Spotlight on Blueground’s partnerships with Alexis Maragkos

Alexis Maragkos has been with Blueground since the beginning. During that time, he’s worked in almost every single position, from sales and operations to marketing and real estate. He’s seen the company grow from an idea to over 1,000 employees. “I’ve worked for Blueground in three countries and enjoyed every second of it,” said Maragkos.

Now, he’s the Director of Partnerships & Ancillary Services for Blueground. Speaking about his team, Maragkos said, “Our mission is to hand pick and share the most relevant products and services with our guests, at the best value.”

Blueground currently has over 50 partners spread across numerous categories: health and fitness, grocery delivery, transportation, food and beverage, storage, and more. And the company continues to grow its partner selection.

“When we launched the department, the vast majority of apartments were in the US,” said Maragkos. So the Partnerships & Ancillary Services team began onboarding partners in the EMEA region until there was a complete selection.

“As we started growing in EMEA,” he continued, “we realized that we needed to redirect our focus to build a portfolio there as well.” Of course, not just any company makes a good partner. Blueground has a checklist of qualities that fit well with the company’s guests and overall goals.

In addition to sharing similar values to Blueground, partners must solve a problem for guests, be highly rated, and have a unique offering. This could include discounts, early access to services, exclusive products, and more.

Some favorite services and partners of Blueground guests include meal kits from HelloFresh, access to fitness opportunities with Equinox, airport transfers, and laundry and dry cleaning services. Guests benefit in a number of ways, with the partners making guests’ lives easier from day one.

When you’ve recently moved to a new city or neighborhood, a stress-free experience may seem trivial, but it’s actually incredibly important. Overall, these services increase guest satisfaction, helping them quickly feel more at home and leading to a more enjoyable stay.

However, creating a portfolio of partners in 25 major cities around the world has its challenges. “We need to onboard multiple companies to cover only one category (e.g., fitness),” Maragkos said.

“Onboarding and managing relationships with such a large number of partners can be very time-consuming. On top of that, we have to create offers and discounts for different countries and currencies, which makes this process more complicated, even if the partner is the same.”

As for what’s next for the Partnerships & Ancillary Services team, there’s a lot in the works. “We want to continue growing our EMEA portfolio, start offering experiences and events to our guests, and optimize our promotional touchpoints and their timing,” Maragkos said.

And with every step, they’ll continue to elevate the experience of Blueground’s guests, providing yet another way that the company sets itself apart. The Partnerships & Ancillary Services team works closely with the rest of the Blueground team to make sure that guests have everything they need. Blueground’s culture is built around innovation, and employees are constantly raising the bar on the guest experience, regardless of which department they decide to join.

Are you interested in learning more about employment opportunities at Blueground? Please visit our Careers page to view open roles and find the one that’s best for you.