On Doinn, we are boosting our expansion in the US and Mexican markets, and we are loving the way both markets are welcoming us.
So I couldn´t be happier and more grateful of interviewing Robertín Nuñez, who is in the rental business since 1991 (30 years!) and is the CEO of Co Host Expert Company Inc https://cohostexpert.com/.
Co Host Expert Company founded in 2013 to assists property owners in the conversion process of their standard market rental units into viable Short Term Rental properties.
Noelia: First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times?
Robertin: Very well and alive Noelia. Which nowadays is the top priority Everyone is doing well and actually it has been a very good year considering the climate we are in.
Noelia: What motivated you to get into the vacation rental industry and what has been your journey on it? It is a combination of fate and focus I would say. I am a real estate developer so I have been buying and developing properties in different cities most of my adult life. Formerly I owned a travel agency for 10 years that specialized in entertainment travel. Combining Real Estate and Travel has lead me into the Vacation Rental Industry.
Robertin:
Noelia: Is the industry becoming more or less professional since the Covid hit?
Robertin:
Covid has prompted smaller operators to step up their game regarding their cleaning procedures and daily operations. Since one is not always available or in some countries allowed to venture around because of the lockdowns operators and hosts had to figure out how to run their businesses more efficiently and effectively. Operators and hosts had to really take inventory of their business models since there was such a huge slowdown for a short time and in some places even longer, it really made you look at your business model and ask “Does this work”?
Also the slowdown cleared the landscape from the huge influx of speculators and gave a beating to the more professional hosts and operators. Some made it through the storm others folded, luckily we made it through.
Noelia: Tourism has been highly affected by the pandemic, but is the Vacation rental industry becoming stronger or weaker of this?
Robertin: 1 year ago I would not know how to answer this, but today March 2021 I would say stronger. As I mentioned before many fly by night businesses are no longer and Covid reset the thinking of the Vacation Rental Industry professionals. Everything is not simply based on location and tourism. Vacation rentals are being used by the “New Traveler” which come from all walks of life for many various reasons, some that didn’t really exist or weren’t as strong pre covid. Such as First Responders, Essential Workers and Remote Workers.
Noelia: In terms of product, is there any feature that your users are requesting more than before since Covid hit?
Robertin:
Reliable WIFI has always been a huge important selling point, but now more than ever. We receive many requests where the guest booking for 30-90 to 120 nights wanted to make sure the modem is not shared or they have access to it because their work depends on it. As well as work stations with a view or somewhere they can sit and hammer away at their work.
Also is the location a place where all deliveries can be received, which before wasn’t even much of a request.
Noelia: Doinn has been very successful in the European markets, helping to many property managers to focus on their growth by leaving the operational part to us. From your perspective, what is Doinn bringing to our industry in the USA? What make us different from other solutions for housekeeping?
Robertin:
BOOTS ON THE GROUND. My vision and plan of expansion into Mexico and Latin America has a lot to do with the fact that DOINN can provide a system of operations for the cleaning and turnover part of the business. Which essentially are the front line of one’s operations. Knowing that DOINN is established in a market or region allows us to know that we can enter this market and have a solid business partner relationship to provide this important feature. If not we would have to set up a system in every market which makes it very difficult and challenging to expand.
An operator or host with plans to expand could use the DOINN model and build around the way DOINN is expanding. It is as if they are doing the hard part of setting up and one can come in and build a business around their new established location.