Staying power
A chance conversation has grown into a hugely successful business thanks to a focus on core values and positive word of mouth. MyStays owner Elle Knight shares her journey as the short-stay accommodation service moves into the Bay.
photo JESSICA LEE PHOTOGRAPHY
Elle Knight didn’t set out to become a business owner. She was simply looking for a little light relief. With a newborn son, who was born deaf and requiring bilateral cochlear implants, and a husband recovering from a broken leg, things were tight. Then came a message from her cousin: “Want to borrow some DVDs?”
While dropping them off, her cousin mentioned her partner was looking to sell a small property management business in Taupō. He managed eight apartments, but they were ready to move to Vanuatu.
“I said to my husband, ‘I reckon that would be a good gig for me,’” Elle recalls. She saw potential – flexible hours that worked around the kids and enough income to cover essentials.
With no experience but a strong head for business, Elle joined forces with her mother-in-law, Denise, to purchase what was then called Luxury Lakeside Accommodation.
Elle’s years in banking had armed her with valuable systems knowledge and operational know-how – skills that would quietly lay the foundation for the scalable business they would later build.
“I’m very much a jump in and learn how to swim person,” she smiles. “Back then, we didn’t know what success would look like. It was exciting to think we had something that could make a real difference.”
In the early days, they did it all themselves, including the cleaning in the mornings, laundry at home, and manually managing bookings in the afternoons.
“It worked for about six months. But Taupō’s a small town. Word gets around.”
Before long, property owners began knocking. The business grew quickly, driven purely by word of mouth. For the next six years, growth was steady and organic, all based on one simple idea: genuine, high-quality service for both guests and homeowners.
“It got to a stage where we looked at each other one night and thought, ‘How has this happened?’” Elle laughs.
What had happened was remarkable. They’d built a reputation that larger, offshore-run platforms couldn’t match, rooted in care, consistency and personal connection. Property owners felt genuinely supported, and guests returned for the reliably high standard across every property.
When Denise stepped away, Elle and her husband took over completely. But they were fielding a new kind of request. Guests and owners alike asked if their services were available outside Taupō. The answer, eventually, became MyStays.
Launched in January 2024 as a sister brand to Lakeside Accommodation, MyStays was created to grow the business while maintaining the personal touch and high standards that made Lakeside a success.
While Lakeside continues to manage 60 plus properties in Taupō, the brands now work together in both Taupō and Kinloch, with a combined portfolio of over 110 homes.
“Taupō is still our base, but we realised there was a real demand for our kind of service in other regions,” says Elle. “MyStays lets us do that – scale up, while still keeping it personal.”
The two brands have since grown to manage 145 plus properties across New Zealand, including more than 25 homes in the Coromandel’s most sought-after beach destinations.
In every region, the heart of the operation is the same: a local, trusted team providing hands-on care. That’s where the GEM model (short for Guest Experience Manager) comes in. Each GEM is a local, supporting homeowners and guests with boots-on-the-ground knowledge and attention. Taupō and Kinloch have three GEMs working alongside the Lakeside team. The Coromandel is supported by another trio, with more roles in the pipeline as expansion continues.
“It’s really important to us that our service feels local,” Elle explains. “Our GEMs make that possible. They’re not just staff – they’re trusted partners who help us maintain that consistent experience we’re known for.”
That consistency is key. Whether guests book a MyStays property in Auckland, Whangamatā, or Napier, they know exactly what to expect: clean, stylish accommodation and responsive service. The Bay of Plenty is the latest region to join the MyStays map. It wasn’t initially part of Elle’s plan. She believed it was already well-served by boutique operators. But after hearing from multiple property owners dissatisfied with impersonal management companies, she saw room for MyStays to add value.
“It’s a stunning place. I’ve enjoyed family time and attending events here,” Elle says. “It’s vibrant and exciting, with great food and shopping, and it really is a year-round destination.”
Despite its scale, Elle still sees MyStays as a family business at heart. Her team is tight-knit, and many of them have grown within their roles as the company has scaled.
“There’s a real sense of belonging here,” she says. “That gives us an authentic connection to our owners and our guests. We believe in what we do, and when you see that connection happen, it’s pretty special.”
From a borrowed DVD collection to a nationwide property portfolio, Elle Knight’s journey proves that small beginnings can lead to big things.
