by Paris Achen | Mar 29, 2024 | Humans of Short-Term Rentals
Left to right, Cynthia Huang, CEO of DTravel, Sue Jones, CEO of HR4VR, and Margot Schmorak, CEO of Hostfully 1 in 10 vacation rental CEOs and founders are women Long before Vanessa de Souza Lage founded and became CEO of Sustonica, an environmental certification for...
by Paris Achen | Mar 22, 2024 | Humans of Short-Term Rentals
Image: From right to left, Margot Schmorak, her husband, Ari, and her daughter, Eden, at Disneyland. Born both Chinese and Jewish, Margot Schmorak has often felt caught in a perpetual identity crisis. Growing up in Minnesota, “I felt like an outsider wherever I went,”...
by Paris Achen | Nov 6, 2023 | Guest Communications, Hosting and Management, Marketing
A well-considered cancellation policy can make your vacation rental more competitive, boost your reviews, and ultimately, impact your bottom line. However, there’s no consensus on the best cancellation policy for a vacation rental. The effectiveness of a strict,...
by Paris Achen | Nov 1, 2023 | Advocate Engagement, Community Engagement, Leadership, Local Government, Politics & Elections, Press and Media, Short-Term Rental Regulation, STR Advocacy 101
Despite vacation rentals’ tenure and a pandemic-driven spike in popularity, misconceptions about VRs abound. Hearing them called Airbnbs can be particularly divisive. Nevertheless, Airbnb has become the deonym for all short-term rentals. “Airbnb … got lucky because...
by Paris Achen | Oct 27, 2023 | Guest Communications, Hosting and Management, Responsible Renting, Rules and Regulations, Safety
Guests who refuse to leave vacation rentals at the end of their rental term by claiming tenant rights have grabbed headlines across the country. “We have seen an increasing number of opportunists and scammers that take advantage of the sparsity of vacation...
by Paris Achen | Oct 26, 2023 | Nuisance Prevention, Responsible Renting, Rules and Regulations
When you think of squatting, you might think of someone unlawfully occupying a vacant or abandoned property. While empty vacation rentals are at risk for squatters, another kind of squatting has grabbed headlines in recent years: guests who refuse to leave a...
by Paris Achen | Sep 28, 2023 | Humans of Short-Term Rentals, Leadership, Organization, STR Advocacy 101
Rolf Blizzard grew up on a hog farm in the eastern part of North Carolina. Days on the farm started early, were filled with hard manual labor, and provided a clear idea of the basic effort it took to produce a stable, sustainable, and affordable meal – one of...
by Paris Achen | Sep 22, 2023 | Humans of Short-Term Rentals
When Lawrence Phillips left his consulting job in 2015 to travel around the world, he mapped his route through 30 countries based partly on feedback from other travelers who were Black. Finding out what he could expect as a Black traveler in a particular destination...
by Paris Achen | Sep 20, 2023 | Humans of Short-Term Rentals
Feature Image: John Hildebrand, Hilde Homes and Dana Lubner, Rent Responsibly “Reading, let alone reading in public, is like the biggest fear on Earth to me,” said John Hildebrand, founder of Hilde Homes. He has dyslexia. “In school, when I had to do public speaking,...
by Paris Achen | Sep 19, 2023 | Back of House: Team Rent Responsibly, Humans of Short-Term Rentals
Feature Image: Lindsey Montoya and Garrett Dobbs at a team retreat in Breckenridge, CO in June 2023. Garrett Dobbs, Director of Product at Rent Responsibly, has a motto: “Business interest and social interest are not exclusive to one another, and it is the task of the...
