The Vacation Rental Key with T and T
This is a podcast for professional vacation rental managers. Whether you manage 5 properties or 500 properties you can gain insight on how to run a successful vacation rental business by listening to T and T give their Keys to being the best.
The Vacation Rental Key with T and T
Episode 5: From Finance to Five-Star Hospitality with Marco DiDimizio
What does it take to create the #1 rated hospitality experience in America? Marco DiDimesio reveals the strategies that transformed the Candleberry Inn on Cape Cod into TripAdvisor's top-rated bed and breakfast for three consecutive years—an achievement that required far more than comfortable beds and good breakfast.
Marco's journey began with a career pivot from finance to hospitality, driven by an Italian heritage rich in hosting traditions and visits to over 30 different B&Bs as a guest. With business partner Angelo, they purchased an underperforming property with architectural promise, immediately investing in marketing while developing a service philosophy centered on becoming "superheroes" for their guests.
The magic of Marco's approach lies in his concept of the "personal guest"—collecting information before arrival to customize experiences, using breakfast conversations strategically, and turning problems into loyalty-building opportunities. He shares riveting examples of extraordinary service recovery, including driving guests to police stations after accidents and arranging transportation home when their car was totaled. These aren't just good deeds—they're strategic investments in guest relationships that generated 359 consecutive five-star reviews.
For vacation rental managers facing unique operational challenges, Marco offers practical adaptations of his high-touch approach. Quality assurance inspectors can double as experience enhancers by placing personalized welcome items based on guest information. Small farewell gifts (most under $1) create lasting impressions. And his partnership with marketing experts demonstrates how becoming the local authority through authentic content can attract guests researching destinations rather than simply accommodations.
Perhaps most valuable is Marco's staffing wisdom—hiring for attitude over skill, paying above market rates for quality service providers, and finding reliable team members in unexpected places (like the nuns from a local convent who became his most dependable staff). His advice to never use the word "discount"—instead offering "loyalty guest credits"—maintains perceived value while recognizing repeat business.
Ready to transform your guest experience from transactional to exceptional? Marco's proven strategies will inspire you to reconsider every touchpoint in your hospitality journey. Connect with him through InAdvisors or LinkedIn to learn how his expertise can elevate your properties to new heights of guest satisfaction and profitability.
The problem-solving piece of it is big, and this is where the staff and I work together on where it's never done. You can't just shrug your shoulders. You are that superhero for your guests when something happens where they need some help.
Speaker 2:You're listening to the Vacation Rental Key with TNT, the podcast for vacation rental managers by vacation rental managers. I'm Tim Cafferty and I manage two companies, one in Virginia and one in North Carolina. I'm one of the two Ts.
Speaker 3:And I'm the other, T Tiffany Edwards, born and raised in the vacation rental business. I help manage our family businesses from Key West all the way to Kauai.
Speaker 2:In the next 30 minutes, we're going to give you our keys to success in the vacation rental business.
Speaker 3:Well, y'all, I am so excited. When Tim and I decided to do this podcast, we said we didn't want to do very many interviews, but I challenged him to say that if we did an interview, it had to be keynote worthy and an individual who came on had to be someone that would be closing or opening a general session because of their pearls of wisdom. And Tim brought Marco to the table. I'm so excited for today's podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, delivered for you and, without further ado, let's introduce our guest. I am really pleased to introduce you all to a true hospitality superstar. This gentleman and his partner embody what many of us aspire to be. He and his partner, angela Ferraro, are the former owners of the Candleberry Inn, located in Brewster, massachusetts, on Cape Cod. Through years of pouring their heart and soul, they transformed an inn into the top-rated bed and breakfast inn in all of the United States and number two in the world. In 2022, 23, and in 2024, the Candleberry Inn was rated number one by TripAdvisor and Travel and Leisure, not to be outdone, rated the Candleberry Inn the number one inn in the country last year. He's got a real aura of service delivery that I think you will see come through in this episode. It is my pleasure and distinct honor to welcome Marco DiDimesio, the king of hospitality, to the Vacation Rental Key podcast.
Speaker 1:Thanks so much, Tim and Tiffany. It's a pleasure to be here. I'm really thrilled to join you.
Speaker 3:Thank you, marco. So I have one of the biggest questions just starting out. So many of the operators in vacation rentals just happened to fall into this industry, but you and Angelo made an inspired choice to leave careers that didn't have anything related to hospitality. So, finance and architecture what inspired y'all to make that change?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So we actually liked the careers we had when we were in New York City, but that nagging feeling of what's next kept coming up. We knew we did not want to be in the same job five or 10 years from then. And, by the way, 10 years later, we're still in touch with our old bosses. We still connect. I spoke to my old boss about a month ago. He said he's still mad at me for leaving and over the years he's been visiting us at the inn.
Speaker 1:But what inspired us was to own our own business, to be the masters of our own destiny. And hospitality both of us being Italian, hosting 20, 25 people on any given weekend was something we grew up doing with Italian mothers. So it was a good fit. We were really scared, but we were up for it and went for it. And you know, the architecture part of it is really what inspired Angela. It's how it all started.
Speaker 1:We would visit Cape Cod on vacations and we stayed in Provincetown and we always stayed at a different B&B and over the course of about 15 years we stayed at over 30 different properties. So in that time we experienced many different things on what to do and not to do in hospitality. The not to do's are just as valuable. But the essence of it was that Angela was very interested in the architectural details of the historic buildings, which is why we always see different ones, and over time we started thinking you know, we can do this, I can do this better, I can do that. I will never do that over time. And then we started asking some of the innkeepers how they got into it. What did you do before this and what was the first step you took and were you scared and who did you work with? And a couple of innkeepers in Provincetown recommended that we join the Association for Innkeepers, which is now called ALP, and there's a whole aspiring track there for upcoming hospitality owners and managers. I wanted to take advantage of my membership as an aspiring person and I saw that there was going to be an immersive Aspiring Innkeeping weekend here on the Cape, so I signed up for it.
Speaker 1:The consultant had owned an inn many years ago. She was the first inn on Cape Cod to have a website in the 1990s. Everyone thought she was crazy, but I still work with her now. So she was the consultant that we worked with. We went through her immersive seminar. We signed up to work with her as our broker, visiting the Cape, and approximately six months later we located the Candleberry Inn that was for sale, and since then she's been a great mentor to us and constantly pushing us, cheering us on and also pushing us to get to the next level. You really do need that mentor along the way, because when you're in the business every day, you don't always see it and you need to understand where that next step is. And a lot of times we're afraid. We're afraid to raise prices, we're afraid to do marketing, and it's important to do those items that will increase revenue and your profit.
Speaker 3:What, specifically, were some of your criterias in purchasing the inn? Obviously, the architecture was important, but what were some of those main criterias that you felt were non-negotiables for your purchase?
Speaker 1:Sure. So number of rooms, because you need a certain number of rooms to make it profitable and in this world it's six or seven rooms. We were nine rooms, so that was one of the main factors. The other was the owner's quarters, because we lived on site and not all properties are the same, no-transcript, and there needed to be enough rooms. The price also worked with us because it was an underperforming property at that time, but we had the vision of what it could be and the potential of it, together with our backgrounds. Angelo's architecture and the design really was an asset.
Speaker 1:As we moved forward and myself with finance and marketing, I immediately hired a marketing company that specializes in hospitality to help us, because there really was nothing done in the beginning. Our website was not responsive design, so it didn't fit some of the devices that travelers were using. There was no blog, there was no email, there was no social media, so we immediately built that from the foundation up to gain more guests and reservations and over time, the brand just kept building and it's never done so it's always what more can I do? And partnering with that strategic partner, the marketing partner, to also help you think where else should you be? Our monthly call was always all right. This is what we've achieved. This is what the Google analytics is saying. This is what our numbers look like. But where else should we be? And that's where the reputation management piece of it with TripAdvisor and the other platforms came about, and they partnered with us to just keep moving that forward.
Speaker 2:You already answered part question I have for you and that is those challenges. You identified the property. You felt like you had this vision. But talk to us about the challenges. I know there had to be many.
Speaker 1:The challenges was the money, because we bought an underperforming property, so when I bought it, the revenue wasn't there. We left some big jobs in New York City. So, like my God, what did we just do? You know? So there was, there were several sleepless nights there in the beginning and, you know, the business wasn't there, the occupancy and the ADR was all very low, but we just kept chipping away. So that was the biggest challenge. And then I think everyone will agree, the staffing throughout, and I think that that is an end. The industry, even when we worked in New York, attracting and retaining and motivating staff is always the biggest challenge. We were lucky that we built a really great team over the years, but no season went without some type of challenge.
Speaker 3:So, talking about staffing, because some of our listeners will know, that's also my greatest hurdle and where I do not thrive. But you've been able to retain staff and train staff to a spirit of excellence with your guest performance, and so I wanted to talk a little bit to and have you expand a little bit on, one, your guest excellence and becoming a problem solver for your guests, and then, two, how you train those staff members to continue that spirit of excellence.
Speaker 1:Sure, so the problem solving piece of it is big, and this is where the staff and I work together. On where it's never done, you can't just shrug your shoulders. You are that superhero for your guests when something happens, where they need some help. And that's not to say that they come to you and you don't have an answer. It's partnering with them and solving the issue, them in solving the issue. There are several examples that we experienced over time. One was where a guest showed up and they booked a stay, thinking that it was for today, but it actually was a year from today and we were full and they're insisting to check in and we're looking like no, it's actually 2026. And they were like, oh my God. So sitting with them and figuring out where they can go, so refunding them right away. But then every afternoon we had special treats for our guests because we baked every day. So we had individual packages with guests' names and room numbers on it, so we made sure they got something. We made sure they got their refreshments at our coffee center, and all of that so that they would not get nervous or freak out over this, because some people could. I saw the wife getting very obsessed. So no, sit down, we got you, we'll figure this out. And then calling my peers around like five to 10 mile radius on if they have rooms and this was August, so there's not a lot of there's not a lot of availability, but solving that problem and it took about an hour and a half because they were supposed to stay for about a week, so no one had availability for one week in a stretch. So it became piecemeal and I positioned it as this is a lovely review and sent us a gift. So that type of mentality.
Speaker 1:There was another one that I shared at the conference where we had a guest who got in a car accident. They left after breakfast, they went to Provincetown and around 4.30, I got a call from them at the hospital and the wife had broken her wrist. So they didn't know what to do. So I went to pick them up, approximately 20, 25 minutes away, and she told me that she needed her phone, but her phone was at the police station in Provincetown. So we drove up to Provincetown, which was probably an hour or so away, and then drove them back to the inn, and at that point it was about 930 in the evening. They hadn't eaten anything since that morning. So Angelo had dinner for them, we brought it to their room and then the next day I made arrangements to get them back home because their car was totaled, to get them back home to New York. So I found a car service that would take them down.
Speaker 1:That level of service that they're just not sort of left out in the lurch when something happens like that, being that problem solver, helping them through it. It is priceless to a guest and the loyalty that you build with them that they will come back again and again and refer friends and family. You can't put a price on something like that. So it's that level, guest excellence. So it's beyond just providing a room and providing a meal and just welcoming them, but it's from the beginning to the end. Just show them that you really are fully invested in their stay, in their visit, and instilling that into the staff mentality.
Speaker 1:It took a while for us to figure out the staffing. The season for us got longer and longer because we had success. Our shoulder seasons were longer, so we had the main busy season, which runs approximately Memorial Day to the end of September. But then we got busy in April, may, june, through October and November. So many properties rely on the J-1 students, which are the international students who come for like a work-study thing, but their season is very short. They get here in June, they leave Labor Day. That didn't work for us.
Speaker 1:And then also, as our offering evolved and our guest experience raised, I really needed adults. I really needed those hospitality-minded people that these kids just couldn't do. By the time you had them trained, it was time to leave. These kids didn't even know what a top sheet was to make a bed, let alone teaching them how to make a bed professionally on a daily basis. So there were a couple of different ways where we solved the staffing issue. One was paying more than the average market and it's worth it because if you're providing a premium service, then that is one of the ways to support that. I also promoted one of my staff people to an assistant innkeeper and we worked with her to get her green card. In between that we also sponsored her as an H2B because she was visiting from another country, so partnering with her to do that for her and again building that loyalty with the guests. But she had a degree in hospitality. She was very passionate about this. The guests loved her, she loved them and she helped me be better Together. We would always them and she helped me be better Together. We would always partner. And what more can we do? What else can we add in the guest room? How else can we serve this breakfast in a more elevated way? Like our breakfast was like fine dining. The guests were seated, they did not get up, everything was served to them in courses on China. Just elevating that whole experience.
Speaker 1:And then I'm going to share a little secret with you. Another great idea that sort of fell in my lap was every year, when it was time to hire, I just started texting anyone that was in my area code. So here on the Cape, the area code was 508. So I just started texting partners, people, my coffee supplier, the person who printed my rack cards. And the person who printed my rack cards wrote back to me, said yes, I actually do know someone who may be interested in working with you, but, however, she is a sister, she's a nun at a convent. I'm like okay, and apparently they go out and make money for the community and it goes back. You know she's not making it personally. Do you have a problem with that? I said no, as long as she can clean a room. I'm good, she was delightful.
Speaker 1:And then over the years we actually hired more sisters from that convent. They came in our uniform and it was very discreet, but as guests got to know them, they learned about them and they also visited the convent, which was beautiful. But they were reliable, they were honest and they were on time. There were no hangovers. They worked the entire season and we just became really great friends. And they were on time. There were no hangovers. They worked the entire season and we just became really great friends and they loved the property. So now when we sold, they were very upset about the news because it's the end of this friendship. It was a great way to solve that problem.
Speaker 3:Well, and it sounds like you and Angelo showed what you would expect by making the beds yourself and going out and driving, so I think that's probably a very large component to it as well.
Speaker 1:I had a bed making bootcamp so we actually videoed how to make the bed. How to make the bed tightly. It can't look like someone slept in. It has to be perfect, it has to be tight. So my assistant innkeeper filled me as we were doing it, so it could be used as a tutorial for all the other staff members.
Speaker 2:You just gave a great explanation of the concept that I've come to know you by, and that is the personal guest. Talk to us more about how you can develop that relationship with the guests, which you've done so beautifully.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I love that concept. That actually was my guiding light, my North star, as we were through this journey. Although I didn't know that term initially, yeah, I had the vision of what we wanted to provide to our guests. I actually learned it from a guest.
Speaker 1:So there was a guest who checked in and they were tired and not happy. They didn't have a good experience wherever they had stayed prior to us. So they were tired. They had driven a long time. They wanted dinner. So I got them reservations at a nearby restaurant where they could walk so they didn't have to get back into the car. They loved the room. So I knew that in the evening they were spending time in the room and they were enjoying the spa bathroom and the robes and the slippers and all of that. Then at breakfast they were new people. When we seated them, they were completely refreshed and we were talking about the area.
Speaker 1:So now I moved into concierge mode. You know how do we optimize your visit in the area? Because, yes, it's nice to see you, but you didn't come here to see me. Maybe next time you'll come back to see me, but initially they're not coming to see us, they're coming to visit the area. So how do we optimize their visit with those types of referral services on you know what type of activities, what type of tours dinner, museums, physical activities, biking, hiking. So we helped them with that and when they left they wrote such a wonderful review and they said that they felt like they were treated like a personal guest versus just an anonymous traveler. And that's where the lights went off for me. Like, yes, personal guests, that is it. That is what we're aspiring to be. We want guests to feel like they are personal to us when they come into our lodging establishment, not just anonymous or just sort of wandering the halls. We want them to know that there is that personal connection.
Speaker 3:That's really interesting too, because even from your last answer, I think a lot of us as operators from the vacation rental side focus a lot on a review as opposed to that personal guest or return on investment personally and then for those individuals to return. How did you collect or did you collect some of this information on the front end from your guests to provide these personal guest experiences, or how much of it was really listening and being present in those interactions in the first 45 seconds that you met someone, or in those times at breakfast when you were available and on site?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a really good question and that it's everything, all of the above. So it actually starts even before they come. So it starts with the reservation and if the PMS system allows you to collect information on the purpose of their visit, that information is amazing because if they're coming for an anniversary or a birthday or whatever it is mom and daughter trip, brothers, dad trip, fishing trip you can already start to plan what it is that they're going to be doing or to provide something special in their room, whether it's a bottle of champagne for the honeymooners or a tray of home-baked cookies. If it's a family, you know in advance. So before they even get there, when they arrive, they're already finding the surprise and delight element of their stay. So it starts there.
Speaker 1:And then at check-in we did personal check-ins. So for me, when they arrived, I showed them to their room, we talked about breakfast, we confirmed if there were any dietary restrictions or food allergies, which we also collect in the reservation system. But it's always good to confirm it because that really is something where you can personalize and win that guest over. And over the course of our ownership it's become much easier. When we first bought the inn, there wasn't a lot with gluten-free, but that's really evolved. As long as you know in advance, you can pretty much do anything and win that guest over. But throughout the journey taking them to their room, understanding the body language, there should never be a 45-minute check-in. I've heard of some innkeepers where they're talking to the guests for 45 minutes Guess what. They were in the car for three to five hours. They need to use the bathroom. So you need to read their body language and understand that. If they want to speak to you, if they want you, then good, we're on.
Speaker 1:You answer the questions when should we go? What should we do? How far is the beach? Which restaurant should we go to tonight versus tomorrow? Which one should we do for the anniversary? All of that can be answered. And then throughout the stay and yes, breakfast is important Breakfast is when they are a captive audience for us, because everyone comes to breakfast During the day. They come and go.
Speaker 1:You may not see guests if they are busy, but I made sure that I was there for breakfast, so Angelo was the chef and then my staff and I oversaw the breakfast service. And that's when I would ask how's it going? How's everything in your room? What do you have planned for today and that is an opportunity that if something isn't right, you can quickly course correct it and fix it to win them over and make them happy. So you're going to get a good review, but, more importantly, they're also going to rebook with you. It's never done, but there are different ways to do that as well that I talked about at the conference as well, like leaving question cards in the rooms on how the stay is going, or maybe one of those little question cards that you can leave on the doorknob if you don't want to go in the room. But collecting that information starts even before they stay through the end. And then at the end, how was everything? And getting a read on them.
Speaker 2:You've done such a great job on that.
Speaker 1:Oh, thank you.
Speaker 2:As you're talking to our audience, I can hear them almost saying yeah, but, marco, I have X amount of properties spread amongst this mileage. What kind of tips would you have for an operator that has multiple locations but still has that opportunity to have the guest interaction of some wins we could have?
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and I was so impressed by the passion that was in the room during the conference, at the other sessions as well as mine. The interest is there, which I love. There are ways, you know, when I heard that the properties all have inspectors, I love that. So after the housekeepers, the inspectors go in. We did that as well. We called it QA quality assurance just to check everything to make sure the room is set up for when the guest arrives.
Speaker 1:There's an opportunity there, I believe, so that person or persons can do something.
Speaker 1:So if you have information in advance on what the special occasion is, or if it's a return guest and you have information, it's a family or whatever, there's an opportunity there to do something special, whether it's a personalized welcome note, a tray of cookies.
Speaker 1:If it's a family, whatever it is, they want certain foods. Or if you want to leave a list of possible activities in the area for the family. Or if it is honeymooners, because some of the units that you rent are also small, one bedrooms, right, so it could be couples. It doesn't always have to be a family, so personalizing it to that, but I think that's where the personalized touch. There's an opportunity there for you, like once the room is done and you know this guest is coming in, if you have information in advance if it's a new guest, otherwise if it's a new guest, otherwise if it's a return guest. That's amazing. There's opportunities there. And then also through technology, being able to text them through the stay other opportunities and making it less institutional, more personal, a softer way of writing those couple of sentences or phrases to the guest, to check in on them to see how they're doing.
Speaker 3:I love that and I know that we've mentioned personalized, but I think that, in terms of scale as well, we use the same gift for the same occasion year over year and so it becomes less personalized. And so what I'm getting from you is to really understand that guest so much better and then having to bring something to that guest that is unique to them, especially if they're returning year over year and they're not getting the exact same champagne bottle with the exact same note by the exact same person. But it's a welcome back. So I really like that, that key advice there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it can change. You can have the same gift for the group of guests each year and just change the gift. Every year we had a little farewell gift. So at the end of the stay we would present the guests with a little card and it was the size of a business card so they can fit it in their wallet or in their phone, and it thanked them for the stay. And then we also asked them to give us a review and it had the logos of the various platforms TripAdvisor, google, whatever but with that we would give a little farewell gift and it was less than a dollar.
Speaker 1:So last year they were little eyeglass cleaners, little cloths that were branded We've done flashlights, we've done luggage tags, something that relates to travel or the guests, but is not terribly expensive and is branded, and the amount of goodwill, like they were thrilled like, oh my God, we should be giving you gifts, but that little something. And every year it was something different because we had the return guests. Now we also had guests that returned more than once in a season, but they got it again like, hey, you're getting another one. Terrific, I'll give it to my daughter, I'll give it to my mom, you know. So it's all good.
Speaker 3:I love that. Yeah Well, maybe they came also to make sure they got that farewell gift Right. So I also want to ask about this, because it's absolutely incredible to get to an award level one year. To do it year over year and provide consistency is astonishing, and I know from Tim and I and our hospitality background. I know the type of work that that takes Year over year. Did you and Angelo and the team pivot at all? Did you keep the same processes? Did you fine tune anything year over year to create that consistency, or were you still really steadfast in your processes?
Speaker 1:consistency, or were you still really steadfast in your processes? So it was consistent. But it was also that idea of delivering value. Okay, cause over time there were some significant renovations that were done. We completely gutted our bathrooms and scaled them up. So it was constantly thinking of cause our rates went up.
Speaker 1:So how do we balance that? How do we make the guests feel comfortable but also make them feel like they're not being taken advantage of by the increase in rates? Right? So it was always what more can we do to demonstrate this perceived value in what they're getting? So at the end they'll say I paid a lot but it was worth every penny. And then they rebook so definitely those investments. They'll say I paid a lot but it was worth every penny. And then they rebook so definitely those investments in the property itself to make the stay nicer, the bathrooms, the beds, all of that, but also those soft amenities.
Speaker 1:Along the way we introduced an ice cream freezer that was kind of like a good humor ice cream freezer that had the packaged ice cream in there and the unit costs for those were like 70 cents.
Speaker 1:But their faces lit up when they arrived and they saw that because they could get that when they came home from the beach or after dinner, for dessert or before bed, went over. Really well, you could introduce things like nicer sparkling waters and flavored waters, because we all provide water in the rooms, but maybe in the common area or in the office you have something a little nicer that makes them come out of their way over to the office and it's worth a little more when they have to work for it and go and get it Right. So things like that, if the properties haven't already thought about it electric vehicle chargers you know, it's another thing that we did and there's a lot of great rebates through the states where we paid very little. Things like that that just continue showing that there's value there. Because we always want to increase our rates. We have to, but how do we demonstrate value along the way?
Speaker 2:I'm intrigued by something very petty, but just to clarify, you've gotten all these awards Mark, you and Angela in terms of top in the country, and I was fortunate enough to win an award one time from Inc Magazine and they had this huge gala. It was a black tie fair. There's nothing like that. You didn't even know at one point that you were ranked as a top location. It seems like it should be more fanfare.
Speaker 1:So, yes, so I think you also asked earlier how did we do it? So it's a lot of work in collecting those reviews. With my marketing partner, he actually developed an email system where we would send out the emails to request the reviews and collect them and then review them. So it wasn't just quantity, it was also quality of the reviews. I don't know what's in TripAdvisor's algorithm. It's that secret sauce. They'll never tell you. But if I had to guess, based on my experience with them, it's the quantity of reviews but the quality.
Speaker 1:So what are guests saying that was so special about your property, the food, the rooms? And then how are we responding? Because you're responding hey, tim, it was great to see you, so glad that you enjoyed your anniversary visit with us in that restaurant down the hill where you had that amazing lemon drop martini. Blah, blah, blah. Writing all of that in, because I believe that Google loves all of that. When they're scraping, they're seeing that it's deep, it's not just a thank you. So when I think that you're making the content a little richer there and it's authentic, that gives you points. How fast you respond to the reviews also goes into your ranking, I believe. So answering every review, how fast you respond and what you're saying all go into that. I believe Another part of it is also the whole matter of being the expert in your area and blogging about the area.
Speaker 1:We had blogs that outranked TripAdvisors. We did one about the Cape Cod Rail Trail and it was so rich in information about where you can access the trail. Where are the bike shops? If you need to rent one, or if you need one for a flat tire or a broken chain? Where can you stop to be hydrated? Where can you get a sandwich? Where can you stop and just go for a swim in one of the lakes or beaches? That blog ranked higher than TripAdvisor's blog and I want to believe TripAdvisor knew that.
Speaker 3:So when you sat down to do some of those the blog were you looking competitively at other ends in the area to change what you were providing on your website, or did you just focus internally on what your guests typically wanted to see?
Speaker 1:It was together with my marketing partner, because they have software that will make sure that what you're writing about actually ranks in searches. So that's part one. Part two is who is your guest? Who are you going after? So I knew that I wanted that guest that would go biking, or the guest that would go whale watching and writing those blogs in a way where we became the expert in the area. Because when we first bought the inn and we had nothing as far as content goes on our website, we wrote more blogs but they were shorter. Then, over time, with my marketing partner, he said I think we need to focus, we want to make you the expert in the area, so let's write fewer, but let's make it really rich that you know what you're talking. So they would do the research and write the blog itself and then they would send it to me, because I reviewed every piece of content before it was published. I would review it and I would add the local flavor. I would add the context to the content is what I refer to it as to make sure that it was. So when we talked about the local restaurants, I would refer to that restaurant down the hill where Diane was the bartender and made that amazing lemon drop martini. They wouldn't know that, only the local person knows that. But they did 90% of that research. That ranks. And then I would add in that local flavor that only we know. And that's where it really paid off, because, again, google loves stuff like that. It helped us rank.
Speaker 1:And that's when the guests find you, when they're researching the area. Again, they're not coming to look for us, they're not coming to see us, at least not initially. Again, they're not coming to look for us. They're not coming to see us, at least not initially. First they're looking to visit the area and they're looking at the different activities that they're looking to experience when they're there. And then they're like oh wow, candleberry Inn wrote about this. They know what they're talking about. Oh wow, this is a beautiful website. I'm going to stay here. And then you build, once you have them in the door, you build that relationship. And then it's the long-term repeats day, that and I love the whole concept of the lifetime value of the guest over time, how much they're worth, and that's when you start thinking about our rates have gone up.
Speaker 1:Do we work with these guests? Yes, but, as I told Tim at the conference never discount. That word discount came up a few times at the conference and I started twitching in my chair. I'm like, no, they're like, but you don't discount. I'm like, well, that doesn't mean you can't work with your guests, but never call it that, because I turned, I looked at everyone and said you're providing a luxury experience. I hear this word luxury, stay, the luxury traveler who's looking to pay a premium. You know they shouldn't be looking for a discount.
Speaker 1:If you're looking to work with certain guests that are loyal, absolutely Call it a loyalty guest credit. Call it, you know one-time, you know adjustment, whatever it is, even if something went wrong, right and something happened and something happened with the toilet, it happens One-time service adjustment, one-time guest loyalty credit, whatever it is. Book early rate, book early bird special rate. And my recommendation is to never just directly adjust that rate, leave the full rate. So if your room rate like, let's say, for me, my room rate was $700 and I wanted to give them a discount, $700 room rate, guest loyalty adjustment minus $100 for a net of six, so they see the value and they know what they're getting and what other guests are paying. They feel special. That perception is important, but take away that word discount, don't use it.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's fantastic advice, and so we warned you in advance about this little inane game we like to play with our guests. It's time for Quick Draw. We ask you questions and you can answer in just a few words, or more wordy if you like, and we start right now. What is your favorite Italian food?
Speaker 1:My favorite Italian food is a piadina. So from my region of Italy, it is a thin bread, almost like a pita, that you fold over breads or over vegetables. Grew up eating that and when I visit Italy it's my favorite thing to have.
Speaker 3:What's your favorite amenity that you have during your vacation?
Speaker 1:I think it's the bath amenities. I love exploring different bath amenities. I was at a couple of conferences recently and I always tend to go to those tables at the conferences and I love the natural stuff. There's a company called Lather that's out there now and I'm just loving their products. They gave me a bunch of samples. So yeah, I always love the body washes and the creams and those little balms that you put on your temples at night to relax, and room sprays. I love all that stuff.
Speaker 2:All right, you're a busy guy, you don't have a lot of downtime. But when you do have downtime, and maybe you're watching TV and you're scanning channels, what is that? One show or movie that you come across and you watch it again for the 15th time.
Speaker 1:Oh, there's a few, but you'll laugh Like one of them, I think, is Legally Blonde because it just cracks me up. And who doesn't love Jennifer Coolidge? And you know that brings me into this whole White Lotus thing that we can talk about hospitality, because everyone, I believe, for us, for my staff, it was required. You know how school has required reading. The White Lotus was required watching that and the Devil Wears Prada, because there were times where I was accused of being like Meryl Streep there because people were moving at a glacial pace.
Speaker 3:All right. What was your you and Angela's big purchase after the sale?
Speaker 1:Well, our home. So we have. We bought a little Cape cottage here, still on route 6A, which is really cool that you know giving him his historic thing. But it is modest. It's a little one bedroom cottage. It's a slice of old Cape Cod and it's on a little pond. We have a little dock, so pretty amazing. That's what we've done so far.
Speaker 2:What book are you?
Speaker 1:currently reading, relating to one of my board seats, select Registry, which is a group of inns that is a membership or distinct inns of North America. They are vetted and inspected before they can be part of it. We met with an instructor recently and he wrote a book called Selling Value and it's about that whole value perception to whoever your customer is, rather than getting caught up with hourly rates and that sort of thing. It's selling value. Same thing applies to our guests getting away from what is my weekly rate? What is my nightly rate? No, what am I getting?
Speaker 3:All right, what was your first concert? Oh gosh, I think it was Janet.
Speaker 1:Jackson in 1980. Oh, that's a good one. Yeah, it was a good one.
Speaker 2:Okay, just a couple more for me. One is what is a talent or skill that you do not currently possess that you wish?
Speaker 1:you had. There's so many, I don't know. I don't have an answer for that one, sorry.
Speaker 3:Skip. If you could live anywhere else, where would it be?
Speaker 1:I would love to live in Sicily, so we visited Sicily a few times and there's just something about that island that it's still unspoiled and the food is amazing. When we go there, we get completely recharged. So yeah, sicily All right.
Speaker 2:The last one for me is one thing that's still on your bucket list.
Speaker 1:To visit more countries in Europe outside of Italy, because my whole life we've always gone to Italy, so I really need to explore all of those countries. I want to visit Germany, I want to visit Ireland. There's so many places that I want to immerse myself in.
Speaker 3:And Marco is available for consulting, correct? So anyone who's listening in the European area.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:All right, last one for me. Do you hire for skill or for attitude?
Speaker 1:Attitude was really my driving force over the years, because you can teach If the will is there and they have a good attitude. You can teach the skill which proved better for us over time. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Fantastic. Well, as usual, you win nothing.
Speaker 1:We're playing our little game, except for our undying gratitude for going along with us.
Speaker 2:I just wanted to share one thing before we go here. I actually looked at the reviews on Candleberry Inn and I would encourage everybody to go there and he lives it folks. I just picked out a few here, tiffany, just for edification. Every part of our stay was perfect. Marco is the absolute best host. Meals prepared by Angelo were so unique and delicious. The next one Every detail was covered. I'm serious Lens cleaners for your glasses Exclamation point three times. Incredible experience Made us feel like we were the only guests at the end. Unparalleled personal touch. And my favorite, candleberry has set the bar so ridiculously high it's become impossible for me to stay anywhere else. 359 reviews All of them are five stars. That's incredible. Thank you, marco DiDimesio. We just told you he works with a company called InAdvisors. If you wish to get in touch with him, I'm sure you can find him on LinkedIn, and it has been our distinct pleasure having you here today. Sir, thank you so much for doing this.
Speaker 3:And sharing all of your insight with us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a pleasure. Thank you both, it was a lot of fun great I was seeing you soon.
Speaker 2:Look forward to seeing you next time.