Montreal-Based Luxury Retreats is the “Airbnb of Mansions”

Meet the Airbnb of the 1 per cent.

Luxury Retreats is a Montreal-based mansion marketplace that offers some of the world’s most luxurious vacation rentals, most of which start around $1,500-$2,500/night. Some properties are enough to make the Queen of Versailles jealous, like this 15-bedroom private paradise on Richard Branson’s Necker Island that fetches almost $80k/night. All 15 Canadian listings are breathtaking mountain chalets in Mont Tremblant or Whistler.

The company was founded over 25 years ago, but has seen demand skyrocket in recent years as society’s shift towards ‘sharing economy’ services trickles down to pique the interest of the super-rich. It explains why we can Uber private jets now, and venture capitalists are ringing the bell to get in the door.

Securing an $11 million investment without even looking for funding is pretty indicative of the high-end peer-to-peer market’s demand.

Luxury Retreats CEO Joe Poulin told TechCrunch that some of the money will be used to expand its geographical footprint – which includes 2,800 homes in 90 locations – but his main focus moving forward will on delivering on an “anything goes” concierge service that caters to a guest’s every demand.

Most vacationers request standard 1 per cent luxuries like fine wines and chartered yachts, but some go so far as to demand synagogues be built on their rented property or that a particular breed of duck roam freely through its gardens during their stay.

“Luxury is not sold, it’s delivered,” says Poulin.

Indeed.

All photos courtesy of Luxury Retreats