Vacasa buys Oasis Collections, unseats Wyndham as top vacation rental company

Vacasa has acquired Oasis Collections, a home-share company with investment backing by Hyatt Hotels.

According to Vacasa, the deal moves the Portland-based business ahead of Wyndham Vacation Rentals as the largest vacation rental company in North America with 10,600 properties.

The acquisition will allow Vacasa to expand its presence internationally in new markets including Barcelona, Bogota, Cartagena, Ibiza, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Miami, Milan, Montevideo, Paris, Punta del Este, Rome, Santiago and São Paulo.

Founded in 2009, Oasis became known for its high-end approach to vacation rentals, which attracted investment from Hyatt in 2017; it also counted McKinsey and Ernst & Young among its corporate clients.

Following the Vacasa deal, Oasis will no longer be affiliated with the Unbound Collection by Hyatt or the World of Hyatt loyalty program, Hyatt says on its website.

Vacasa CEO Eric Breon says Oasis CEO Parker Stanberry initially approached him about working together.

“I’ve known Parker for many years. Their focus was always on global first-tier cities, where ours is traditional rental cities,” he says.

“Our perspective on Oasis is they have a lot of great markets covered – they’re in Paris, Barcelona … it’s an attractive addition to our portfolio.”

Oasis employees, including Stanberry, will be joining the Vacasa team.

Bigger picture

Hyatt’s bet on Oasis is one of several by hotel companies to play in the home-share space.

However, hotels haven’t always seen immediate payoff. AccorHotels, for example, attributed a negative €15 million EBITDA for new businesses to Onefinestay and John Paul in July.

AccorHotels had also taken a 30% stake in Oasis in 2016 but withdrew after Hyatt became involved.

“Hotels are very interested in figuring something out for [the home-share] segment, but it’s not an easy segment,” Breon says.

As for Vacasa’s general growth strategy, Breon says it typically grows organically but will use acquisitions when entering new markets.

Not including Oasis, Breon says last week Vacasa made seven acquisitions, all single-market companies.

In July, Vacasa added a real estate network to grow its supply base.