Steve V2: Welcome to Keynotes, a podcast just for Casago homeowners.
This is where we explore how to get the most out of your relationship with
Casago, learn tips and tricks on how to make more income with your property,
and learn a little bit about the short term rental industry along the way.
I've been a vacation rental nerd since my 20s, and the team has finally let
me have this podcast so I can share everything I've learned with you.
I'm your host, Steve Schwab, and this is Keynotes.
Hey, welcome to Keynotes.
I'm your host, Steve Schwab.
Today we're talking to Juan Carlos and Flor from Costa Rica.
They've been with Casago now for a little bit less than a year and have found some
great growth as they've gone forward.
And we'll be talking a little bit about their approach to hospitality and
how they think about homeowners guys.
Welcome to the show.
Steve.
It's nice to be here.
Yeah, it's really great to
have you
. So you came on with Casago a little less than a year ago.
Can you tell me a little bit about how you ended up getting interested
in , the short term rental industry.
Speaker 3: Sure.
So yeah, we have been in the hospitality industry for, for a long time, right?
We own and run hotels, restaurants in Costa Rica.
We saw that short term rentals was an excellent opportunity to continue
growing basically in the market.
So we're operating from Haco beach.
And so there's a lot of development going over there, uh, condos and everything.
And that was a great opportunity to use our hospitality background
to, to continue growing.
Steve V2: How about you, Flor?
How did you get into it?
Speaker 2: This is my first experience in vacation rental.
So I worked before for hotels, Juan Carlos.
So we have like a previous experience in hospitality, but not in vacation rentals.
So, um, it was my first job.
I started with the company in January.
Wow.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was very interesting in January when we started
because I remember Flor and me, the first day that we started with
Casa, that's like what I was saying.
Okay.
So this is new to us, right?
Vacation rentals that we, we were sure that we're going to learn a lot this year.
Right.
And it was going to be very fast.
Steve V2: Yeah.
You guys have come along really well.
And while there's a lot of technical expertise to learn within it, I feel
like you have the hospitality mindset coming from restaurants and hotels,
understanding that service industry, just a really solid foundation in how
to take care of homeowners and guests just innately has come from you guys.
Have you seen any similarities between running restaurants
and short term rentals?
Speaker 3: Sure, definitely.
The hospitality part is really important.
And also the fact that we already were running housekeeping,
maintenance, a guest service, right?
I mean, all the hospitality elements were definitely very important.
But one thing that we realized from the beginning, because this is a
different type of business, right?
Was the owner centricity right of the short term rental, which is completely
different than how hotels are right so basically understanding that our clients
the owner right and we're taking care of his or her condo right and receiving his
renters or his guest and everything else.
And that was a very important part of it.
Steve V2: Yeah, yeah, there's a big paradigm shift.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that the key for both for owners and for the guest.
It's the anticipation of needs for both.
Yeah.
That's important for this business and communication, of course.
Steve V2: Yeah, yeah, I mean, man, you touched on a couple
of really great things there.
Balancing those needs between homeowners and guests.
When you provide a really great stay for a guest, you're really serving that
owner, ? Because that owner has better guests, they have better reviews, they
have people coming back over and over.
So part of taking care of that homeowner is taking care of that
guest, but The balance of making sure that , you're taking care of both,
but, , our fiduciary always being to that homeowner , is certainly , the
big shift there, right, in paradigm.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that also is the key of your business.
So, if you have big guests, uh, coming back, so you have
more business every time.
Steve V2: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Tell me a little bit about your philosophy and approach on hospitality.
, What are some of the key tenets that you think about in
the short term middle space?
Speaker 2: Creating experience for guests, that's very important.
And as we mentioned before, anticipation of needs.
For us, , that's the key.
Communication.
. Speaker 3: So you're receiving these guests, right?
, you're the host to these guests and, and creating that experience, uh, let's.
Basically those guests come back because they want to come
back to your condos, right?
To your place, but also them telling other friends,?
That they should come and have the Casago experience, right?
Which is different.
Steve V2: With you guys being the local owners of Casago, , , what makes Casago
unique compared to other services in your markets for those homeowners?
Speaker 3: The first thing definitely is that even though it's a franchise
and an international company, it's still local and it feels local in the market,
? We are over there.
We understand the market in Hakko.
Also, our, our office is there, right?
And so we have that contact with the, with the guests, with the owners, right?
And everything else.
So I think that's, a international company, but a local is very important.
But the other thing is the customer experience.
What you get is.
standards, right?
Yeah.
Training.
So basically we know that for the owner or for the guest, the level of service
they're going to get is different, ? It's more consistent, more personalized.
, , and I think that's a big key, right?
So, so when we were talking to local people in HACO, , and they have
maybe smaller companies over there,
? They don't have that support, that backup, that level of service, ? Or
very big ones, which are the same.
. So in that sense, I think there's a big trust when we come with the Casago brand
and big expectation from people, right.
That we're coming to the market, you know, they're excited, you know,
to have a, their homes with us.
. And I think that's very important.
Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
I think that it's a combination.
So in the market, you can find like maybe technology, but you
don't have like customer service or they are not like owner centric.
And I think that Casago, they have everything, a combination of technology,
customer service, they're owner centric, property care, everything in one company.
Steve V2: It really hits that sweet spot where you have that international reach
and enterprise tools and technology, but the owner is still there, on
the ground, being the expert in the market, and, you know, Being able to
make decisions as a local business for what's best for those owners,
for those guests, for the community.
Speaker 3: And that's interesting when you, when you put it like that too,
because before vacation rentals, we were in hospitality in the market, right?
So we have been there for many years.
And we understand not just The guest destination, but we also
understand the people that we work with and all those complexities,
? So it definitely definitely makes us same that expertise is
very important for everything
Steve V2: It's impossible to do this without a local owner who truly
understands the community The culture just the lay the land the economics and
the needs and wants of that community and homeowners and guests So we have
something inside a Casago and Flor.
You've mentioned it earlier.
I want to explore it a little bit more.
We have this credo and the first tenant of the credo is being owner
centric, the owner centric approach.
Can you tell me what that means to you in your own words?
Speaker 2: I think that, , for us, it's to put, , the owner needs is
the center of everything because here's where you have their goals.
So we need to work according with their goals.
So, , all the decisions that we make are based on their needs and their goals.
Speaker 3: The fact that the owner is trusting us, , to take
care of his home, , or his condo.
I think that's very important, ? And so we, we have to gain
that trust back too, right?
By, by definitely putting the owner first, ? And their interests.
Steve V2: Yeah, absolutely., I think it makes a big difference.
, you hear a lot of companies talking about guests, guests, guests.
And when you go to Airbnb and the other OTAs, it's very guest centric.
But at the end of the day, these homeowners are the owners
of the product and the supply.
And we have a fiduciary to them putting them at the
center of all of our decisions.
Like you said, for is really the big difference maker that we put into
words as a primary principle of how we all decide to operate as a community.
How do you implement some of the owner centric mindset, , on a day to day basis?
What are some of the practices you do to help facilitate that?
Speaker 2: I think the most important is to be, like, responsive with
them and to keep the communication.
I used to speak, , with them, like, all weeks, . If they have any
questions, uh, they know that if they text me or they send me an email
they will get a response very soon.
So, I think that that's one of the keys with them, uh, to be like very responsive
and to give like a clear communication.
Yeah.
Speaker 3: Definitely, and that we're there for them, right?
Each owner is different, right, and they have their own needs, , but listening
to them, , and us being there for them too, I think is very important.
Yeah.
Yeah, be transparent like Laura was saying too.
Steve V2: Do you have any stories that demonstrate why Casago would be a good
choice for local homeowners to tell?
Speaker 2: Yes.
So, I remember one of the owners that we have right now,
so it was a few months ago.
At the beginning, I had like a few of the owners.
You know, the development is new.
And even if we don't have like a lot of reservations, maybe because
it's our rainy season, we have small things with the owners.
So I keep like getting like message and emails and it was me at the moment.
So I remember that he sent me a message during the weekend, I think, uh, over
during the night and at the next day it was like off and I forgot to response.
So the next day of one day I was sending a message.
And I think that he was like upset because I didn't respond to his questions.
So I understood in that moment that he needs attention.
So I think that from that moment, I started , if he sent me a message or
email, I like respond immediately.
So the communication that we have right now, it's nicer.
And I think that now he's very happy with us.
And he keep mentioned that's why he is with CASAGO because
we know what we're doing.
Every week he's asking And he's confident that we are taking care of
the unit and that we are working for them and that we know what we are doing.
Steve V2: that's great.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Also, for instance, with this, the owner, the same, many of them are maybe first
time owners, , of a short term rental.
So it's important, right?
Not to only understand their needs, , but to be with them, , also let
them know what a owning a vacation rental is, ? Because there's many,
many important parts of it, right?
So I think that's really, really nice.
And another thing that we have been doing too, is that since maybe it's
their first home they buy in HACO, ? We have a partnerships with different
restaurants, with different tours, with different things in the community.
That basically , have allowed us to give them, , the opportunity for a new owner
to go on and explore more their community where they're put at home, right?
So that they can go maybe to a restaurant, maybe they can go try
this, ? We have done it also with spas, with yoga studios and different things.
So I think that's very nice because we want them to also, You know, sometimes
it's an investment only, but we also want them to, to enjoy their, their new place.
Steve V2: Yeah.
I , those experiences are so important and a lot of these
investments are lifestyle investments.
, they're investing for the financials.
Yes.
But there's also a lifestyle element that goes along with it, right?
The privilege of being able to enjoy a beautiful place off seasons
or whenever it's , not booked.
Speaker 3: Sure.
And we can see that when we have, we just started basically, right?
Our first homes went, went live, not like very recently, and we already
have been getting owners recommending to other owners, , to work with us,
, even from different places, right?
So, so I think that shows exactly that experience that you're talking about.
Steve V2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
That
Steve V2: word of mouth is the temperature check to see if your
homeowners are happy or not.
. So really cool.
So if a homeowner wants to get a hold of you to find out more information
about property management services by Casago, what email or phone number
should they be reaching out with
Speaker 2: Costa Rica?
P.
m.
at That's uh, my email so they can contact me anytime.
And is
Steve V2: there an office phone number that they can reach out to you?
Speaker 2: Yes, our contract code is 506 and the phone number is 40379096.
Perfect.
Steve V2: Guys, thanks so much for coming on.
What a pleasure to be able to talk to you and catch up.
And we'll be doing it soon.
And we're looking forward to hosting Costa Rica too, I think, too.
Yeah, I can't wait for that.
So that'll be exciting.
Thank you again so much guys.