How HOLT Manages 40 Global Properties with Zero Major Incidents

Benjamin Earley, CEO of HOLT, built his company from the ground up starting in 2013 with a mission to bring luxury travel experiences to everyone. What began in one city has expanded across three countries, with HOLT now operating properties from Aspen to Bucharest to the Philippines.

“We’ve been working with both Truvi and Minut since mid-2020. We have nearly 40 doors now and we’re very spread around the globe, so we really need services like Truvi and Minut to give us the tools and confidence to manage from afar.”

When one party changed everything

“Since we implemented our partnership, Truvi has gotten us back money that guests and AirCover were unwilling to pay.”

In 2020, a single incident at one of HOLT’s properties sparked Benjamin’s search for comprehensive protection. The scale of the damage was unlike anything they’d experienced before.

“We had a huge party at one of our properties. The guest had dozens of people over who were putting out cigarettes on the window frames and running all the faucets the entire weekend. It was insane. That’s when we set off on an exploration of STR-operator-embedded protection products.

I interviewed everyone in the market, though most were US-specific and didn’t provide much coverage at all for what they were asking in terms of costs. For some of the newer, hipper STR protection providers, either they didn’t cover in some of the geographies we operate in, or I simply didn’t love the cost/benefit trade-off. Some of them were sort of positioned as a supplemental AirCover.

With Truvi’s damage protection and guest screening risk management technology, they gave me positive vibes in their marketing materials, showing they were clearly all-in on this growing business, and in the initial calls. It was a no-brainer after all of our interviews.”

The deterrent effect of serious screening

HOLT uses Truvi’s Guest Screening with ID Verification, which automatically checks for fake names, disposable emails, and burner phones while screening against internal watchlists, to identify potentially problematic guests before they arrive.

“Truvi gives us an early look at someone who might not be fully honest and allows us to keep the calendars open for real guests. I also think the seriousness of how we present ourselves from the start, alongside signed rental agreements and Truvi’s portal, tells guests that we aren’t here to play games.

After submitting their ID to Truvi, anyone that had ideas at first certainly turned to their group and said: ‘Not with my info on the line, guys.’ That’s likely saved us innumerable times.”

Complete protection with integrated monitoring

“What Truvi and Minut provide is peace of mind and sleep for employees, management and ownership.”

HOLT combines Truvi’s guest screening with Minut’s noise monitoring devices, which detect excessive noise, smoking, and occupancy spikes in real-time, to create a comprehensive risk management system that works across their global portfolio.

“After that same party, we knew we needed a party prevention method. There was no competition for Minut. There’s only one real US competitor, and they don’t work in non-US outlets.

Minut was implemented in a minute, for real. The global shipping, fulfilment from multiple continents, and then the setup process is so friendly. It looks like, acts like and feels like an Apple product, really.

Since we installed Minut two years ago, we haven’t had the same amount of damage to all our properties combined as we did from that one 2-day party that pushed us to Minut in the first place. That’s saying something.

For Minut, we’ve absolutely caught parties in the early stages, especially in Bucharest. Bucharest is a bit of a party town for visitors. Minut is our last line of defense. More than a few times, we’ve sent local managers over to calm down an escalating situation and/or remove problematic guests.

I think the partnership between Truvi and Minut is great. The more technology companies and services can deepen their integrations in the STR industry, the more we all stand to gain.

Our favourite thing about Truvi is how client-responsive they are. Our favourite thing about Minut is the seamless setup and ongoing operation.”

Getting money back that OTAs wouldn’t cover

Truvi’s damage protection covers incidents like unauthorized parties, smoke damage, and excessive cleaning costs that platform protections like AirCover often exclude, helping HOLT recover costs across their global portfolio.

“Since we implemented our partnership, Truvi has also gotten us back money that guests and AirCover were unwilling to pay. And the same for Expedia and Booking, as they have no coverage options really. So each and every dollar back from Truvi has been beyond what we would have gotten before using their service.”

Peace of mind for global operations

For Benjamin, the value extends beyond financial protection to operational confidence when managing properties thousands of miles away.

“One thing guests don’t understand is that operators often have to manage their businesses to the lowest common denominator: the 10% of guests that are likely to cause trouble. Without tools like Truvi, we cannot know who this 10% are, so everyone has to be treated as a potential bad guest.

Guests often don’t realise that services like Truvi and Minut make the overall experience better. No longer having to stress over problem guests and their actions saves us time, lightens the load of the business and allows us to concentrate on making everything amazing for our guests.

What Truvi and Minut provide, beyond literally their services, is peace of mind for all employees of an operator and sleep for management and ownership. I can’t say this enough: Truvi and Minut just give us confidence and a sense of relief. The margins are good enough in the STR business if you know what you’re doing.

A few extra dollars for extreme tail-risk protection in the form of a noise sensor and an embedded protection partner are worth being able to sleep at night, knowing that the spectrum of harm to your business is greatly reduced.”

By combining automated guest screening with real-time monitoring, HOLT can manage a global portfolio with confidence, knowing that problematic guests are filtered out before arrival and any incidents are detected and handled without requiring Benjamin’s direct involvement.

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