Peter is the CEO and founder of Demeure, which offers a large and growing portfolio of luxurious properties in the world's top destinations. As with other clubs, members receive dedicated help from a Private Assistant and on-the-ground support from award-winning professional hosts.

I recently caught up with Peter and talked through the club. As a bit of background, Peter was the CEO and then Chairman of Descartes, a Nasdaq listed logistics software company. He brings a lot of this thinking to Demeure and conversations about Demeure always bring in flavors of "networks", "yield management" and "trading models" in dynamic markets. So for instance he starts by saying "there are massive amounts of available capacity in the private property and hotel markets."

As a little more background, he notes "I have a large family of six, so private properties are more practical and better value for us than hotels. Experientially, private properties are awesome because they offer space, and comfort that hotels and resorts do not." And just to fully complete his background thinking he adds "there are some amazing private vacation homes in the world that are simply not available for use by others."

So once you start to piece all this background together, his picture for Demeure becomes clearer.

Since starting Demeure in 2009 he's melded together an interesting blend of high end rental homes together with these private, member owned vacation properties. "We know there is lots of untapped inventory out there, in the luxury market, that's not on any website" said Peter.

Marketplace and Private Networks

Members with their own vacation properties can use time in their properties to pay for travel at other Demeure properties. This is part of Peter's not so secret sauce – the Demeure Marketplace that reflects the values of today's sharing economy. This powerful feature lets property owners sell Demeure weeks at their own homes, which in turn generates deeps discounts and access to private retreats for the entire community As you might imagine, Peter has made time at his own vacation home available through Demeure. "Demeure is a travel service to us as an owner" he notes.

To encourage owner members to sell weeks, they can choose to limit the availability of their homes to a select group of other members, thus creating a private network if that's where they feel comfortable. The control over this is totally left to the member and lets them create their own private club within a club. So for instance a member could limit access to friends and family members, if they so choose.

Over 2,000 Properties

"We work with a curated portfolio of properties" says Peter. His team has built this portfolio to about 2,200 residences. The top 300 properties have been classified as "Concierge-Certified" properties which Peter describes as "unsurpassed levels of quality, amenities, and on-the-ground service at these extra-special destinations. "

In the future Peter has plans to bring in hotels in gateway cities (eg Boston for New England), so that Demeure can be a true one stop travel service for its members.

Looking through their wide selection of properties, we asked Peter and the Demeure team to give us a range of rates for their homes. Here's what they came up with:

• Average nightly rate for a non-holiday stay:$560
• Average nightly rate for a holiday stay: $1,116
• Lowest nightly rate: $125
• Highest nightly rate: $13,750

Assistants and Hosts

"We've asked ourselves, how do you deliver the most amazing service experience?" says Peter. Then adds "we bring in the finest on site hosts, and when members join we assign to you a private assistant – they take care of your travel experiences – connect you with the local property and local host."

Overall Demeure says "Your assistant's job is to be a hero for you and your family by providing unbiased support for all your travel needs — even when you reach outside the Demeure portfolio."

One interesting perk for Demeure members are the guest passes that members can share with friends, family or business colleagues. These allow guests to experience Demeure like a member, including full support from the members own private assistant.