Having opened her first short term rental as recently as May 2021, Avril has already expanded her property network to four STRs, spread across the country from Gulf Shores, AL to Sedona, AZ. From her coastal beach house to the cozy cabin in the Smoky Mountains, these beautifully designed homes uniquely reflect the vacation destination, but with all the comforts of home.
Explore Avril’s properties:
Casa Palma - Gulf Shores, AL (Instagram: @casapalmaretreat)
Eagle Rock - Gatlinburg, TN (Instagram: @eaglerocktn)
Mountain Tyme - Sevierville, TN (Instagram: @mtn.tyme)
Oasis Sedona - Sedona, AZ (Instagram: @oasisretreatsedona)
Q: What made you decide to get into STR hosting?
A: My husband and I are medical professionals. When Covid hit, my husband’s schedule was tricky with 24 hour shifts on top of long days, so I stopped working in medicine and dedicated my time to our two young boys. The burnout was real and I knew that I wanted to do something to generate income, but on my terms. Work life balance is important and STRs have allowed me to be a full-time mom and add work into the mix. Add in the opportunities for design, creativity, customer relations and I feel like I was made to host!
Q: What are your biggest pain points as an STR owner?
A: Finding contract grade, stylish durable furniture that meets my deadlines on time for setup. If you want to try to differentiate yourself in the STR market you have to have something big or small that sets you apart. Something that others are not doing. It may not be obvious to others but that will be your selling point, because let’s face it — many markets will be saturated and competition is getting harder and harder.
Q: What is the #1 most important thing for STR hosts to get right, in your opinion?
A: Customer service — you are hosting, not just providing a space. Too often I see hosts just hiding and under-delivering. You want to connect with your guests several times before they even arrive so that if something happens, you already have an established relationship. If anything happens, the first thing you do no matter how uncomfortable it is would be to pick up the phone and apologize, reassure your guests, and come up with a gameplan to fix it. If you do these three things you will most likely still get a 5 star review and be successful.
Q: What are your favorite Minoan brand partners?
A: Public Goods has such a variety of staples that I buy in bulk: ground coffee, olive oil spray, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion. West Elm and Pottery Barn have good variety, even if you only shop the in-stock items. My number one fave that I wasn’t familiar with before Minoan is Outer. I did days of research on durable outdoor furniture and Outer met the needs aesthetically and in terms of reviews, warranty, and durability. The Minoan discount was just the icing on the cake!
Q: Any other tips for your fellow hosts?
A: Find your property’s strength and weakness. Play up the qualities that make you stand out and highlight them. Be selective when you’re setting up an STR and making purchases about what will end up adding value to the investment and to the guest experience and what will not.
I love design and I love buying home stuff for my primary residence. But, when you are setting up an STR, every single purchase you make you should be going through that thought process. If it’s not necessary or not going to make a difference in providing a five star experience, I don’t buy it. Know when it’s important to go all out for certain properties versus keeping it simple for others.
Understand your market — I like to start with understanding who my target market will be and then planning once I establish that. I know that my setup and costs will be very different in Tennessee versus in my Sedona property, for example. You also need to combine aesthetics and durability for high traffic use. Look at it this way when shopping and spending money — you are running a hotel, not a house!
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