About us
HouseTrip was founded in 2009 by Arnaud Bertrand and Junjun Chen. Arnaud and Junjun met whilst studying hospitality management at the acclaimed Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland.
The HouseTrip concept was born as a result of a mutual love of staying in short-term rentals while travelling. The trigger event occurred whilst trying to book a rental for a weekend in Scotland, with a booking process that was so complicated that they decided to dedicate themselves to making it simpler. Their thinking was; “since rentals are better value and more ‘authentic’ than hotels, if it’s easier and safer to book rentals, more people will choose them over hotels.” Given HouseTrip's early success, this has so far held true!
Arnaud and Junjun rapidly managed to convince investors of their idea and to gather the early HouseTrip team. They built the website and launched it in January 2010. Thousands of owners added their rentals during that year and close to 20,000 guests stayed in these properties, writing post-stay reviews that were positive in more than 90% of cases. The HouseTrip story had started and, as you say, the rest is history...
Roll your cursor over each member of our team for a quick snapshot.
HouseTrip.com was founded in 2009, by Arnaud Bertrand and Junjun Chen. In November 2010, HouseTrip.com received funding from Index Ventures, a leading Venture Capitalist company. In its first year, HouseTrip.com was awarded the CTI startup label of the year and VentureKick awards, for its innovative and groundbreaking approach to holiday rentals.
Arnaud Bertrand
Arnaud founded HouseTrip.com in 2009, and has served as Chief Executive Officer since the company's inception. He holds a Bsc in Hospitality Management from Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland. He won the Venture Leaders competition in 2009, and is a regular speaker in the media and at Universities across Europe.
Junjun Chen
Junjun co-founded HouseTrip.com in 2009, and has served as Chief Financial Officer since the company's inception. She holds a Bsc in Hospitality Management from Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland.
David Norris
David has served as Chief Operating Officer since March 2011. Previously, he was Chief Operating Officer at Livebookings (2007-2011) and before that was Website and eCommerce Operations Director at Expedia.co.uk. He has 20 years experience in the travel industry and has worked in eCommerce since 2000 including management roles at lastminute.com, Online Travel Corporation, ifyouski.com, Simply Travel (now part of TUI) and Eurocamp (Holidaybreak PLC). He is a graduate of The University of Manchester.
Edouard Thorens
Edouard has served as Chief Supply Officer since November 2010, having previously worked as an analyst with a Swiss Private Bank. He holds a Bsc in Hospitality Management from Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland.
2nd Floor, 17-18 Haywards Place
London, EC1R 0EQ
United Kingdom
Rue de Sébeillon 9b
1004 Lausanne
Switzerland
Largo do Rato 10
1250 Lisboa
Portugal
