Nominee Name/Nominee Company NameIndustry Disrupter Award: ReloShare, Inc.
Finalist for the:Industry Disrupter
About the Nominee:ReloShare is an instant booking technology company that powers custom hotel and corporate housing reservation systems. In June 2021, ReloShare launched Safe Stays, a custom hotel booking site -- the only one of its kind -- that provides social service agencies like domestic violence shelters and human trafficking response agencies the ability to book rooms at national hotel partners with complete anonymity via alias check-ins and no credit card or ID requirements.
There are approximately 6,000 local organizations in the U.S. that provide life-saving services to victims of crime across the U.S. While hotels have commonly been used as an alternative or overflow option when crime victims need emergency shelter, there has never before been a simple, straightforward way for agencies to see live hotel availability and book hotel rooms online with vital safety accommodations. Before placing survivors in hotels, victim service agencies work to secure accommodations to ensure the safety of their clients. These include:
1) Using an alias rather than the victim's real name to ensure confidentiality; and
2) Allowing check-in without the victim's photo ID or credit card. People who need emergency placements often flee without their belongings and cannot present these items at check-in.
Prior to Safe Stays by ReloShare, each individual agency would have to negotiate with a local hotel individually to try and secure the ability to book rooms with these accommodations. These agreements often included requirements to fax copies of ID and credit cards and require a representative from the agency to check-in with the guest. Additionally, these agreements were often with one hotel location or brand. In the event the hotel was at capacity, there were no other options available and these agencies were left without a safe housing option for their clients.
With our instant booking technology and uniquely negotiated relationships with national hotel brands, Safe Stays solves for these unique needs. Safe Stays was beta launched in June 2021 in the Chicagoland and Seattle metropolitan markets and was tested with seven initial agency users. In August 2021, we exited beta and opened up nationally to agencies across the country. Safe Stays has quickly become an essential tool for crime survivor agencies across the U.S.
Safe Stays hasn't only impacted our direct customers, but has impacted the culture of our hotel suppliers. Corporate hotel companies including Choice Hotels and the Wyndham Hotels & Resorts have enthusiastically partnered with us to recruit their franchise locations to sign up as Safe Stays hotels, knowing the importance of providing safe hotel stays for crime survivors. Safe Stays now has more than 2500 hotels across the U.S. that have agreed to our alias check-in process.
Why they should win:ReloShare is an instant booking technology company that powers custom hotel and corporate housing reservation systems. In June 2021, ReloShare launched Safe Stays, a custom hotel booking site -- the only one of its kind -- that provides social service agencies like domestic violence shelters and human trafficking response agencies the ability to book rooms at national hotel partners with complete anonymity via alias check-ins and no credit card or ID requirements.