Scaling a Vacation Rental Business in Croatia: How Sun Spolato Grew to 110 Properties with Quality and Transparency
Host as Guest
This episode of Host as Guest was recorded live at the SCALE Eastern Europe conference in Bulgaria, where we had the chance to sit down with Boris, the CEO and founder of Sun Spolato, a property management company based in Croatia.
Boris shares his journey from launching the business five years ago to now managing over 110 short-term rental properties across Croatia, including apartments, boutique rooms, and luxury villas. With a team of 10 people and a steady annual growth rate of 20 to 30 percent, Sun Spolato has become a standout name in the Croatian short-term rental market.
In this conversation, we explore what makes the Croatian vacation rental market so unique—and so challenging. Boris explains how high guest expectations, strict national standards, and the importance of maintaining strong owner relationships all contribute to the complexity of running a property management company in Croatia.
One of the ways Sun Spolato stays ahead of the competition is through technology. The company has developed its own custom owner portal, designed to offer complete transparency and real-time performance insights to property owners. According to Boris, this tech-driven approach is one of the key reasons they’ve been able to retain trust and scale sustainably.
We talk about the company’s approach to growth, focusing on quality over quantity, building processes before automating them, and prioritising happy guests as the route to happy owners. Boris also discusses how they assess whether to take on a new property, sharing red flags that might make them walk away, and what makes a new deal worth pursuing.
The conversation touches on the day-to-day of running a short-term rental business. Boris shares that he enjoys the logistics and operational side of things, and while he isn’t a control freak, he is very performance-oriented. He talks about how they support team development through regular training and goal setting, with an emphasis on individual growth within the company.
We also look at how Boris and his team manage the pressures of the high season, and why creating work-life balance is a priority across the company. While summer is all hands on deck, the quieter winter months provide space to recharge.
The episode wraps with a discussion about long-term vision. Boris isn’t focused on an exit strategy just yet—instead, he’s fully engaged in the work, enjoying the day-to-day challenges and rewards of growing a business that delivers real value to both guests and owners.
If you're interested in learning how to scale a vacation rental business sustainably, navigate the complexities of a high-standard tourism market, and build a strong brand in a local destination, this conversation with Boris offers plenty of insight.
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