I had the pleasure of sitting with Andrea Brown, of the Ancienty City Hideaway team to learn more aobut their business and plans for the future. Having begun their journey in 2017, Andrea and Danny Brown started the business with an individual rental project in Davis Shores. After realizing they had a knack for the industry, they quickly started expanding the business and now manage five units in St. Augustine, from Davis Shores down to Crescent Beach. Providing everything from furnishing design services to full set up, they make the transition seamless for homeowners moving from the long-term market to the vacation rental market.
With the special title as "Superhost" on Airbnb, guests staying in an Ancient City Hideaway home know they will be well taken care of and will be provided the best amenities for their stay.
What made you decide to open up the business:
We are frequent travelers and we almost never book hotels. We appreciate the local experience of staying in a private home. We enjoy feeling like a local and checking out the locally recommended spots. After many travels, we decided to reverse the roles and provide the same great experiences we've had staying in Airbnb's to St. Augustine visitors!
Danny is the brains behind our first rental. In the Fall of 2016, he had brought me to a condo in Davis Shores and said: "we're going to turn this into an Airbnb." I thought he was crazy. We had no experience as rental owners and the place looked like a total dump at the time, but he was seeing a bigger picture. We snatched it up and took bits and pieces of our favorite past Airbnb stays and incorporated them into the home and after a complete remodel, we went live with our first Airbnb listing. Island Suite #1 has over 100 reviews and a 5-star rating on the site. We're pretty proud of our first successful unit.
What has surprised you most about owning the business?
In this business, there is the constant need to update and be ahead of the pack. You have to find new ways to stand out in the crowd and that can be tricky in the vacation rental market.
What was it like when you first started?
We had a very rough start. Less than a month after purchasing our first rental unit, Hurricane Matthew made an appearance and our precious condo took in 3 1/2 feet of water! We were feeling pretty defeated and just weren't prepared for a renovation that big. In comes our knight in shining armor- Paul Davis Restoration! Susan Brown and Paul Davis worked diligently to provide us a beautifully remodeled condo. We were able to make some layout changes that made the unit so much better and it looked 100% better than when we bought it. By March 2017 we are completely remodeled and furnished and ready to go live! We listed it and hosted our first guests within days. It was such a relief after the hard work to know we had guests relaxing and enjoying their time in our condo. After six months of success with our first condo, our neighbors inquired about us managing their unit as well and just like that- we branched out to property management. We've been steadily adding on new units ever since!
Where are you from and what brought you to St. Augustine?
Danny is from South Florida, but moved here with his family when he was a young toddler and has lived here ever since! I’m from St. Louis, MO. and moved to Jacksonville in 2015 in search of a life with warmer weather and sandy beaches. "We met shortly after my move and the rest is history! We started dating and Danny convinced me to move in with him in St. Augustine. I instantly fell in love with the city and the guy.” We married in downtown St. Augustine this past March and have no plans of ever leaving!
What is something most people don't know about the buiness?
I've noticed a lot of people think they can just throw their house or room up without any prior research. Most people aren't aware that they need to register their rentals and pay special taxes through the state and county.
Also, there are a lot of important details in designing a vacation rental that can be missed if you don't have the experience. Travelers look for specific luxuries and essentials with home rentals and we make sure to have these items in every one of our units.
What would your customers say they love most about Ancient City Hideaways?
We are detailed and responsive! Guests are appreciative that we are always available to answer their questions or provide helpful insights while exploring the city. A lot of big management companies are unable to provide a local opinion because they're not locally based or just have too many rentals to give any special attention to an individual. We make sure we are quick to respond and give our guests plenty of helpful information about the units and where to go around town!
What are your goals over the next year?
Our biggest goal is to perfect the business. We want to be the hosts that provide memorable experiences for our guests. We are also working towards more growth. We've grown from two to eight properties this year and hope we can build new relationships with second homeowners who are ready to leap into the short-term market.
What are your greatest challenges?
Our biggest challenge is the high volume of competition in the area. It's amazing to see how many new rentals have popped up in the least year. We are constantly researching the area, scoping out the area and working on making sure we are providing the top amenities for our guests.
What were the facotrs that made you choose St. Augustine?
We obviously chose St. Augustine because we live here already. We feel it’s important to keep the business close to home and because this city is a top tourist destination all year around which makes it a profitable business! We specifically chose the Davis Shores neighborhood for our first rental trial because it is perfectly located minutes from both downtown and the beach. It's wonderful that our guests have the option to walk or bike to the majority of the large attractions from the condos in that neighborhood.
What do love about St. Augustine?
St. Augustine is so unique and beautiful, what's not to love about this place? We love the local atmosphere and abundance of events happening in the area. There is always something exciting happening here. But most of all, this city has charm. It's the Oldest City and you can learn something new about its history every day. Such a special little town!
What are your favorite restaurants in the neighborhood?
We have so many favorite places! We are avid local supporters and typically only go to locally owned spots such as Old Coast Ales, Llama Restaurant, and Urban Back 40.
What's the most memorable experience you've had working with a customer?
We don't get a whole lot of personal interaction with our guests because we have A great self-check in process at our units but we do get to talk a little back and forth between messages before and during their stay. However, one family just recently left us the sweetest Thank You card. They wrote all about their trip and told us in detail everything they loved about their stay. I almost cried opening the card. To receive any feedback especially a personalized card telling us how much our guests enjoyed the little details we included for them in our condo made me realize this stuff really matters. We really are enhancing people's vacations!
Where are your favorite places to go in the neighborhood?
If we're not grubbing down at a local restaurant, we're most likely propped up in Crescent Beach. Danny is a recreational surfer and I enjoy taking in my dose of Florida sunshine!
Do you have any exciting plans for the future that you want customers to know about?
Yes! We have a lot of exciting things in the works. First, we just added three new listings in the Davis Shores neighborhood and we just launched our very own website so guests can book directly through us! Cutting out the middleman is beneficial for both parties and will save costs for travelers. We will also include loads of helpful information about the area for our guests to save them time and effort when planning their trip. Social media pages will also be going live so we can share current events and interact with our guests. Stay tuned!
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