How To Be A Successful Hospitality Host In A Niche Market

Okay, so welcome to another episode of behind the Host podcast. Another exciting day today and another host who is specializing in behind the host. Sorry, hospitable hosts. So really excited to have you on today. Before we get started, I just wanted to just mention a really big win in the hospitality community. So part of what Bruce Lee and Mark Simpson does is has a couple of hospitals communities on Facebook, one of which is the hospitality community. So if you're not part of it, search out on Facebook. And one of the members this week shared a wonderful win and that was Louise Daniels who managed to get a five star review and then another direct book and directly off the back of that, just by making a phone call. So if you haven't already, get involved in the hospitality community, come and share your wins and we will do shout outs for anybody who is in there. So let's get started, shall we, with behind the Host. So today we're joined by Stacy Peretti Race. She's the CEO and founder of Rare Find Rentals, based in New Orleans, Louisiana, all the way from the usa. She's a super host. She specializes in hosting bridal parties. She's an author, as I say, and hospital hosts. And I'm really excited to have you here today, Stacy. So thank you for joining me and welcome along.

Thank you, Liam. I'm really excited to be here. Thanks for having me.

No worries at all. So let's get started in the way that we normally get started, which is just tell me a bit about you, your business and how you got started.

Sure. So I've, I've been in this business now a little over three, almost four years. Started out, let's say I was about to be an empty nester, raised four children and was kind of looking for my next thing to do. And we found this, my husband and I found this property in our downtown area. We're in a, a suburban area just north of New Orleans. Kind of a little bedroom community, but with a lot of cultural activities and arts and great restaurants. And the house looked like a really great investment. I had no idea what it meant to be a host. I just jumped in feet first as I guess a lot of people in this business, as I've come to find out, do and fell in love with it. And it has become my life. I absolutely love being a host. And yeah, that's basically my story. My background was not in hospitality. I've spent my life actually in journalism. I was a newspaper columnist, then reporter, journalism teacher, magazine editor, freelance writer. That's kind of all that I had done. Now I'm a published author, which is very exciting. So it just kind of piggybacked on the hosting end of things, which I really have come to love.

That's really cool. So talk me through. The property that you've got is a guest house, am I right?

Correct. Yes. Our first property is a guest house that is in downtown Covington. Covington is the name of the city just outside of New Orleans. It has three units, three listings under the one roof can sleep up to 15 people, but each unit is fully separate. So I list them separately and they can be booked either individually or the whole home together. So that's where I started about three plus years ago. And since then we purchased another property. It's completely different. The first is in a downtown area. The second property is called Sleepy Lagoon and it is 18 acres just about five minutes north of the downtown area. But it's a completely different type of stay. Obviously on 18 acres. It's a private acreage that backs up to riverfront. It has lagoons running throughout the property. It's actually where I'm sitting right now, so you can see the beautiful fountains behind me, lots of ponds with fishing and just a sandy beach down by the river. Totally, totally different type of experience. So overall the properties are under the umbrella rare find rentals.

It's one of those where when I searched out your properties, obviously we've known each other through the hospital host group. And so seeing your properties on there, it really struck me how, you know. So how old the Lacroix is that? Right? Lacroix. Lacroix. That property must be one of the older properties available. But it's got such period features and it looks so awesome. It looks like a real.

Thanks for noticing that. Yes, the Lacroix was built in 1899 by Thomas Lacroix Jr. So we named it after the original owner and builder. And there are a lot of the original building aspects remain. The original wood floors, the beadboard walls. A lot of it has been renovated of course, over the years, but we take great pride in that. It's listed on the historic homes registry in our city. And yeah, a lot of people remark about that, that they love coming to an historic home and staying in the downtown area and getting kind of the best of both worlds there.

I definitely recommend, if anybody's listening then to sort of Google the Lacroix, Louisiana. And that'll soon come up and you'll get an idea of just how beautiful it is and even what you've done with the Interior, you know, it's balanced really well. It's very stylish. Where did the inspiration from that come from?

Well, it was originally decorated by the previous owner. A lot of it was. I have updated a lot and renovated a lot since then. But I will give her credit because she did. I bought it fully furnished. And of course you know, that was three and a half years ago. So we've replaced a lot since then. But. But the, I guess the feel remains the same. It is. What I love is that when my guests walk in a lot of their first response that they tell me is I feel at home. So it's, it is there. There are parts of it that are luxurious. You know, we have of plenty plush robes and slippers and all the amenities I guess that you would get from a nice hotel stay. But you feel like you're in your own living room. And that was really important to me for people to feel like they're not going to mess up anything, that it feels like it's theirs and it's comfortable.

It'S certainly a beautiful place. And obviously on behind the Host what we like to do is really dive down into some of the tools you use, how you attract guests and share with the people listening to so they can pick up some of the tips and maybe emulate what you've done in your business, in their business as well. So let's talk about your guests who come and stay at the Lacroix and eight year second property. Now who are they, what type of guests are they, what are they looking to, are they come for holidays, for work and that side of things? And where do you list and how do you market to these guests?

Sure. It's evolved a little bit over the years. I would say our Monday through Friday guests are typically businessmen and business women or families that are coming in to visit other families in the area. We also do have in downtown Covington we have some really well renowned medical professionals. So I do get weekday guests that come in for procedures from out of town and stay at our place recuperate. Our weekend guests have really evolved over the years into bridal parties which is. Has become my specialty. So pretty much every Monday, I'm sorry, every Friday through Sunday we will have the whole home, all three units at the Lacroix booked out by bridal parties. Normally bridesmaids that get ready, they have their makeup and hair, you know, professionals come and they get dressed together. They might do a photo shoot in the home and then get picked up there to go to their, their wedding.

Nice do they get the photos done there and does that, do you use that?

A lot of them do, yes. And so that's kind of how the second property evolved. I started getting, I started having two, three, four people on waiting lists for a particular weekend because there's just not that many places in our area that specialize and open their properties. Two groups of that type. In fact. When I, when I first purchased the property, the, the previous owner warned me against just do not deal with bridal parties. They are the worst. And I stayed away from it for a while until one of my really good friends had her son getting married and she asked me about the home and I said what the heck, let's do it. And of course then it just kind of started that wheel. He told someone they saw the posts and it just evolved. And so I kind of become known as, oh, that's the lady that runs the bridal place. So because I did have a waiting list at the Lacroix, we started opening up Sleepy Lagoon which is also our personal property. We live here on the 18 acres in a separate home. And out here there are really beautiful places for bridal parties to take their photos before either the whole party or the couple. We have bridges and fountains and lots of beautiful flowers. So it's really a gorgeous area.

You know, let's, let's just dive into that. So what you've done is you've, you've, you know, hosted a friend. You know, friends sort of twist around a bit and done that and really you've, you've discovered for doing that actually it's not as bad as everybody says it is and you've decided to go ahead, you've taken action and done that and then you've actually found your niche. And this is something which we talk about a lot of the time. You found your, your perfect guest avatar and when everybody else is steering away from a certain type of guest and you're actually welcoming them, then you're going to get more of that and that's why you've built up a waiting list and you've done the right thing where you've, you know, there's a demand there before you've even opened your second property. And as you say you're even that second property is even more perfect for your main avatars needs. So that sounds really cool. So I really like that. Talk me through. What is the differences then for the people listening, what is the different kind of things you have to consider when hosting a bridal party over your contractors.

During the week That's a great question. And I've learned over the years, basically it's just kind of evolved from what they ask for, what they need. There are certain things in my properties, full length mirrors, obviously we, we need about, I don't know, four or five in each listing because, because the girls need that when they're getting dressed and spaces to get ready for putting on their makeup. And then really importantly, when they get back in the evening for taking off their makeup so that they don't ruin the white towels, you know, the black makeup towels that say makeup on it.

You just, you just said exactly what every listener is thinking going, but what about all the makeup? What about my towels? Precious whites. So, yeah, how do you deal with that?

It's, you know, we just, we kind of put, we make sure we have the black makeup towels and we put little notes and the makeup wipes that, the throwaway wipes that they can use. I also have not just luggage racks, but I have hanging racks so that when the ladies come in, they have spaces to hang up there. Most of the time they're long gowns. I have steamers in every unit. You know, obviously iron and ironing board, but steamers are a big deal. Trying to think what else. I also let them know it's a big thing when wedding parties check in. I have in the kitchen kind of a specific, just remember these rules type thing. And it's please no glitter, please no confetti, you know, because no businessman wants to check in on a Monday. And there's no glitter still in the carpet because that's just so hard to get out. So it's little things like that.

Yeah, that sounds as though you've really got your guest avatar down to a T there. And it's all about hosting is setting out the expectations before they stay. So let's dive more into that. What tech do you use in your business at the moment and how do you communicate with guests in the day to day?

So I communicate now, and this is just recently, I guess within the past six months. I used Hospitable, which is ironic since the book is Hospitable Hosts. I use Hospitable for my messaging, my automated messaging, and for coordinating my calendars because I do, I do list on Airbnb and vrbo and I also book direct. So that helps me enter everything into one system and have the, the messaging be automated. I also use Price Labs, which was a game changer for me, I would say the first year in this business, I just set it and Forget it. I didn't. I think I had a $10 bump on weekends compared to weekday. I had no idea what I was doing. And then I got on Price Labs and realized, oh my gosh, all of the money that I left on the table, it was three to four times more on the weekends what people were willing to pay than how I had it listed. So that was a game changer for me. I use StayFi, which has been wonderful. For those that don't know about StayFi, it's a very easy system to set in place that helps, helps gather all of your guests email information, not just the person who lists with you. So that has helped me set up email lists for automated messaging events and discounts and that type of thing for my guests. Trying to think what else. Noise aware, obviously. QuickBooks, that's been my friend for all of my accounting purposes and some other things that just internally that I use every day, my ecobee app to help with. Down here in southern Louisiana, it gets very humid, very hot and being able to automatically control the temperature remotely is a big deal. So yeah, all those have been really important to me.

That is such an awesome tech stack because you know, some people think that with tech stacks you've got to, you know, be a massive multiple short term rentals across, across many places. Whereas you've just proven there that just by implementing, you know, like you say for messaging, you've got hospitable for the price thing, which is it can blow your mind, can't it, with, with how much more you can make compared to what you were making before. So that is really awesome. Out of all of those bits of tech, which one would you have to say has been the one which has been the real game changer? Is that the Price Labs probably?

Price Labs, yes, definitely on, on the financial end, Price Labs. But as far as time, you know, and it doesn't have to be hospitable whatever system you use. I was so hesitant for years. Actually I shouldn't call it a hesitancy. It was more, you know, paralysis because of the analysis. And I am a very, I've got it right here next to me. My kids call it my bible. I mean this is, this is my day book, my planner and I did all of it on paper and, and that just became too overwhelming. Very overwhelming. So to be able to see every morning when I wake up, here's, here's what's happening today, tomorrow, this week. And it's all in one place through, across all of the channels and direct bookings it's. That's been huge for me.

So let's dive into that. You mentioned your daybook and your routine there. What does your day to day look like as a host? You've got your bridal parties coming, you're managing your contractors during the week. You've now got two different sort of listings in very different kinds of buildings. What does your day to day look like?

It could be anything other than my two housekeepers that helped me shout out to Alexa and Abby. I couldn't do this, wouldn't want to do this without them. But other than them and my handyman Danny, I do everything myself. So today actually when I leave you, I am going to clean one of my units myself. I do that every now and again, number one, because I actually don't mind doing it. I enjoy being in my spaces and getting it ready. That's how it started for me. I spent my whole first year, year and a half cleaning everything myself. And I like to get in there and restock, take inventory and just kind of do the inspection maintenance type thing. I can be found doing everything from cleaning to pulling weeds, to answering phone calls, to sending invoices. Yeah, everything. It's, you know, accounting, marketing, all of it. Social media. I'm a, I'm a one stop shop.

So that's cool. And you know what, it's such an important part because that's how we learn what needs to be done. You know, you wouldn't know what necessarily needs to be done if we're not hands on. So definitely an important part. You mentioned that you market in different channels. First one I just wanted to mention, for people who listen, listening. Airbnb recently made a change with their summer 2022 release. And one of those changes is that you can now find places by categories. So one of the things you can do, for instance, guest houses can now be found through categories, which that wasn't before, so definitely worth checking out. But the one that I wanted to dive into that you mentioned was the direct bookings. You can take direct bookings. So how do you take direct bookings? And if you got any tips or tricks to be able to do so.

I love this question because, and you did not know this before this interview, but I am currently in Mark Simpson's 90 day boot camp. And yes, because I do have, I have a website for Lacroix Covington. It's lacroixcovington.com. simple enough. But for this new property, Sleepy Lagoon, I do not have a website yet. When I started lacroix Covington. It's a beautiful website. Go check it out. However, I don't have direct booking capability on it. Never started it that way. I just haven't done it. People just go to the website and then they either email me or call me to make the direct booking.

There's something where Boostly can help you out with. We should have a chat after the, after the podcast. Definitely about that.

I am learning. This is all so very timely. So my intention for Sleepy Lagoon is to set up a more direct booking friendly site that I'm not answering phone calls all day long that hopefully I can, I can do a lot more of my direct bookings that way. Not that I mind talking to the guests, especially when it's a little different when it comes to bridal parties, you know, they, it's either the mom or the bride normally that will, that will call and, and it needs to be a personal conversation. I get that and I do enjoy that. But I really, I'm looking forward to starting a website that, that has direct booking capability.

So, yeah, definitely make everything so more streamlined and just, just a lot easier. And especially, you know, I'm excited for you because of the bridal parties. They talk to each other. You know, these are big groups. You're more likely to get referrals, more likely to get direct bookings. So that's really exciting. So we've kind of covered the business, we've covered some of your systems. Let's talk about the awesome book that you're in. So you're now a published author. So congratulations, Stacy, for being in Hospitable Hosts. And for those who don't know who have tuned into either the live or if you're listening on the podcast. Hospitable Hosts is a project which was developed by Jodi Sterling about six months ago. She had the bright idea to get hosts from all over the world collect stories to inspire, motivate and educate other hosts. And she's brought 40 hosts together in one book and taken a chapter from each of them so they can each tell their stories. And the book itself is released on 16th May, 2022. So depending on how you're either listening to this or how you're watching it, you know, you'll be able to go and check it out on ww.hospitablehosts.com and be able to put your name down for the waiting list or make a purchase through there. So, Stacy, what got you involved with the project and what does being a hospitable host mean? To you.

I am a firm believer in being in the right place at the right time and the universe, kind of putting you where you need to be. And I had never met Jody. Just happened to see a post that she. I think it was on Facebook. And I thought, well, wait a minute. This combines the two things that I love most, writing and hosting. And I kind of felt like. And I'm sure everyone feels this way. Everyone's story is different. My story is pretty unique, as is everyone's, and I wanted to tell it. My beginnings in this business did not start out really good at all. It was very, very tough. My mom actually passed away the week that I purchased the property, very unexpectedly. And she was my rock. And she. She was the one I thought was going to really help me with this project. And all of a sudden she was gone. And. And I tell. I tell the story in my chapter of how that came to be and. And the difficulties that I had. I. I purchased the home, my first home, the lacroix, from the previous owner who was a host herself. She had been operating it as an Airbnb, and because I knew nothing about the business, when I bought it, she said that she would add me on as a co host on her account. Great. Did that. But then after the act of sale, she actually closed the account, which meant while I was sitting by my mother's bedside in icu, I got the word that every single booking that she had told me was coming and there were over 100, was canceled. So that was my. That was my first month, I guess, of being a host. She had given me, thank goodness, she had given me a spreadsheet that had all of the future bookings, their name, their date, and their phone number. So I spent that, that first month picking up the phone and calling every single guest and explaining to them kind of the situation. They thought I was a huge scammer. You know, who does that? And I had to convince every single one of them, like, I'm not a scammer. I'm real. No, I've never hosted anyone before, but I promise it's going to be a great experience. The house I bought it as is, you know, it'll be a wonderful stay. And of those 100 plus guests, potential guests, there were only two. I believe that that didn't book with me. So I didn't know about booking direct at that point. I set up my own account on Airbnb, and I had them. It was like a floodgate. Within the first month, I had over 100 guests rebook with me, and I was an unknown host. So I understand now. And I think it's interesting what Brian Chesky came out with some of this new way of thinking with the properties and the categorizations. I love that. But I think it's really interesting, looking back on my situation, because when I first started hosting and I called Airbnb and I was so new, I said, wait, you don't understand. Yes, I'm a new host, but it's the same property and it's exactly the same experience. And they told me, which is great, that their business wasn't built around the properties, it's built around the hosts. And so I took that to heart and, and I see the importance in that. But I also feel with the new things that are coming out, I think they're understanding that it needs to be a little bit of balance of both, because the, the experience of the property, in my opinion, is just as important as the experience the host gives you in that property. Definitely. So I like the way it's evolving.

It's the balance of both, isn't it? It's the balance between having a host who understands is empathetic to your needs and having that property, and that property being everything you expect it's going to be. And just, it's so inspirational, Stacy, to hear your. Your story and how you've overcome, you know, the challenges. And just to get started, I'm really excited to, you know, read your chapter of the book. And I encourage everybody who's listening to, you know, to do the same, to pop their name down on that hospitable hosts.com and to register for the waiting list, because it's going to be. It's going to be so awesome. And there's so much knowledge and there's so much people. If somebody was in the same position as you and you're listening and you're thinking, well, I want to get started. There's some lessons in there which, which could really help. And I think the biggest one, I.

Wish I had had this book.

Well, yeah. Yes, the biggest one that I've taken away from that is just picking up the phone. You know, I mean, just picking up the phone, start building those relationships with both Airbnb, with your guests, and to actually find the way in hosting, which is exactly what you've done. So, yeah, that's really cool. What does the future hold then, Stacy? What is the future of Rare find.

Stays so Rare find rentals? I anticipate the future possibly being two different bridal parties at Each property on the weekends and expanding maybe week long stays out here at Sleepy Lagoon for people that want to come and have an experience just outside of downtown Covington. And, and we're just, we're less than an hour drive from downtown New Orleans but they, they get a completely different country type experience out here. And we've got fishing, we've got, we've got geese. It's just, we've got deer. Sometimes you'll, you'll see four, five, six deer running across the field. We've got a bonfire in the back and it's a, it's a really amazing place that is very special to me and it was, it was my mom's property and so I moved out here after she passed away and, and it's, it's beautiful. It's been featured on hgtv. It really is a gorgeous space. So I anticipate hopefully spreading you know the news that Sleepy Lagoon is open for those type of events and just special gatherings for families to celebrate special things.

Their passion really shows through and you can see how people are going to really become excited about going there but also how they're going to build those memories which are going to last a lifetime because there's just so much to see and do and especially for such special occasions for the bribeal parties. So what we like to do Stacy, towards the end is to sort of fire a couple of quick fire questions at you. Now these, these can be as long and short answers as you like but they're just a bit of fun and something a bit different. So what time of day are you most productive?

Probably between 9 and 11pm 9 o' clock and midnight. Some of night owl. So yeah. And being a writer, that's normally when I, you know throughout the years my kids would not be needing me so I would get most of my stuff done now that my kids are all gone in the mornings I guess. But I'm pretty much a night owl.

That's cool. That's is the time where everybody's asleep and you get, you get some. You time to do what you want to do. So what are you excited about in life right now? It doesn't have to be business wise. Can be if you want.

Yeah, I. That's an easy one. So two of my four kids have gotten married in the past six months. They did it really close together and so I'm really excited about. Yes and I'm really excited about maybe being a grandparent parents soon. Yeah. Just so that I didn't put any pressure on Them instead. I got a puppy last week.

Oh no. That is taken on extra.

I have a 10 very brave puppy. Yes.

One of the things that I'd like to find out is obviously different values and I think I know what you're going to say but what would you consider is your highest value overall in.

The business or life in general?

Business life, whatever you like.

My greatest value is my family in life. I would say in business communication. I'm a people person and I love getting to know the background of why my guests are coming, what brought them there. I'm the type of person. I met a elderly woman in the checkout line of the grocery store years ago and struck up a conversation. She looked a little confused and come to find out she was from many, many states away up north and she was in town alone with her husband who had just had surgery. And anyway we exchanged information. I helped her out while she was in town and now we're Christmas card buddies every year. I never like to meet a stranger. Everyone has a story story and maybe that's the writer, the journalist in me but that's. That's my greatest value in the business is getting to know the people. And you know, that's. I think that's what we all want in life is to be. To be seen, to be heard, to be known. And that's what makes this job really fun.

What a beautiful way to bring this to an end. And that is such a nice. A nice sort of feeling and a nice way to end on. So thank you so much Stacey. If the people listening would like to reach out to me you if they'd like to get in touch, if they're a bride to be and want to get in touch to use the Sleepy Lagoon then yeah. How do they get in touch with you?

So I do have one website for my first property and it is lacroix covington.com LA C R O I X covington.com and then I also have a link tree which. Which gives it has links to Sleepy Lagoon to all of my properties and. And I guess I'll spell it out for you. A lot of people are on link tree. If you are already then you just search for rare find rentals. But if you want to log in the complete address it is L I n k t r.ee backslash rare find rentals. Hope that wasn't too confusing but yes. So that's the easiest way to find me.

That's cool. And the very last thing that I just wanted to pick up on was you mentioned you're doing the 90 day bootcamp with Boostly, which is, you know, sort of how we impact your direct bookings and how we really set you on a marketing path to be able to market your properties. How are you finding that? And, yeah, what are your key takeaways so far?

I love it, Mark. Mark is a hoot. I can't wait to meet him. Hopefully. I think he said he's coming to the book launch in Nashville. I was not a fan of the FIGMA board, got rid of that. But I am learning a lot and I love being on the different, like the Facebook group and just being a part of. Of a community of other hosts from all around the world, it. It helps you realize that, you know, you're. You're all in this together kind of thing. You're not alone. I love that about this community because we are hosts. We are all like very communicative with each other and helpful with each other about solving problems. And so being of Boostly Academy and now this boot camp, it's just really been good for learning new things from everybody. Mark, of course, included.

Sometimes in hospitality, it can feel a little bit lonely. And when you're in a group like that, you can bounce ideas off each other. You can really feel you're part of a big community. And what a great way to. Great insight into the training there. So thanks again, Stacey. Really look forward to reading your chapter in the book. I feel we've really got to know your business and thank you. Thank you so much for sharing your time with us today and coming on behind the host podcast.

I really appreciate it. I'm honored to be here, having a blast.

Gonna get it on the Bruce Lee podcast. Bruce Lee like Bruce Lee because it's so hard and the T is loose leaf making up those rhymes. Don't write it, just do it loosely.