The team behind premium aparthotel provider Moment Stays, led by entrepreneurial couple Laurence Malyon and Becky McAleer, are launching a new short-term lets operator to support landlords.
This “tech-enabled” management service venture, named The Stay Co and part of hospitality provider Malyon Group, aims to help landlords “stay ahead in an increasingly regulated and competitive sector”.
Laurence Malyon, co-founder of The Stay Co, said: “Most short-term lets operators are time-poor professionals or retirees who want to focus on other aspects of their lives. But, with all the policy changes and hospitality groups moving into the market, the hassle of operating even one of these properties has become too high for many individuals to be able to compete without it becoming a full-time job.
“The Stay Co is about taking that burden off landlords’ shoulders and helping them to provide a professional service to guests. We’ve been in hospitality for more than a decade and, whether you’re running an aparthotel or holiday let, it’s the same skills and technology to operate them.”
He added: “We had property owners see our Moment accommodation and ask if we could do the same with their properties, so the decision to move into supporting short-term lets felt like an obvious move. We're built on the back of that brand - which includes Edinburgh's highest-reviewed aparthotel - and are focused on delivering the best possible guest experience. With that foundation, we truly believe that, in time, The Stay Co can be the biggest short-term lets operator in Scotland.”
The Stay Co is being launched at a time when the short-term lettings market has seen a wave of legislative changes.
New licensing regimes have been implemented and control areas expanded by Scottish local authorities, with stricter compliance criteria and planning applications coming under tighter scrutiny, The Stay Co observed.
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It added: “At the same time, the lines between traditional hotels and short-term lettings are being blurred.”
With an initial 18 properties already live across Edinburgh and Glasgow, The Stay Co said it will provide landlords with “access to the same experienced team behind the aparthotel brand with dynamic pricing, digital guest management and data-led tools that allow the team to run short-term lets with the same professionalism and insight expected from leading hotel operators”.
Malyon Group was co-founded in 2024 by Mr Malyon and Ms McAleer, and now has a team of eight, all under the age of 35. It secured £2 million in guest revenue in its first year of operation.
Prior to that, Mr Malyon co-founded Donnini Apartments, a short-stay holiday accommodation business operating across Ayrshire.
