Business Spotlight: Interview with EssentiaLyfe
Avi Shabtai turned a Hollywood Hills house into a luxury villa and event agency, then threw a 3,000-guest party at a private Beverly Hills estate. Here is how he vets both sides of every deal.
Courtesy of EssentiaLyfe
EssentiaLyfe, founded by Los Angeles native Avi Shabtai, is a luxury villa rental and event management agency that matches clients with private estates for events, film and photo shoots, and stays across LA. It began during COVID, when Avi opened his own Hollywood Hills home for private events and film rentals, and has grown into an agency with more than 1,000 available properties and a full in-house team covering location search, event planning and management, sponsorship brokerage, security, shuttles and valet. Its calling card is trust on both sides of the deal: every client and every homeowner is vetted before a contract is signed. EssentiaLyfe also produced what Avi believes is the largest private event ever held at a residential property in Los Angeles, with more than 3,000 guests at a secluded Beverly Hills estate.
8 QUESTIONS
WITH AVI SHABTAI
(EssentiaLyfe)
1. You were born in LA and you're running EssentiaLyfe from Beverly Hills. Take us back to the beginning. What inspired you to start the company, and what was the first property or event that made you realize this was real?
Honestly, it started during COVID, when most of the nightclubs, hotels and restaurants in the city were closed and people were craving a place to gather, to breathe, to feel human again. My parents and I were trying to sell the house I was living in up in the Hollywood Hills, and in the meantime I opened it up for private events and film rentals. It took off almost immediately.
But I'll be the first to admit the early days were humbling. I didn't really know what I was doing. Renting out a multimillion-dollar villa for a private event is far more involved than people imagine. You're qualifying every client, vetting vendors, nailing down check-in and check-out times, drawing up proper contracts and securing insurance. That first year was one enormous learning curve, and I made plenty of mistakes along the way.
After a year of running events myself, and watching how other agencies and homeowners were handling their rentals, something clicked. I saw a major gap in trust and in the proper vetting of both clients and owners. Nobody was really protecting both sides. So I decided to step in and bridge that gap, to be the middleman who actually does it right and looks out for everyone at the table. Once I'd built up real experience and a loyal clientele, I knew it was time to make it official and open a proper office and agency.
2. EssentiaLyfe gives clients access to thousands of luxury villas and estates. When someone comes to you with a vision, whether it's a milestone birthday or a brand shoot, how do you find them the perfect home?
Every client who comes to us starts with a conversation, usually a ten-minute phone or Zoom call. I want to understand them: what they're envisioning, the amenities they need, the style of home, the location. Then we get specific. Which rooms do they need access to? Is it the full property or part of it? Is there a moodboard? How are guests arriving and departing? What permits and insurance are in play? Setup times, event hours, strike, guest capacity, staffing.
And here's the thing. While I'm on that call, I have this gift, or maybe it's a curse, where I'm mentally flipping through properties in real time. It's hard to pass on to my employees. But I'm not just reading the property, I'm reading the person. I'm picking up on their temperament and their energy, and I know instinctively which home and which owner is going to be the right match. A great fit isn't just about the house. It's about the personalities on both sides clicking.
The moment we hang up, I send a summary email with all the event details and a curated shortlist of properties matched to their vision. They tell me which ones speak to them, and from there I reach out to the owners for their blessing and approval.
3. You hosted what might be the biggest private event ever held at a residential property in Los Angeles. Walk us through that night. What was the event, and what did it take behind the scenes to pull it off?
Yes, the event was over three thousand people. For confidentiality reasons I can't share the client's name or the exact nature of it, but it was for a major tech and podcast company from San Francisco along with a big hotel and hospitality company from Las Vegas. It was held at a private estate in Beverly Hills, completely secluded, totally off the map.
It took months of planning. We worked through questions like: How is everyone arriving and departing? How do we prevent bottlenecks, or any kind of stampede? We reviewed the permits, the insurance and the stage installation. We worked with vendors to remove furniture and the expensive art, laid down protective flooring, reviewed the shuttle schedules, set security placements and ran radio checks, and even coordinated with the Secret Service, who were part of the event. We did a full check-in inspection and a full check-out inspection, and we managed every moment of the event itself.
If I have one regret, it's that we didn't bring Guinness World Records out to document it, because I believe we broke the national record for the largest event ever held at a private residence. We're incredibly proud of it. It's a major milestone for us.
And honestly, after pulling that off, no event intimidates us anymore. Once you've done something at that scale, you know you can handle anything.
4. A lot of rental companies hand over the keys and disappear. You've built security, valet, shuttles, sponsorship and full event management. Why was it important to you to own the whole experience?
When I get access to a property and build a relationship with the owner, that owner is trusting me on two fronts: that I'm bringing the right client, and that I'll manage the event and look after every small detail. The way we receive the property is the way we're expected to return it. We can't cause any damage or create issues for the owner with the neighbors or the city.
That's why we don't just hand over the keys and come back the next day. From the moment the contract is signed all the way through the event itself, we're hand in hand with the client and the event producer. We map out how everyone arrives and departs, we bring in security to oversee capacity and flow, and we handle the full check-in and check-out inspections. We're protecting the owner and, at the same time, making sure the client has an incredible experience.
I'll often advise clients on which properties suit them, what's permitted and what isn't, which ideas will work and which activations will get flagged, plus the details they need to think through before they ever choose a location. I study the event closely. I'll even ask to see the actual invitation and the vendor agreements, because I want to envision the whole experience, from the producer and the client down to the guests, and how the vendors will set up and strike.
Then I take all of that and build it into one plan. I put on my quality assurance hat and make sure both sides, the client and the owner, have every piece of information they need and that it's a good match. That's how you turn it into a seamless experience.
5. Your reviews come from both sides, the client and the homeowner. How do you keep a homeowner comfortable trusting you with their home, and what's your rule for who you will and won't work with?
I'll give you an example. Last year we hosted a big Halloween event for almost a thousand guests at a $200 million property. It took me nearly two years to get that owner's approval to use his home. So once I had it, I knew I had to deliver and execute at the highest level possible.
The way I keep an owner comfortable is that I study him, and I study the property. I show him exactly what we do. He sees me arrive with the client, I make the introduction when it's possible, and I walk him through the run of show in detail. That's when he starts to feel at ease with me hosting an event in his home. And after every event, I send a short request to both the client and the owner asking for honest, detailed feedback and a review, so it reflects the real experience.
When I first speak with an owner, I take the time to understand them and get a real feel for who they are, so I can tell whether we're a good fit. I won't work with owners who are volatile or difficult, the kind who are warm one day and impossible the next, or who get greedy and try to raise the price mid-contract. The last thing any of us wants is problems down the road. So by the time a client comes to us, we've already filtered those owners out. And if a client insists on a certain property, we advise them on what they're getting into.
6. What's the biggest misconception people have about the luxury rental and private event world?
The biggest misconception is that hosting events is easy. People don't take into account all the small details, and they don't see the value we bring: years of experience, and vetted owners and clients on both sides.
A lot of owners think they can just rent directly to a client and it'll go smoothly. Plenty of clients think the same. But if something goes wrong, whether it's damage or a violation, the client disappears and the owner has no one to go after. It works the other way too. A client sees a property online, maybe the owner is self-advertising, and they rent it without knowing the history of the home or the owner. They don't know if there are violations on the property, what the owner's reputation is, any of it.
That's where we come in. With over eight years of experience, we know which property matches which event and which client. And if anything does go wrong on either side, we're always the middleman, here to step in and solve it.
Thankfully, we rarely have issues. Our claims average under one percent a year on rentals. And on the rare occasion there is a claim, if the client or the owner won't participate, we step in with our own resources to make it right.
7. What's next for EssentiaLyfe?
Honestly, the focus right now is growing with intention. We're sharpening our internal operations, policies and contracts, rebuilding the website, doubling down on the right properties and weeding out the bad ones, and expanding our portfolio carefully into new areas without ever losing the quality we're known for. Maybe even rebranding.
A big part of what's next is deepening relationships with both clients and owners, because this business has always been built on trust and referrals. We're also leaning into more niche properties and specialized events, the kind of one-of-a-kind experiences you can't find anywhere else.
And on a personal level, I'm working on finding a bit more work-life balance. When you love what you do as much as I do, that's the real challenge.
8. You grew up here and have seen the city from inside some of its most incredible homes. What is your absolute favorite place to visit in Los Angeles, and why?
I'm a big fan of the beach, so I love going out to Malibu. I don't host many events there because there are a lot of restrictions, but for me personally, there's nothing like spending time by the ocean.
And honestly, I never imagined I'd end up doing event rentals, with access to properties and events at this level. To be behind the scenes of it all is a true privilege. I don't take it for granted that these owners trust me with their homes. Some of them give me the codes not only to their property but even to their safes. That's something I'm genuinely grateful for every single day.
Connect with EssentiaLyfe
WEBSITE
AVI SHABTAI ON INSTAGRAM