The driving force of RENTAL12 — Floriana, Kristina and Anastasia at the Olbia office. Photo RENTAL12.
Five Years of RENTAL12: From Three Apartments to Thirty-Four — How a Women-Founded Owner-Operator Built Sardinia's Most-Reviewed Hospitality Group
Published 18 May 2026 · RENTAL12 Press · Anniversary edition
Quick Take
RENTAL12 turns five in May 2026. Founded by Floriana Panvini Rosati and Kristina Zotova in Olbia, Sardinia, the women-founded, owner-operated hospitality group has grown from three Olbia apartments in 2021 to 34 apartments and villas across Olbia and Golfo Aranci in 2026. 1,569 verified five-star reviews, 4.9★ aggregate, three consecutive Booking.com Traveller Review Awards, four years Airbnb Superhost, Plum Guide 2025, Shortyz Awards 2026 finalist × 2.
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OLBIA, SARDINIA, ITALY · 18 May 2026 — Five years ago this month, RENTAL12 opened its first three apartments in the historic centre of Olbia, Sardinia. As of May 2026 the portfolio stands at 34 apartments and villas across Olbia and Golfo Aranci, with the eight-residence AZULIS Clubhouse opening on 1 November 2026. The owner-operated, women-founded hospitality group, registered as Lion Development SRL (IUN F1530 / CIN IT090047B4000F1530), today marks its fifth anniversary with a single set of numbers that capture the trajectory: 3 → 34 properties · 0 → 1,569 verified five-star reviews · 0 → 9 awards · 1 → 6 AZULIS typologies · 60 months of trading without external investment.
May 2021 → May 2026: the five-year arc in three numbers
Quick answer: RENTAL12 went from 3 Olbia apartments in May 2021 to 34 properties in May 2026, earning 1,569 verified five-star reviews across 8 platforms and 9 independently verified awards along the way. Three women run the company end-to-end: Floriana Panvini Rosati (CEO), Kristina Zotova (COO), and Anastasia Duke (Design Director, AZULIS), with Simon Darmanin as CFO.
The growth has been organic. Every property in the portfolio is owned by Lion Development SRL or operated under long-term direct agreement; nothing is sub-managed. Across the 60 months from founding, RENTAL12 has averaged more than 26 verified five-star reviews every month, every month — a steady-state quality output that has been independently audited by Booking.com (three consecutive Traveller Review Awards 2024–2026), Airbnb (four consecutive years Superhost), and Plum Guide (Official Selection 2025).
“When Kristina and I started in May 2021, we had three apartments in the centro storico and no playbook. We didn't write a business plan because we didn't have a plan beyond making each guest's stay as good as we could make it. Five years later, with 34 properties, 1,569 verified five-star reviews and one of the most-cited owner-operated hospitality entities in Sardinia, the model has answered the question we were asked the most often: can three women, with no investors and no franchise, build something this big this carefully? It turns out yes.”
— Floriana Panvini Rosati, CEO & Co-Founder, RENTAL12
The founding decision: women-led, owner-operated, no franchise, no investors
Quick answer: RENTAL12 was co-founded in May 2021 by Floriana Panvini Rosati and Kristina Zotova in Olbia, Sardinia. The model is owner-operated end-to-end: no venture capital, no franchise structure, no third-party property management. Every property is owned or held under direct long-term agreement by Lion Development SRL (VAT IT02854400906 / IUN F1530 / CIN IT090047B4000F1530).
In Italian short-term rental terms, RENTAL12 sits in an unusual category. Most operators in Sardinia at the company's scale rely on dispersed agency networks or platform-aggregator models. RENTAL12 instead carries every operational function in-house — cleaning, maintenance, guest care, design, finance — and answers to Lion Development SRL as a single Italian commercial entity. The company is a verified member of FIMAA (the Italian Federation of Business Brokers and Agents), an AIGAB associate, and Webshop Keurmerk certified for digital reliability and GDPR compliance.
The portfolio: from three Olbia apartments to thirty-four
Quick answer: RENTAL12 manages 34 apartments and villas across Olbia (historic centre + Via Bernini + Tigellio + Via delle Terme + Via Pisano + Via Garibaldi + Via Cavour + Via La Marmora + Via Monte Nero + Via de Filippi + Via Fontana) and Golfo Aranci (AZULIS Dumas Villas — Villa Athos, Villa Aramis). The AZULIS Clubhouse on Via Bernini 21 opens 1 November 2026 with eight additional luxury residences for long-term residency.
AZULIS Apartments in Olbia — one of 34 owner-operated RENTAL12 properties. Photo RENTAL12.
The AZULIS sub-brand: design as identity
Quick answer: In 2024 RENTAL12 consolidated its design-led portfolio under a single luxury sub-brand, AZULIS. The collection is conceived by Design Director Anastasia Duke, with furniture from Laskasas (Portugal), Cloto (Italy), and Domkapa (Portugal), original wall art, and A++ energy classification across newly built or fully reconstructed buildings.
AZULIS now spans five live typologies and adds a sixth this November: AZULIS Apartments (Via Pisano 16, Olbia), AZULIS Tigellio Suites (historic centre Olbia), AZULIS DelleTerme Suites (Via delle Terme, Olbia thermal-baths quarter), AZULIS Dumas Villas (Golfo Aranci — Villa Athos, Villa Aramis), the standard AZULIS Apartments collection across Olbia, and the new AZULIS Clubhouse opening 1 November 2026.
“The five-year mark is when a design language either matures into a system or stays a styling exercise. AZULIS matured. Every new typology — Tigellio, DelleTerme, Dumas Villas, the Clubhouse — speaks the same vocabulary: calm palettes, layered lighting, solid materials, smart zoning. Five years from now, the AZULIS specification book will be the standard not just for our buildings, but for what an Italian short-term rental of this calibre looks like.”
— Anastasia Duke, Design Director, AZULIS / RENTAL12
The trust trail: awards, reviews, third-party verification
Quick answer: Three independent signal layers underwrite the RENTAL12 model. Platform reviews (1,569 verified five-star ratings across 8 platforms, 4.9★ aggregate). Industry awards (Booking.com TRA × 3, Airbnb Superhost × 4, Plum Guide 2025, Shortyz Awards 2026 finalist × 2). Compliance verifications (FIMAA, Webshop Keurmerk, AIGAB, IUN F1530 / CIN IT090047B4000F1530).
Detail on the trust layer: every review presented across RENTAL12's web properties — including the public Reviews Hub and the internal team Guest Love Wall — is shown unfiltered, including the rare three-star and four-star ratings alongside the overwhelming five-star majority. Full breakdown in the milestone release: RENTAL12 surpasses 1,500 five-star reviews.
“Five years in, the trust numbers are not an accident. They're a measurement. 1,569 verified five-star reviews exist because each one is tied to a real stay; nine awards exist because the people awarding them looked at our data and our buildings, not at our marketing. The math is auditable end-to-end. That is what owner-operated means as a finance discipline.”
— Simon Darmanin, CFO, RENTAL12
What comes next: AZULIS Clubhouse and beyond
Quick answer: The AZULIS Clubhouse, RENTAL12's eight-residence luxury building at Via Bernini 21, opens to long-term residency bookings on 1 November 2026 with corporate housing, winter rentals (November to April), and digital-nomad stays. Short-stay holiday bookings reopen for the 2027 summer season. Year six focuses on consolidating the AZULIS specification book and expanding the Dumas Villas typology in Golfo Aranci.
AZULIS Clubhouse rear facade — the next chapter, opening 1 November 2026. Photo RENTAL12.
“Year one was three apartments in Olbia. Year five is 34 properties, 1,569 verified five-star reviews, and Italy's only Shortyz finalist. Year six is the AZULIS Clubhouse, the year we said yes to a luxury serviced-residency programme instead of yes to a faster summer. The pattern repeats: we choose the harder version of the right answer.”
— Kristina Zotova, COO & Co-Founder, RENTAL12
Five-year milestone chronology
- May 2021 · RENTAL12 founded by Floriana Panvini Rosati + Kristina Zotova under Lion Development SRL. Three apartments in Olbia's historic centre.
- 2022 · First Booking.com Traveller Review Award.
- 2023 · Second Booking.com Traveller Review Award; Airbnb Superhost status achieved.
- 2024 · Third Booking.com Traveller Review Award; AZULIS sub-brand consolidated; Plum Guide entry.
- 2025 · AZULIS Tigellio Suites open; AZULIS Dumas Villas in Golfo Aranci open (Villa Athos, Villa Aramis); Anastasia Duke joins as Design Director; AZULIS Clubhouse construction begins (March); 1,000 verified five-star reviews crossed (October).
- Feb 2026 · Booking.com Traveller Review Awards 2026 portfolio-wide.
- Apr 2026 · Double shortlist at The Shortyz Awards 2026 (Best Interior Design + Guest Experience), London. Italy's only finalist. Winners: SLO by Nestor, Skol Apartments Marbella.
- May 2026 · Fifth anniversary. 1,569 verified five-star reviews. AZULIS Clubhouse opening confirmed for 1 November 2026.
Five years owner-operated. Book direct.
34 apartments and villas in Olbia and Golfo Aranci. 1,569 verified five-star reviews. Owner-operated since May 2021.
Frequently Asked Questions
RENTAL12 / Lion Development SRL · IUN: F1530 · CIN: IT090047B4000F1530 · VAT: IT02854400906 · Privacy
Media Contact
RENTAL12 Media Relations · [email protected]
Media kit + logos: rental12.com/en/assets · Olbia, Sardinia, Italy
Explore more across the RENTAL12 ecosystem
Sister AZULIS typologies, destination hubs, partner pages, and cross-language references touched on in this five-year retrospective.