The global advisory team for the short-term rental industry

"Working with the team at AJL was a great experience. We used them to kickstart our European expansion, initially as a launchpad in Barcelona, as well as via strategic guidance in markets outside our North American base.

Simon’s huge network and deep industry insights were invaluable, and the team a professional and knowledgeable group to work with "

Steve Davies, CEO

Operto

"AJL Atelier has changed our growth trajectory twice and helped us scale in a meaningful way - they provided strategic advice which led to a necessary pivot during the pandemic and refined our go to market strategy post-pandemic which led to us scaling to over 20,000 properties to date.

We would not be here today without the work done by the firm, Simon Lehman, Nicolas Galantini, and the rest of the AJL team. Having spoken to multiple consultants prior to engaging AJL Atelier, the key difference we’ve seen is that the firm will not hesitate to get their hands dirty.

They will do everything to really understand your business, your vision, your objectives, key results; and ultimately provide you with different paths. They are not just planners, but doers. When you engage AJL atelier, you get industry experts on your team, it’s as simple as that. "

François Gouelo, CEO & Co-Founder

Ensoconnect Inc.

"The AJL team is extremely knowledgeable and able to provide a great deal of context relevant to the short-term rental market. They are highly professional were able to quickly bring us up to speed and guide us through every step of our project.

We would highly recommend them and will be using them again in the future!"

Richard Lewis, SVP

LG - Zenit Electronics

"AJL Atelier has been a key partner of SUPERHOG from the start.

We have leveraged their in-depth knowledge and proven expertise in a hundred different ways, such as gaining a greater understanding of the STR ecosystem and the who-is-who in this complex, fragmented and ever-changing industry. 

In addition, the introductions have been of great value - AJL has a rolodex to give legendary David Rockefeller a run for his money! 

I am sure that without AJL, our successes would have been far less – we would be waaaaay back down the road rather than being the #1 trust and safety SaaS platform within the STR industry. "

Humphrey Bowles, CEO & Co-Founder

SUPERHOG

"In his role as facilitator of the 2022 VRMA Executive Summit, Simon Lehmann brought a high level of industry knowledge and professionalism to this growing event geared towards leaders at their companies.

Simon spent quality time with VRMA during the planning to build an impactful agenda featuring interviews with a variety of perspectives and the most relevant topics to this audience. Simon’s ability to connect with the audience was clear, tying themes back together and weaving the narrative of resilience and preparedness throughout.

As one attendee shared, “Simon was an exceptional moderator of the event "

Lydia Kamicar, Director, Education & Learning Services

Vacation Rental Management Association

"We engaged AJL Atelier to analyze the company's operations and help with our growth strategy.

We received an extensive overview of our business with all our weak and strong sides adequately pointed from expert perspective.

That helped us to choose the right path of business development and to address problematic aspects. Simon Lehmann demonstrated extensive knowledge of short-term rental operations and of the whole industry.

We will continue consulting on a regular basis just to make sure we go in the right direction"

Alex Kotushin, CEO & Founder

StripViewSuites

"The three days that Simon and his team at AJL spent with us were transformational. 

They took a deep dive into every aspect of our company and offered precisely relevant advice and counsel on how we should address our most pertinent and pressing challenges and opportunities.

Resulting from the time we spent with Simon we have made a number of fundamental decisions for our company.

Simon is able to contribute a lifetime of experience, a broad base of connections and a keen understanding of where the industry is today and where it is going.

As we are involved in such a rapidly evolving industry, it is vitally important to have access to a resource as relevant and timely as Simon and AJL. "

Leslie Sionner, CEO

The Platinum Experience

"During the 2 days deep-dive with Simon we had the occasion to go over our business 360º, digging into details in any of the key aspects of our startup. It has been the occasion for us to validate, question and challenge many aspects of our business that helped us to go to the market in a much stronger way.

 

You can consider Simon and AJL team as a real partner that will give you all their knowledge and experience of so many years in the industry and a general vision all over the STR value chain. Their incredible portfolio of contacts is also a real chance to introduce you to other players from the industry to collaborate with. Can't recommend them enough!"

Christophe Salmon, Co-Founder & CEO

REVYOOS

“As the Godfather of the Industry, Simon is always a fundamental help to get you in touch with who really matters in the alternative accommodation space. His experience is unparalleled as well as his take and his pulse on the industry. Simon’s ability to take the stage is second to none and I’m grateful for his contribution in taking the Vacation Rental World Summit to the next level."

Antonio Bortolotti, Host

Vacation Rental World Summit

"After being working with AJL Atelier for more than two years, I can only recommend it to anyone in the STR and Hospitality Industry. 

MadeComfy has benefited from the targeted advice, the network and the expertise that the team at AJL Atelier has in the Short Term Rental industry. 

Over the last two years, AJL Atelier has contributed to the improvement of our systems and processes as well as the development of our business strategy that have helped us to thrive in difficult times.

One of the key differentiators of AJL vs other advisors we have worked with is the Industry experience that has allowed us to start and run our advisory relationship from a common ground adding immediate value to our business."

Sabrina Schweighofer, Co-CEO & Co-Founder

MadeComfy

“Few people could frame the global business case for flexible rentals like Simon Lehmann, and none with his experience and credibility. And great presentation style.

 

His keynote for the Flexible Rentals Investment Conference was a masterpiece of historical context, current data, up-to-the-minute deal information and strategies and partners for success.

 

Our multifamily industry audience love him and eagerly sought him out afterward for more information. Very highly recommended."

Steve Lefkovits, Executive Producer

Joshua Tree Conference Group (FLEX)

“As a small tech startup in the vacation rental industry it can feel like you are a small fish swimming in a very big ocean.We decided to bring Simon in as we needed to consolidate our ideas, business strategy and get great insights into the VR marketplace/industry. The deep dive session and ongoing contact with Simon has been invaluable to us.

 

His passion to help and see entrepreneurs succeed was inspiring; he draws on an impressive professional business career & network of contacts. His approach is nonetheless firm & honest, and that’s exactly what we wanted.

 

My one regret? Not having got involved with Simon sooner. Highly recommended. Thank you."

Ben Smith, Co-Founder & CEO

Check-in Scan

“Thank you so much for opening the ASSC’s 2019 Conference with your keynote presentation. It was the ASSC’s biggest-ever conference to date, looking at Self-Catering: a Bright Global Future.

 

What better way to open the conference.  The presentation was inspiring, amusing and thought provoking and it's clear that Simon is a key leader in the field, with unparalleled passion and knowledge about the industry.

Feedback from attendees praised the delivery and content, with one who even "wished it was longer."

 

There is no doubt that our members would have taken away some key messages for consideration."

Fiona Campbell, Chief Executive

ASSC

“The Executive team at Jetstream has been beyond thrilled since we started working with Simon and Nicolas at AJL Atelier.

Sensing a shift in the travel-technology side of the short term rental market dynamics post-COVID, we felt it essential to redefine our strategic ideas and assumptions for the future. Working with AJL Atelier is a very unique and highly valuable blend of executive coaching, strategic planning, as well as access to a vast and high-caliber network throughout the industry. Simon has an innate ability to listen, understand, assess, and then draw connections and parallels across the industry.

 

His thoughts and guidance then help drive us to rethink, and ultimately focus on what makes us incredibly unique. It is clear that Simon’s extensive experience together with his network within the industry provides us tremendous further growth opportunities. We’re confident the value we are deriving from AJL Atelier is and will continue to be transformative for our business"

Executive team

Jetstream

“Our initiative to engage with AJL Atelier for a strategic deep dive is proving to be the best we could have done at La Isla Vacation Rentals. The COVID crisis confronted us with a new scenario with tremendous threats, but at the same time brought highly unexpected opportunities. On one hand, we are facing threats to the whole global economy, and we were seeing how great vacation rentals business models were failing; but on the other, we were seeing how certain destinations were having unprecedented surges of demand.

 

Simon was instrumental to help us realize what are our real strengths and weaknesses. He confronted our assumptions with facts and enriched the analysis in every aspect of the business with experiences by others in many places around the world. Now that we have defined the RIGHT THINGS to do, we are ready to use their help to DO THEM RIGHT.

AJL extensive knowledge of the industry and rich access to technologies will be key to our fast and effective execution of our New Business Plans. AJL is a great Business companion."

Alejandro Garza, CEO

La Isla Vacation Rentals

"Working with Simon, Nicolas, and the entire AJL team was the smartest move we made in HiBnb’s early stage of growth. They introduced us to the Vacation rental industry ecosystem, were always professional, and helped to structure the supply acquisition strategy we needed to reach our key milestone objectives in the development of our accommodation arm, StayHi.”

Elizabeth Becker, Founder

HiBnb

“My experience with a AJL has been great so far. We are still in the early stages of using their services, but they have been nothing but helpful and amazing in the information that they have provided and their obvious experience in the industry. Simon and Nicolas have been generous with their time and knowledge, and we look forward to engaging with them for future European growth. A little thing called Covid has delated our plans but we will be moving forward soon, and plan on engaging AJL when we do."

                      
Michael LeClerc, Proprietor

SkyRun Vacation Rentals

“Our experience with Simon and the team at AJL has been exceptionally rewarding since day one. By taking advantage of their network and expertise in the vacation rental they have helped Moving Mountains to achieve the optimization of business growth by applying an ongoing strategic consultancy to enable an efficient and profitable scaling of the business. I can think of no other group with the equivalent knowledge and deep understanding of the vacation rental industry.”

Robin Craigen, Co-Founder, CEO

Moving Mountains

“We met Simon from AJL Atelier through a personal recommendation and quickly realized that his market expertise and broad knowledge would help us move forward with our product development and focus.

Simon understood us, developed ideas and suggestions for calibration and focus on the key outcomes, coupled with a better market overview and understanding to customer needs.

Simon is a fabulous person - very personable, inspiring, motivating and with a dedicated team that challenged us and led us to new insights and results that we are still implementing and following today.  ”

Christoph Rakel, CEO

SECRA

“We have worked with AJL Atelier & Simon Lehmann for some time and each interaction has proven to be highly positive and productive, helping us navigate the market and achieve our strategic goals. Their insights into the vacation rental sector, combined with their knowledge of the tech landscape and its trends, have proven to be invaluable.

 

The AJL team is incredibly professional and supportive in helping us grow our business internationally and we highly recommend AJL Atelier for any company in the hospitality and property management sector looking to strengthen their success in the space.”  

Jeremiah Gall, Founder & CEO 

Breezeway

“Could not have asked for a better coaching and advisory service! We engaged industry legend Simon and the expert team at AJL Atelier to coach and assist with our strategic planning for our short term rental project.

 

Their approach was one of outstanding quality, providing us with highly valuable assets, learning’s and planning. As well as multiple introductions to industry leaders, it’s obvious Simon has outstanding connections in the short term rental space to help you grow.

 

When you want the BEST AJL Atelier is who you should engage! Can highly recommend!”  

 

Natasha Morgan, Founder & CEO 

My Home Watch Group

“We collaborated with AJL Atelier in 2019. AJL Atelier audited our company to see our strengths and areas of improvement in every step of the customer journey.

 

From the first click on an ad to the guests ‘check-out. They helped us to restructure our organization departments in order to achieve greater work efficiency. Additionally they helped us determine which were the best KPIs for each department to focus on and make sure that we follow them closely.

 

It has been a pleasure working with AJL Atelier and we would recommend their services to any Property Manager who would like to reach the next level.”  

Sandra Roig, Marketing Manager

Apartment Barcelona

“The experience we have had working with Simon and the AJL team has been highly satisfactory, as they have helped us to focus and identify the right targets Holidu was requiring, also by leveraging their extended network they enabled Holidu to unveil exclusive opportunities while keeping a discrete process until genuine interest were built for the business growth.

 

I would not hesitate to recommend the AJL team for their professionalism and efficiency in any aspect related to the vacation rental industry”  

Johannes Siebers, CEO & Co-founder

Holidu

"We have been working with AJL Atelier on our key strategic initiatives and have been repeatedly impressed by their deep knowledge of the Short Term Vacation Rental Industry, their strategic insights and the great intros they are able to make.

 

Deciding to work with them has been one of the best strategic decisions I made last year."

Enmanuel Arnaud, CEO

Home Exchange

“Simon and his consultants at AJL Atelier are by far the most knowledgeable team that we have ever worked with within the vacation rental industry.

 

Their unique skills are bringing novel, creative thinking to the challenges and problems they are given and come up with very effective solutions and plans. Simon, as a strategic thinker, consultant, and vacation rental expert, as well as a personal development professional and highly- qualified coach, is ideally placed to tackle inter-related issues.  

 

I have seen the significant impact that the AJL Atelier team has made on our business. They have the rare ability to approach issues and opportunities with a very open mind and are not afraid to challenge the status quo. They are very highly recommended!”  

Alex Aydin, Founder & CEO 

BookingPal

“I first met Simon back in 2020 for a two day informal workshop discussing luxury chalets/villas and the wider vacation rental space.

 

I found the sessions concise and engaging, helping me to focus on evolving our business plan and start thinking about areas for growth that I hadn't been considering before. We've kept in touch regularly since the first session and enjoy the relationship we've built with the team at AJL.”   

Oliver Corkhill, CEO

Leo Trippi

“VRMA has had the pleasure of working with Simon Lehmann on a number of speaking and moderating engagements. He is a consistent draw and often-requested presenter because of his well-rounded expertise, ability to motivate and address trends affecting the VRMA audience, and facilitation skills.”   

Lydia Kamicar, Education Director

Vacation Rental Management Association (VRMA)