Press coverage

I'm in the city on holiday but, instead of checking into a hotel, I've essentially 'borrowed' a stylish pad for a few days through onefinestay…Although you're staying in someone else's home, there are all the benefits of a hotel, too — beds are made with top-quality linen and bathrooms come stocked with lovely toiletries and fluffy towels...there's also an iPhone, charged and full of suggestions of the owner's favourite local places to eat, drink and explore.

The concept of the luxury unhotel has come of age and it’s no small thanks to onefinestay. The alternative to staying in impersonal hotel rooms is to book yourself in a lived-in, characterful house…whose owners probably travel a lot but have impeccable taste.

I’ve been to the city many times, always in hotels, and never beyond Manhattan. But true to onefinestay’s ‘live like a local’ mantra, I’ve been tempted over Brooklyn Bridge to take up residence in an apartment owned by a couple of actors.

Lots of you are extremely excited about onefinestay, the so-called ‘unhotel’ – essentially posh folks’ houses and apartments in New York and London rented out by the night like A-list hotel rooms.

People are doing it all over London, even your smartest friends – especially your smartest friends – and now it’s spread to the Big Apple too. onefinestay is our homegrown version of American house-rental service Airbnb...And really, what could be more fun than taking over your own Greenwich Village brownstone or Tribeca loft and pretending that it’s real life?

onefinestay.com...is expanding on the back of its overwhelming success in London. Don’t believe the trend? Look at the numbers...onefinestay began in 2010 with six apartments available...Right now the company has over 600 in London alone...Less than five months ago the company branched out to New York City and has since secured the use of almost 100 apartments in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

It’s like living in a catalog. I’ve been fantasizing about all the homes I could stay in through...onefinestay. These are likely some of the coolest digs you’ll ever visit, and they offer a unique travel experience that most hotels can’t replicate.

Whether we’ve cast ourselves as Holly Golightly, Carrie Bradshaw or even Johnny Boy from Mean Streets, most of us have imagined living in New York at some point. The fantasy is easier to indulge without a keycard, however, which is where onefinestay delivers.

The experiential traveler does not arrive at Kennedy Airport and immediately go shopping on upper Madison Avenue. She takes a drawing class; she rides the Lexington Avenue line at rush hour...The interest in this kind of travel is, in part, what led to the opening here a few weeks ago of...onefinestay. Having originated in London in 2010, it is a kind of virtual hotel service that situates guests in well-appointed houses and apartments when their regular occupants are elsewhere.

If you're looking for a practical alternative, more affordable and more spacious, check out the apartments at onefinestay. Just a quick browse through the listings will make you wonder why you've even ever considered a hotel.

Creating a situation where guests feel they're enjoying a home-away-from-home is the holy grail of the hotel world... None of them can compete with the 'unhotel', however – the hottest trend to hit the accommodation scene.

If you've ever strolled the streets of London and dreamed about living in a posh house in Notting Hill... or a pied-a-terre in the swanky Mayfair area of the city – now is your chance.

Going up - onefinestay.com. The high-end house-swap site that lets you hire out your home by the night. We say, a nice little earner.

Peden says the decision to use onefinestay helped stretch the family's budget..."It was extremely affordable. With a hotel we would have needed two interconnecting rooms so it was already 50 per cent cheaper. Add to that the provision of the phone and additional services."

I'm the first person ever to test onefinestay from both sides. Our London flat is one of the 150 properties on their books, and after each let, it's returned to us immaculate, with no trace of the previous occupants.

What might turn out to be the city's most important hotel innovation has been going on behind the scenes... Staying here has been far more relaxing and interesting than staying in a hotel... It is the location that sets the experience apart...the communities in which Londoners actually live and socialise, rather than the tourist ghettos of the West End...how much more compelling is the chance to step into the shoes of a local?

Visiting the capital and want to live like a Londoner? onefinestay.com offers 'unhotel' living in exclusive homes and a preloaded smart phone with the homeowners recommendations.

Better than house-sitting, in that you have no responsibilities, more interesting than a self-catered property or serviced apartment because the owner's possessions, their style, their touch and their personality remain, onefinestay's service essentially lets you borrow a posh house and pretend it's yours for a while.

Fancy going on holiday and earning some money while you're away? Then jump on-board the new homes trend, where canny folk are short-term-renting-out their property for serious cash.

Guests get to enjoy an environment distinctly different from that of a hotel.... But you also benefit from hotel-style service in terms of linens, toiletries; you get a tour of the property on arrival; and you have someone on call 24/7 to deal with your problems. Room service is an optional extra. One nice touch is the inclusion of an adapted iPhone preloaded with information about the home and the surrounding area.

A new style of letting agent which specialises in short-term private accommodation in London (complete with concierge service).

The new London Web site onefinestay provides an alternative, a first-of-its-kind service that rents out 50 luxurious private apartments in central London that are owned and lived in by real people — off on fabulous vacations of their own. They come with hotel services like maids and high-end amenities as well as personal touches like an iPod loaded with recommendations from the owners on where nearby to dine, shop, chill and order in from.

A converted warehouse near the Design Museum, a chic Notting Hill pad...these are some of the stylish homes that make a stay in London more fun than any hotel could. For their owners, they're a way of earning a second income from the home they have lavished all that care and cash on - and a chance to show them off.

the "unhotel," onefinestay, brings five-star service to the beautifully appointed homes of real (and thankfully absent) Londoners.

a new company offering the antidote to depressing hotel homogeneity... onefinestay represents a new travel movement catering for those who deem "tourist" a dirty word... It seems many people are "over" hotels; they now prefer homes.

You could opt to live like a local, courtesy of onefinestay. It offers short-term lettings... ranging from flats in Primrose Hill to Mayfair townhouses. They come with the use of an iPhone (containing a video guide to the property).

Calling itself an 'unhotel', onefinestay, which launches first in London, lets travelers stay in someone's real home while the owner is out of town.