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At a glance
Founded 1999 in Sydney, Contemporary Hotels has managed luxury holiday homes in Australia for over 25 years.
- We manage a curated portfolio of 200+ elite homes across NSW, QLD, VIC and internationally (Bali, Italy, France, NZ).
- 40% of bookings come from repeat or direct guests — three to four times the industry average.
- Every home is compliant with the NSW Short-Term Rental Accommodation Code of Conduct and council-specific caps.
- Full-service means one contract: marketing, guest screening, housekeeping, linen, maintenance, compliance, trust-account revenue reporting.
The problem with managing a luxury home yourself
Owning an exceptional property in Palm Beach, Byron Bay or the Southern Highlands should be one of life’s great pleasures. Too often it becomes a second job. The 2 a.m. call when a guest can’t find the Wi-Fi. The housekeeper who doesn’t turn up on Boxing Day. The shoulder-season weeks that sit empty while the mortgage keeps ticking. The uneasy feeling when you don’t personally know who’s sleeping in your primary bedroom this weekend.
Contemporary Hotels exists to make all of that somebody else’s problem — ours. Your home runs like a five-star hotel. Your inbox goes quiet. Your revenue goes up.
The 40/40 Rule — why owners earn more with us
Most short-term rental managers rely almost entirely on Airbnb, Stayz and Booking.com. That means platform fees, a price war against every other listing in the suburb, and a relationship that ends the moment a guest checks out.
Our model is different. Roughly 40% of our bookings come direct through contemporaryhotels.com.au, and another 40% come from repeat guests and referrals. We call it the 40/40 Rule. For owners, it means lower commission drag, higher nightly rates and a loyal guest base that returns year after year.
| Metric | Contemporary Hotels | Industry average |
|---|---|---|
| Direct bookings | 40% | 10–15% |
| Repeat & referred | 40% | 15–20% |
| Platform-dependent | <20% | 65–80% |
On a home that grosses $260,000 a year, that mix typically means $15–25k more in your pocket — and a significantly shorter list of unknown guests walking through your front door.
What's included in our holiday rental management service
Everything your home needs to run like a five-star hotel — under a single management agreement.
- Professional marketing & photography — we shoot, copywrite and list across Airbnb, Stayz, Booking.com and our own high-converting direct channel.
- Dynamic pricing — daily rate optimisation using live demand, event calendars and a decade of regional booking data.
- Guest screening — every booking is vetted by a real person. No schoolies, no bucks parties, no “celebrations”.
- Guest support — an Australian-based team, available round the clock, so you never take another midnight call.
- Professional housekeeping — senior housekeepers, hotel-grade linen, Aesop amenities, consistency every single changeover.
- Preventative & reactive maintenance — trusted trades on call; we see and fix issues before your guests do.
- Linen, consumables & restocking — provisioned by us, invoiced transparently.
- Compliance & registration — NSW STRA registration, Code of Conduct adherence, council-specific night caps tracked on your behalf.
- Trust-account revenue reporting — monthly owner statements, annual tax-ready summaries, full transparency.
- Owner use calendar — block your home for personal use instantly via the owner portal.
One contract. One monthly statement. No hidden fees.
Where we manage holiday homes
Our portfolio spans Australia's most exclusive holiday destinations — and extends internationally for owners with homes in Bali, Italy, France, Switzerland, the Bahamas and New Zealand.
Primary regions (dedicated management teams):
- Holiday rental management in Sydney — Eastern Suburbs, Harbourside, Inner East
- Holiday rental management in Palm Beach & the Northern Beaches
- Holiday rental management in Byron Bay & the Northern Rivers
- Holiday rental management on the NSW South Coast — Jervis Bay, Mollymook, Kiama
Additional regions we manage:
- Southern Highlands (Bowral, Berrima, Mittagong)
- Central & Mid North Coast (Port Stephens, Hunter Valley)
- Blue Mountains
- Noosa & the Sunshine Coast
- Port Douglas, the Whitsundays & Bedarra Island
- Melbourne & regional Victoria
- International — Bali, Italy, France, Switzerland, New Zealand, the Bahamas, South Korea
Airbnb management — done properly
Airbnb still drives roughly 20% of our bookings, and we manage it to a standard most hosts can't match — Superhost status across the portfolio, sub-1-hour response times, and dynamic pricing that captures every peak-pricing weekend without scaring off shoulder-season demand.
But Airbnb is one channel of many. We simultaneously list on Stayz and Booking.com where it suits the property.
Read more about how we manage Airbnb propertiesHow we onboard your home — in 5 steps
From first conversation to first guest in under a month.
- Property appraisal. One of our regional managers visits your home, assesses standard, and returns a realistic revenue projection based on our 25 years of regional data.
- Management agreement. Single contract, transparent commission structure, no lock-in beyond 12 months.
- Styling, photography & listing. Professional shoot, lifestyle copywriting, listings published across Airbnb, Stayz, Booking.com and contemporaryhotels.com.au.
- Compliance & setup. NSW STRA registration, Code of Conduct documentation, welcome-pack installation, Aesop amenity setup, linen stocking.
- First booking. Guest screening, check-in, and the revenue begins.
Why owners trust us with their most valuable asset
- 25+ years — founded by Terry Kaljo in 1999, the longest-standing luxury holiday letting business in Australia.
- 200+ homes under management — most of which we’ve managed for 5+ years.
- NSW STRA Code of Conduct compliant — and active contributors to the industry’s regulatory framework.
- Airbnb Superhost & Stayz Premier Host — across the portfolio, not just a headline listing.
- Amenity partnership — bespoke arrangement not available to individual hosts.
- Featured in Domain, SMH, Vogue Living, Belle Magazine, AFR.
- Licensed real-estate practitioners — with trust-account protection for every dollar of owner revenue.
The team behind your home
Matthew Fleming, CEO, oversees the 200+ property portfolio and the regional management teams, and speaks regularly on the short-term rental industry, NSW regulatory reform and the economics of direct-to-owner booking channels. Behind him: a specialist property management team with over 100 years of combined experience, regional heads in Palm Beach, Byron Bay and the South Coast, and dedicated onboarding and guest-experience managers.
FAQ
Most Australian luxury holiday rental managers charge a commission between 15% and 25% of gross rental income. Contemporary Hotels prices on the performance-driven end of that range and justifies it with a strong direct-booking rate that sidesteps Airbnb's 15% platform fee — so the net figure to the owner is typically higher, not lower.
A full-service holiday rental manager handles marketing, guest screening, pricing, cleaning, linen, maintenance, compliance, guest support, and financial reporting under a single contract. You retain ownership and use rights. We handle everything else.
Yes. Every Contemporary Hotels owner has a personal-use calendar in our owner portal. Block any week or weekend for yourself with one click.
In NSW, the STRA framework requires every short-term rental to be registered on the NSW Planning Portal, comply with the Code of Conduct, and — in certain council areas, including Byron Shire — observe a night cap (currently 60 days for non-hosted stays in Byron Shire). We handle registration and compliance for every home we manage.
Marketing, listing management, guest screening, guest support, revenue reporting, compliance and registration. Housekeeping, linen, consumables and maintenance are charged at cost and invoiced transparently on your monthly owner statement.
Yes. Standard home-and-contents policies generally don't cover paid short-term guests.
From first conversation to first guest is typically 14–21 days — dependent on photography scheduling and any pre-letting styling. See our onboarding process above.
Yes. We currently manage homes in Bali, Italy, France, Switzerland, New Zealand, the Bahamas and South Korea — generally for existing Australian owners with a second home overseas.