The Roomlala story

Roomlala was the brainchild of a young entrepreneur who wanted to help young people find accommodation more easily in large cities. Philippe Roualle experienced the long queues at flat viewings himself, the disappointment of small 10m² rooms on the sixth floor without a lift, and the exorbitant rents in big cities. It was when he hosted a family friend, who was in Paris for a 2-month internship, that he realised there must be many families whose children had left home, leaving empty rooms behind. An underutilised housing potential that could be a godsend for many students!

So, what is Roomlala?

In 2009, Philippe joined the collaborative economy family and launched Roomlala (known as Chambrealouer.com at the time): a platform that connects hosts and tenants for homestay rentals. It is not a real estate agency, as it is based on individuals making rental arrangements directly with each other. It's very simple, and everything happens online: the host posts a listing in which they describe their home and the room available. The tenant, meanwhile, searches for available accommodation in the city of their choice and gets in touch with hosts whose listings interest them. Everyone wins: in addition to the friendly moments shared, the host earns extra income and the tenant pays a much lower rent than they would for a studio or apartment.

The site has already facilitated 3.2 million connections through its 42,000 listings of rooms for rent across around forty countries. Today, Roomlala's strength lies in its community of more than 1.8 million members. Everyone has joined in and is helping to boost the growth of homestay rentals around the world!

Want to find out more about Roomlala? Please feel free to check out our press page by clicking here.
And if you're interested in the startup adventure, you'll surely be interested in our recruitment page.