Episode 11: Hakan Kodal, Ando Living

Marina spoke about branded residences to Daniel von Barloewen from Accor in the last episode. To get another perspective on the segment and further understand the growing interest in branded residences, Marina invited Hakan Kodal, Chairman of Ando Living, for the eleventh episode of the IDEEA podcast. Ando Living is a relatively new brand in the residential space aiming to revolutionise it by bringing a neighbourhood lifestyle to its properties. Ando living is currently operating five houses in Lisbon and is expanding into other cities in Portugal, Spain, Greece, Turkey, and Dubai. Hakan shared why branded residences are gaining traction, especially now post-pandemic. Serviced apartments exploded with the rise of Airbnb, but there were no set standards. Some were purely excellent, and some were just dismal. At the onset of the pandemic, services apartments started gaining more traction than hotels, with higher occupancy rates and branded service apartments had higher ADRs than unbranded ones. Hakan believes that residences provide the modern traveller with more space and the flexibility to switch between business and leisure. With branded residences, the traveller is guaranteed a certain level of quality, whereas an unbranded apartment is akin to the anxiety one might have about a blind date. With Ando living, Hakan aims to make the traveller feel genuinely at home with the concept of neighbourhood living. With mobility being the future of work, if not already, there will be a growing segment of digital and progressive nomads looking for a home away from home, for which Ando Living might be the solution. So, block out the next 20 minutes because if you are just slightly curious about branded residences, you need to listen to this conversation.