In Search of Lodgings With Personality? Log Onto Welcome Beyond

— -- In an ever-crowded field of hotel booking websites, Welcome Beyond is a stylish alternative.

Design-minded travelers on the hunt for unique places to lodge will find a bevy of architecturally interesting dwellings in popular locales around the globe.

The site is the brainchild of Oliver and Chris Laugsch, two brothers from Germany who have based their small, but expanding company in Berlin.

Rather than inundate the site with hundreds mediocre listings - as many competitors often do - the company takes a pared down, curated approach to property listings: a secluded modernist retreat in Santa Monica, a sprawling 19th century estate in Tuscany or an historic property in Languedoc-Roussillon, France are among the fashionable listings in dozens countries currently listed on the site. The firm hand-picks small hotels and vacation rentals to offer on the site.

“People want to seek out something unique when they travel,” says Chris Laugsch, who worked in finance for a German multinational before starting the travel site. “There are so many ways to rent something boring but we wanted travelers in search of something special when we launched the site.”

Many of the listings reflect the owner’s passion for distinctive architecture and design, says Laugsch. “All of the properties are essentially unique in their own way,” he says.

Some of the homes being rented on the site are owned by architects and designers with a discerning eye for quality of design.