A woman, a dream. Travelling in style should be accessible to anyone, at least once. Anyone should have the possibility to live the high life and to enjoy a five-star stay in a fantastic hotel. That’s the idea behind BidToTrip, founded by Sara Brunelli, a 35-year-old Italian entrepreneur. Her native region, Emilia Romagna, transmitted her the passion for hospitality, she put the rest on the plate: a good idea, a stubborn character, curiosity and an entrepreneurial mind. Together with her friend from childhood Chiara D’Augusto, she founded BidToTrip, an auction website where people can bid for one of two nights in luxury hotels and spas at a fraction of the price. Hotels can make money from unsold rooms, people can enjoy a luxurious stay without breaking the bank.
‘I had the idea a few days ago during a stay in London. We built the first platform and started to make the first contracts. Then we turned to crowdfunding. In 72 hours we reached our goal, 220,000 pounds we used to re-designed our platform and create a team’, says Sara. ‘Since then we have enhanced our offer and we now have many hotels on our platform. People can bid, like any other option, and if they win they have between 4 to 6 months to use their nights, otherwise they will be refunded’.
An idea that women like more than men, according to results. ‘Our client is a 25-45-year-old woman, who travel as a couple and often asks for a child bed. Our company is based in London but only 20% of our clients are from the UK, and this is a market we want to expand in the near future’.
For the moment she’s looking for a ‘guest traveller’, someone paid to travel and test the hotels and their services. ‘In less than a month, we have received 13,000 applications. It looks like people consider this the dream job, but it’s not as easy as it looks. It takes a lot of experience to make the right question, to check the right details. At the end of the day, details can make all the difference and make your stay unforgettable’.
