• News
    • VRM Intel News
    • Latest News
    • Sponsor News
  • COVID-19
  • Marketing
  • Tech
  • OTAs
  • Customer Service
  • Regulations
  • Business
  • Housekeeping
  • Subscribe
  • More
    • Calendar of Events
    • VRM Intel Live!
    • Reports Login
    • VRM Intel Magazine
    • Advertise
    • Authors
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
VRM Intel
  • News
    • Leading Proptech Company Guesty Appoints David Aber as CFO
    • Meredith Hospitality Brands Inc. Expands to Mt Hood with Acquisition of Mt Hood Vacation Rentals
    • Rent Responsibly announces new partnerships and new virtual conference series
      Rent Responsibly Launches New 2022 Partnerships and a New Virtual Conference Series for VRMs and Others
    • Houses in Koko Head, Oahu, Hawaii
      Property Managers And Owners Sue Honolulu County Over Bill 41
    • Steamboat Springs, Colorado houses and condos below the ski runs in winter
      Steamboat Springs Bans Vacation Rentals in More Than Half of the City
    • VRM Intel News
    • Latest News
    • Sponsor News
  • COVID-19
    • 2022 Vacation Rental acquisitions from AvantStay, VTrips, Vacasa, Meredith, and more
      Who Sold? Here’s What We Know: 2022 Vacation Rental Management Acquisitions
    • 2021/2022 Ski Destinations Showing Big Performance Gains in ADR and RevPAR for Vacation Homes and Condos
    • “It’s like a short-term rental regulation pandemic.” 2022 Spring Vacation Rental Regulatory Trends + Fall Outlook
    • HR 2022: Attracting Today’s New Workforce after the Resignation Tsunami and the Great Renegotiation
    • 5th Annual #BookDirect Guest Education Day, Feb 2: Why It Matters
  • Marketing
    • 5 Steps to Clean Up and Organize Your Vacation Rental Website
    • Moneyball for Vacation Rental Managers
    • 4 Ways to Stand Out in a Crowded Market: Get Your Brand & Listings in Front of Potential Guests
    • Why, When, and How to Upgrade Your Hospitality Software
    • 2021/2022 Ski Destinations Showing Big Performance Gains in ADR and RevPAR for Vacation Homes and Condos
  • Tech
    • How One Vacation Rental Firm Finally Solved the Trust Accounting Problem
    • Vacasa (VCSA) Stock Falls as Lock-up Period Expires
    • 5 Steps to Clean Up and Organize Your Vacation Rental Website
    • Front of the House, Meet the Back of the House
    • Why, When, and How to Upgrade Your Hospitality Software
  • OTAs
    • Vacasa (VCSA) Stock Falls as Lock-up Period Expires
    • 4 Ways to Stand Out in a Crowded Market: Get Your Brand & Listings in Front of Potential Guests
    • Stays Group and Touch Stay Announce Partnership that Strengthens The Vacation Rental Travel Ecosystem
    • 2021/2022 Ski Destinations Showing Big Performance Gains in ADR and RevPAR for Vacation Homes and Condos
    • Using Airbnb For Bookings Just Got Even More Risky with New Refund Policy
  • Customer Service
    • Leading Proptech Company Guesty Appoints David Aber as CFO
    • Meredith Hospitality Brands Inc. Expands to Mt Hood with Acquisition of Mt Hood Vacation Rentals
    • View of Waikiki from Diamond Head Park, Honolulu, Hawaii
      Honolulu City Council Bans Stays Under 90 Days Across Oahu
    • Are you a Visionary without an Integrator at Your Vacation Rental Management Company?
    • YOUR Memory Factory: Creating Lifetime Memories for Guests with those They Cherish Most
  • Regulations
  • Business
    • Leading Proptech Company Guesty Appoints David Aber as CFO
    • Meredith Hospitality Brands Inc. Expands to Mt Hood with Acquisition of Mt Hood Vacation Rentals
    • How One Vacation Rental Firm Finally Solved the Trust Accounting Problem
    • 2022 Vacation Rental acquisitions from AvantStay, VTrips, Vacasa, Meredith, and more
      Who Sold? Here’s What We Know: 2022 Vacation Rental Management Acquisitions
    • 5 Steps to Clean Up and Organize Your Vacation Rental Website
  • Housekeeping
    • Analysis: “Reinventing” Vacation Rental Management by Alex Nigg
    • HR 2022: Attracting Today’s New Workforce after the Resignation Tsunami and the Great Renegotiation
    • Safety First: Evaluating and Addressing Safety Risks at Your Vacation Rentals
    • The Importance of the Guest Experience within Vacation Rental Operations: From the Back of the House to the Front
    • Passing the Torch: Meyer Vacation Rentals Transfers Ownership To The Next Generation
  • Subscribe
  • More
    • Calendar of Events
    • VRM Intel Live!
    • Reports Login
    • VRM Intel Magazine
    • Advertise
    • Authors
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • RSS

Business

VRM Careerists: Kathleen Holmes

VRM Careerists: Kathleen Holmes
mm
Paula Caballero
February 26, 2021

 

Four seasoned VR pros share how they have survived and thrived in the industry. 

If there is one universal truth about vacation rental managers, it’s that they did not tell their parents they wanted to be one when they grew up. Unlike that of an astronaut or veterinarian, the road into the vacation rental industry is not paved or even clearly marked. 

Some might say it’s muddy, and you better be wearing boots. 

In this series of VRM Careerists, VRM Intel is diving into the lives of the careerists among us, those managers who have made it over the river and through the woods of vacation rental life, and yet have still chosen to persevere in a business that is as rigorous as it is unglamorous, as challenging as it is heartwarming. 

They remember when marketing meant mailing out print catalogs. They rattle off long lists of reservation software, tried and long abandoned. They have stories straight out of reality television. 

And they know way too much about toilet paper. 

These are their stories, just as personal as the vacation memories they create for guests. The first story we have for you is Kathleen Homes.

 

Kathleen Homes Gets Down and Dirty 

Kathleen Holmes was looking for health insurance when she stumbled upon a front desk position with Great Beach Vacations in Charleston, South Carolina, in the mid-1990s. With a master’s degree in urban anthropology, it might not have seemed like an obvious fit. 

“It was like answering phones at the DMV,” she remembers. “It was just insane with requests. ‘I just checked in and there’s no toilet paper!’ And you would have thought it was the end of the world. You’d have to talk guests off the ledge, use your active listening skills, and validate concerns.” 

Kathleen Holmes makes music at her Charleston, South Carolina home.

Within six months of deftly juggling phone calls from guests, vendors, and homeowners, Holmes was promoted to a property manager position and was one of five owner relations managers handling more than 400 vacation rental properties between them. 

Now with 20 years of industry experience, and currently working as director of marketing and acquisitions for Seabrook Exclusives, Holmes knows she found her calling. She and her team pride themselves on staying focused on personal connections in this age of automated everything. 

“We really still want to get on the phone with people and stay in front of them throughout their journey,” Holmes said. “Our best attribute is our relationship with our guests.” 

The proof? Seabrook Exclusives has a 67 percent returning guest rate. 

“We sell service, experiences, and we help our guests craft memories,” she said. “The human factor is always going to be the most important thing we can offer.” 

Holmes enjoys getting her hands dirty in all aspects of the business and is known by her team to wield a pretty mean vacuum cleaner. By her admission, she’s also a little heavy handed with the Tilex spray. 

“You only become a good vacation rental manager by being in the trenches,” she said. “Taking reservations, cleaning, fixing things-being a MacGyver. 

“My husband is blown away. I’ve gone outside and fixed our A/C, looked at our water heater, and said, ‘Yeah, we’ve got an upper element out.’ And he’s like, ‘Whaaaat?’” 

Holmes has a special touch when it comes to air conditioning, demonstrated by one of her favorite stories. Guests at an oceanfront property called in one day saying the living room wasn’t cooling properly, and despite a technician telling Holmes the system was cooling within range, she remained skeptical. 

She decided to call two other contractors and bring them with her into the dark crawl space under the house to check the ductwork. As she guessed, the duct under the living area had a large hole in it, and cool air was pouring into the crawl space—likely the work of rodents. 

But then one of the technicians pointed his flashlight into the sand near their feet. Large paw prints. 

“Hmmm. Bobcat,” he whispered to Holmes. 

“We all lean down and start to see this outline of a mummified bobcat in the sand and the contractors are on either side of me,” Holmes recalled. “And I can’t scream because there are guests in the house right above me, so I dug my nails into them. They both started laughing. They thought it was cool!” 

Vacation rental management requires being ready for everything. 

“I will never say I’ve seen it all,” she said. “Because in this business, there’s always something new.” 

 

Read More about Other VRM Careerists Below

       

 

 

Related Itemsbusinesscustomer serviceFeaturedindustry newsLatest NewsPaula CaballeroPeoplevacation rentalVacation Rental industryvacation rental managersVacation rentalsVRM intel news
Click to add a comment

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Business
February 26, 2021
mm
Paula Caballero

Paula Caballero has worked in the vacation rental industry for more than 15 years, managing and owning rentals worldwide, and is president and founder of the Nevada Vacation Rental Professionals, Inc. She was also a newspaper journalist for more than a decade.

Related Itemsbusinesscustomer serviceFeaturedindustry newsLatest NewsPaula CaballeroPeoplevacation rentalVacation Rental industryvacation rental managersVacation rentalsVRM intel news

More in Business

Leading Proptech Company Guesty Appoints David Aber as CFO

VRM Intel StaffJune 21, 2022
Read More

Meredith Hospitality Brands Inc. Expands to Mt Hood with Acquisition of Mt Hood Vacation Rentals

VRM Intel StaffJune 21, 2022
Read More

How One Vacation Rental Firm Finally Solved the Trust Accounting Problem

XimplifiJune 13, 2022
Read More
2022 Vacation Rental acquisitions from AvantStay, VTrips, Vacasa, Meredith, and more

Who Sold? Here’s What We Know: 2022 Vacation Rental Management Acquisitions

Amy HinoteJune 10, 2022
Read More

5 Steps to Clean Up and Organize Your Vacation Rental Website

Marshall MorrowJune 9, 2022
Read More

VTtrips Acquires Carolina Retreats, Silver Sands, Miss Kitty’s, and Tybee Vacation Rentals

Amy HinoteJune 7, 2022
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Sponsor News

  • How One Vacation Rental Firm Finally Solved the Trust Accounting Problem
    BusinessJune 13, 2022
  • VTtrips Acquires Carolina Retreats, Silver Sands, Miss Kitty’s, and Tybee Vacation Rentals
    BusinessJune 7, 2022
  • Moneyball for Vacation Rental Managers
    BusinessJune 6, 2022
  • Is now the best time to sell your vacation rental business?
    BusinessJune 1, 2022
VRM Intel
Calendar of Events
Videos & Whitepapers
VRMintel Magazine
Subscribe
Advertise
About Us
Authors
Contact Us

Recent News

  • Leading Proptech Company Guesty Appoints David Aber as CFO
    BusinessJune 21, 2022
  • Meredith Hospitality Brands Inc. Expands to Mt Hood with Acquisition of Mt Hood Vacation Rentals
    BusinessJune 21, 2022
  • Rent Responsibly announces new partnerships and new virtual conference series
    Rent Responsibly Launches New 2022 Partnerships and a New Virtual Conference Series for VRMs and Others
    Industry News for Vacation Rental ManagersJune 21, 2022
  • Houses in Koko Head, Oahu, Hawaii
    Property Managers And Owners Sue Honolulu County Over Bill 41
    Industry News for Vacation Rental ManagersJune 17, 2022

View Current Issue

VRMintel Copyright © 2016-17 | Click HERE to Subscribe | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Copyright | Jobs | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

Takeaways from Airbnb’s First Earnings Call as a Publicly Traded Company
VRM Careerists: Ryan Christopher

xxx videos

  • mamadas
  • redwap
  • free porn
  • porno gratis