About us
Great Stays was founded in January 2022 from a collaboration between Stefano Petri, founder of the Great Estate network, and Hariet Nijhuis, a tour operator with decades of experience and also engaged since 2019 as a consultant to the Great Estate group, specializing in the relationship with Dutch and international clients.
Great Stays aims to create a platform specializing in prestigious property rentals including villas and farmhouses in the countryside or seaside, and charming apartments in historical centers. We also offer tiny houses and eco-friendly homes in special and highly sought-after settings.
For those who want to spend a great stay in some of the most enchanting locations in Italy, in prestigious properties selected and managed by experts, equipped with all comforts, Great Stays is the international partner you can rely on.
Great Stays was born on the strength of the union with the Great Estate group, a reference in Italian real estate which meets years of experience in the tourist rental sector, from which it acquires a know-how based on the computerization of processes developed in over 25 years of experience.
In 2001 Stefano Petri founded the first headquarters of Great Estate in the small town of Piazze in the Municipality of Cetona, in southern Tuscany, starting the business with an office of about 12 square meters. In 2015, thanks to the experience that was gained, he created the Great Estate network, which today has over 19 offices in Italy with more than 100 professionals in continuous growth specialized in various sectors including communication and marketing, software development, property valuations, administration, law, design and planning.
In 2019, Stefano Petri met Hariet Nijhuis, born in the Netherlands who has chosen to live in the Belpaese with whom he began a fantastic collaboration. Hariet has valuable experience as an incoming Tour Operator and as the founder of her own company operating for 20 years. Stefano and Hariet share a common dream, a new entrepreneurial venture dedicated to tourist rentals of prestigious properties, to offer a complete service to Great Estate's clients and to add a win-win business branch to the project.
The team was reinforced in December 2021 with the entry of Serena Santoni, responsible for booking and intermediation in the prestige sector, with over 10 years of international experience behind her. From this meeting, Great Stays, the new Great Estate project dedicated to short term stays, began to take shape. The Argentario office was added, with the precious contribution of area manager Elisa Biglia and booking manager Veronica Barteneva.
