What it Means Going from Holiday to Corporate:
I Love Victoria!
I started out years ago brokering vacation accommodations. I loved it as I got to meet new and interesting people from all over the world. Over time it felt like I was operating my own boutique hotel. That’s a fantasy a lot of people have that of being an “inn-keeper”, offering hospitality to visitors and of course being an authority on your own neck of the woods. Even putting out the cute soaps and toiletries was fun. Someone showed me a fancy way to display towels in the bathroom which I have used ever since. I enjoyed providing as close to a 5 Star experience as possible.
Every month I would gather up all the tourist brochures and event magazines and place them lovingly throughout the properties for guests to find. The fridge was always stocked with coffee cream, fresh fruit, jam and BBQ condiments and the cupboards with coffee, tea, hot chocolate, seasonings and other little gems.
If you like pleasing people then you might like running your own hotel (as it were).
Then came the changing wave. 2008 – tourism down – way down. Victoria had long depended on the influx of American travelers to fill up hotels and holiday homes and now with the US economy in turmoil we felt the pinch here. No more high prices for daily or weekly stays. Americans were still coming up here but not as many and the ones that did come bargained hard for their accommodations. Homeowners were forced to slash their holiday rates to attract business.
Even the “snow birds” had long since disappeared due to the strong Canadian dollar which could fetch a top luxury suite in Palm Springs or Arizona – were you can be assured of sunshine everyday. The following couple of years fared no better. Vacation rentals became cut-throat in pricing and many people sold just to get out of it as it had become extremely unprofitable.
Then came 2010 a sudden influx of British engineers brought to Victoria for a 2-3 year working contract on our submarine. By 2011 other international firms began bringing in their own personnel and changed the landscape overnight. The properties that were summer holiday places in August became corporate accommodations by September. Four other international firms who have offices here also imported a variety of specialists, consultants and professionals to book up every furnished property in sight (downtown core). This trend continued well into 2012 with many leases since renewed and creating a shortage of both holiday and corporate accommodations. At this time most properties have gone “corporate”.
Until that happened I never knew how much I needed a break from running my “hotel”. No more daily or weekly turnovers to attend to, no more constant tour of the buildings, having to be everywhere at once to check people in and out and a myriad of other minutiae that consume your time on a daily basis.
Going corporate meant getting unchained from necessary tasks that don’t pay. Tenants in for the long term require a lot of time in the beginning to get settled but over time don’t drain your energy and you don’t have to worry about abrupt turnovers, restocking of anything and other extra duties.
Executive Client
Suddenly I had more time to do what any business owner should be doing – expanding. Now I could make the appropriate partnering contacts, follow-up more closely on my leads and begin pursuing new inventory which even at this point is getting low due to corporate placements.
I still love holiday guests and love to offer good old Victorian hospitality but one unit with that going on is enough. I am enjoying the longer term rentals much more as I get time to develop my business, learn new business skills and maybe even have a life.
corporaterent 