a major player in the international digital and IT field. It offers varied services, including communication, consulting, Qualiopi certified training, and the recruitment of IT and digital talents. Its services (IT & Digital) on a management or fixed-price basis and its expertise in offshoring mainly in Morocco complete its offer.
We have partnered with Blueside to create Blueside Home & Host, the first French platform for high-end seasonal rentals, coupled with a concierge service. We brought our IT and Digital expertise to the design, development and hosting of this platform, which has multiple functionalities: management of announcements, search, reservations, messaging, but also secure payments.
For her part, Natacha’s company brought her knowledge of concierge services, logistics, hospitality and Paris. It made sense for us to partner with a high-end concierge service, because quality of service is at the heart of our values.
What were the challenges you faced on this project?
JN : It was important to build a platform that met market standards in terms of aesthetics but also fluidity of the user experience. The stability and speed of the platform were also a central issue.
We operate in a very competitive market, but Blueside stands out by offering a 13% commission for travelers, which is lower than other platforms, and use is free for owners.
Rental platforms are part of a strong trend, how are they evolving?
JN : There has been a move towards online booking of apartments, from person to person, but customers are starting to miss hotel services.
Unlike other platforms, we select accommodations to offer only high-end properties, and we include our concierge services. Guests can therefore enjoy the privacy of an apartment, while having 24-hour services, such as their airport transfer, tour recommendations or restaurant reservations.
This content was produced in partnership with SCRIBEO. The BFM Business editorial team was not involved in the production of this content.
In partnership with SCRIBEO
