Who needs Airbnb? Service set up by friends who love to travel will find you a luxury property to rent, fill the fridge with groceries and book you a yoga class - and they're on course make £10 million a year

• e-mail

A service, set up by friends who love to travel, will find you a luxury property to rent, fill the fridge with groceries and book you a yoga class.

Vivi Cahyadi and Karolina Saviova, who are based in London, launched their business, AltoVita, in January 2018, to make travelling, for business, more of a healthy and enjoyable experience.

Both frequent travellers, and having lived in over 20 cities for work, they always knew that there was a gap in the market when it came to luxury apartments, with services that made you feel like you're at home, when you're away. 

The women now have 6,000 property's listed on their site, in 40 European countries, and next year they're set to celebrate a turnover of £10million for the company.

The women now have 6,000 property's listed on their site, in 40 European countries, including this property in London 

Vivi Cahyadi (right) and Karolina Saviova (left), who are based in London, launched AltoVita in January 2018 to make travelling, for business, more of a healthy and enjoyable experience

The service, which they named AltoVita, and first started in London, quickly expanded into the rest of Europe, and they are now in over 40 cities, including Lisbon, Paris and Stockholm. Pictured: An outside view of an apartment they rent out in Marbella 

Vivi, Chinese Indonesian born, spent the first five years of her career in finance and investment banking for companies such as Credit Suisse and Lehman Brothers.  Her jobs meant she travelled and worked first in New York, then Hong Kong, and finally in London. 

She then spent five years in her family business in real estate, managing a portfolio of properties across the UK, Japan and Indonesia. Splitting her time between London, Tokyo and Jakarta, she knew first-hand the struggle of settling in a new city.

Karolina had the same experiences - born in Prague she worked for a consultancy in Brussels and as a business journalist in Istanbul, Indonesia, India & Gabon. As a journalist, she was always on the go and was tired of the issues that come with travel. 

She says: 'When posted on an extended project abroad, I found maintaining a healthy lifestyle was a struggle, often dealing with stress of loneliness whilst away.'

AltoVito make sure they find unique properties for their clients to rent out - including this one in Lisbon, with a funky bedroom  

This Paris apartment, split on two levels is available to rent on the booking platform, and additional extras can be added on  

The women met through a mutual friend, and they shared their struggles, eventually realising that their stories weren't different to millions of other people who travelled all over the world for work. 

Vivi said: 'We are both frequent travellers and having lived in over 20 cities and across five continents, we understand first-hand the challenges of maintaining our healthy lifestyle and keeping up with our wellness, fitness and daily routines when abroad. 

'Frequent travel and the expat lifestyle doesn’t only come with perks: travellers are often struggling with finding temporary accommodation, maintaining a healthy work-life balance, eating habits and exercise routines.'

The women met through a mutual friend, and they shared their struggles, eventually realising that their stories weren't different to millions of other people who travelled all over the world for work

They went on to say that when they travelled, they always faced the same problems:  'We struggled with having the ability to shop online for groceries, to cook healthy meals, or access to the local yoga class, members club or a co-working space. 

'We always had to spend hours of research on google and various platforms to gain local knowledge and acclimatize to the new city. We knew that having a one-stop solution for frequent travellers would help save time.'

The service, which they named AltoVita, and first started in London, quickly expanded into the rest of Europe, and they're now in over 40 cities, including Lisbon, Paris and Stockholm. 

The company offers the ability to design your stay, and create an experience which allows you to travel abroad without sacrificing the lifestyle you have at home. Pictured: One of the apartments you can rent in Europe 

The service was initially created for business travellers who constantly travel for work, however families and those who love to travel soon realised the benefits of staying in luxury apartments and having services, such as beauty treatments and fitness classes to hand. 

Vivi said: 'We know the way people want to travel is changing - we offer the ability to design your stay, and create an experience which allows you to travel abroad without sacrificing the lifestyle you value at home. 

'Travellers can book verified accommodation and in-destination services depending on their personal needs within a few clicks.' 

AltoVita’s apartments are well furnished and equipped to hospitality standards. While the women admit that AltoReps pre-inspect the accommodations prior to guest arrival. Pictured: A living room in one of their apartments 

In order to find new properties, which are right for their clients the team has developed a vetting process—so only reliable property managers and services providers are accepted on AltoVita’s platform.

'The team schedules on-boarding interviews with property managers, conducts property inspections and standardises hospitality criteria: quality of furnishing, location, healthy & safety and cleaning to name a few,' Karolina admits.

'AltoVita’s apartments are well furnished and equipped to hospitality standards. AltoReps pre-inspect the accommodations prior to guest arrival and prepare for a personalised meet and greet to ensure that the whole stay is stress-free.' 

In order to find new properties, which are right for their clients the team has developed a vetting process—so only reliable property managers and services providers are accepted on AltoVita’s platform. Pictured: One of the properties in Europe 

Vivi and Karolina initially invested their our own money to launch AltoVita in January 2018. Since then, their idea has attracted  angel investors and they've raised a total of £300k. 

The women, who lead a small team of 12, based in London, admit they were both hands-on in all parts of the business from the beginning, but admit that have had to learn a great deal. 'From digital marketing, technology development, business operations, corporate partnership and scaling up AltoVita  - we had to learn alot in a span of less than two years,' Vivi admitted.

While Karolina added that to start a business in the tech scene you have to be  'resourceful': 'The tech scene has evolved so much just in the last 5 years. There is always an efficient way to do anything, from testing, team management and product development. Do your research, test and decide what suits you best.' 

The women initially invested their our own money to launch AltoVita in January 2018. Since then, their idea has attracted angel investors and they've raised a total of £300k. Pictured: One of the property's abroad

According to a Skift’s survey of 1,300 participants and AltoVita’s independent focus group, almost 80 per cent of frequent travellers agreed that improving physical and emotional wellbeing is important, as travellers compromise their lifestyle when abroad. This is one of the reasons they offer add ons, such as private dining.

'Unhealthy eating habits, impersonal accommodation and lack of exercise have been flagged as main pain points. We believe travellers want the ability to maintain their routine and lifestyle while abroad,' Karolina added. 

As part of the service the company call on services such as private dining companies like Dine Indulge - where private chefs come to your apartment and cook you set menus - great for a special occasion.

While if you're busy working in the new city they can also do food shops for you and book other extra, such as beauty treatments and even one-to-one yoga classes.

As part of the service the company can make your experience as unique as possible, they call on services such as private dining companies like Dine Indulge (pictured) - where private chefs come to your apartment and cook you set menus -which is great for a special occasion

Fitness services are booked through Swift Fitness, with experienced teachers like Sara Sutra (pictured)  available - a yoga instructor who can give you hands on classes - even if you're a beginner

Fitness services are booked through Swift Fitness, with experienced teachers like  Sara Sutra available - a yoga instructor who can give you hands on classes - even if you're a beginner. 

In the last year the demand for AltoVita's services have increased, with bookings going up 800 per cent and traffic on their website increasing by 500 per cent.

Already in over 40 cities, with 6,000 listings, in Europe, the women hope to expand to the US and Asia in 2020, while what the offer to existing client.

'We want to continue to cater to each individual traveller, allowing them to truly design their stay and ensure they have the services they need to make their trip personalised and memorable,' they added.