The Roomlala story

Roomlala was the idea of a young entrepreneur keen to help young people find accommodation more easily in major cities. Philippe Roualle experienced the long queues at flat viewings himself, the disappointment of seeing tiny 10m² rooms on the sixth floor with no lift, and the sky-high rents in big cities. It was when he hosted a family friend, who had come to Paris for a 2-month internship, that he realised there must be many families whose children had left home, leaving empty rooms behind. An untapped potential for housing that could be a godsend for many students!

What is Roomlala?

In 2009, Philippe joined the small circle of the sharing economy and launched Roomlala (under the name Chambrealouer.com at the time): a platform for connecting hosts and tenants for homestay rentals. It is not an estate agency, as it is individuals arranging rentals directly with one another. It's very simple; everything takes place online: the host places a listing in which they describe their home and the room available. The tenant, meanwhile, searches for available accommodation in their chosen city and gets in touch with the hosts whose listings interest them. Everyone wins: in addition to the shared convivial moments, the host earns a supplementary income and the tenant pays a much lower rent than for a studio or an apartment.

The site has already enabled 3.2 million connections through its 42,000 room listings spread across around forty countries. Today, Roomlala's strength lies in its community of over 1.8 million members. Everyone has joined in and is helping to boost the growth of homestay rentals worldwide!

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