The Secret Serviced Podcast

Welcome to episode 6 of Season 3! Mud Huts & A Lapdance From A Golden Doodle Playing The Bagpipes  In this episode we talk about our visit to the Shetland Islands to check up on our property management business, our demo of Breezeway to help with the systemisation fo cleaning and maintenance and the challenges we are facing with our own house move- including non-standard construction. Ple...

Welcome to episode 5 of Season 3! Expanding Waistlines & The Green And Gold Vibe In this episode we talk about the commercial valuation of one of our Aparthotels, the process of pre-application planning advice and our new portal for UK staycations. Please help us spread the word with a like, follow and subscribe and drop us a follow over on instagram @secretservicedpodcast #property #podcast #...

Welcome to episode 4 of Season 3! Savage Dogs & Running Off With Aida  In this episode we talk with Marianna about training virtual assistants, artificial intelligence and Marianna handles tricky guest queries live on the call! Please help us spread the word with a like, follow and subscribe and drop us a follow over on instagram @secretservicedpodcast #property #podcast #vacationrentals...

Welcome to episode 2 of Season 3! Abort Procedure & Selling Property Live On The Pod! In this episode we talk with Lisa about our PMS U-Turn, exciting plans for our holiday-let management portal, and our plans to grow the team! Please help us spread the word with a like, follow and subscribe and drop us a follow over on instagram @secretservicedpodcast #property #podcast #vacationrentals #airb...

Welcome to episode 2 of Season 3! A Big Team Effort & Making Eyes At Tom Hiddleston In this episode we talk about switching property management software, the business strategy that underpins the purchase of our latest hotel and the development of an onboarding workflow for our Airbnb management business. Please help us spread the word with a like, follow and subscribe and drop us a follow over...

Welcome to the first episode of Season 3! Embracing AI & none of that London nonsense down 'ere! In the first episode of Season 3 we talk about all the ground we have covered since we last recorded the pod, switching channel managers, re-branding our business, and buying 2 hotels at the same time! Please help us spread the word with a like, follow and subscribe and drop us a follow over on ins...

Welcome to Episode 32 and the Season 2 Finale! Walking Like A Hunchback & Empty Nest Syndrome In the final episode of Season 2 we talk about team meetings, the ongoing process to achieve Quality in Tourism accreditation and the real reason we are taking a break from the podcast! Don't forget to like, follow and subscribe and drop us a follow over on instagram @secretservicedpodcast #property #...

Welcome to Episode 31 of Season 2. Rough Sleepers & Charging More For Haunted After a week away from the podcast we have lots of juicy updates! We talk about trust and how that plays out in a mature market, we secure a few monster bookings, we review our stance on mid-stay cleans and Shetland Stays is picking up momentum! Don't forget to like, follow and subscribe and drop us a follow over on...

Welcome to Episode 30 of Season 2. Food Review Battles & Big Red Flags This week, as promised, we have a big update on all things Eton House and preparing for our planning appeal, we ignored our instinct about a high-maintenance guests and paid the price and we chat to our very own Marianna about getting to grips with new systems, tackling tricky guests from the other side of the world and get...

Welcome to Episode 29 of Season 2. Shitty Landlords & The Death Knell For Tourism This week we discuss our approach to finding the right type of #landlord to work with, we talk about the use of physical signage in your #holidaylet and we have an industry update about the move from the Labour government to abolish the Furnished Holiday Let tax regime in April 2025 and the impact this will have...

Welcome to Episode 28 of Season 2. Blocked On Facebook & Viking Fire Festivals This week we a change to one of our management companies and the launch of another! We share some of the ideas going in to our new digital marketing plan, we talk about using guest reveiws as an important performance measure in your business and we chat to Craig Webb from Webb Marketing about SEO and marketing for #...

Welcome to Episode 27 of Season 2. Skinning Bambi & A Screaming Scouser Just us this week as we discuss The New Forest Show, the confirmation that Furnished Holiday Let tax allowances will be scrapped by the new Labour government and the brilliant way our team handled abuse over the phone from a particularly irate guest. We hope you enjoy the episode. We are looking to take the podcast on tour...

Welcome to Episode 26 of Season 2. Going Viral On Tik Tok & I've Got Egg On My Face Another busy episode in which she share some positive news about record-breaking revenue, some strategy wins and our new project but unfortunately we also lament our week that has been plagued by cleaning issues. We also chat to the fabulous Jenn Boyles about all things direct bookings and building that loyal c...

Welcome to Episode 25 of Season 2. Spider Woman & We're All About The Profit Oops! Did I take it too far this time?? Caroline is too angry to speak for most of the episode and I think it might be my fault! 🫣 In this episode I shock Caroline with a surprise review, she tells us about her meeting with the locals that objected to our planning application and we talk about dynamic pricing and our...

Welcome to Episode 24 of Season 2. Be Like Joe & Stop Using HMO's for Serviced Accommodation In this episode we talk about property inspections, how #servicedaccommodation can take you to some beautiful parts of the country, a new idea we are implementing as part of our direct booking strategy to cut through the noise and we have an amazing chat with a household name in our industry- Scott Wei...

Welcome to Episode 23 of Season 2. A Planning Bombshell & How Will We Pay The Bills Next Week? This was a difficult episode to record. We hit rock bottom this week but, as hard as it is, we owe it to all of you to tell you about it. That's what this podcast is all about. The planners dropped a bombshell on Eton House, we talk to Lisa about overwhelm and fighting fires from every direction and...

Welcome to Episode 22 of Season 2. Angel Investors & Artificial Intelligence In this jam-packed episode we talk about @justcall_io our new system for guest comms and tracking the effectiveness of sales calls, we explain our approach to raising money to fund property deals using angel investment and we chat to Na'im Payman from Zeevou. Na'im is the founder and brainchild behind one of the leadi...

Welcome to Episode 21 of Season 2. Take Me To Church & The SA Bootcamp In our first trial run of an outside broadcast (!!) we reflect on the @zeevou_ SA Growth Bootcamp in Cambridge at the weekend, we have news about an exciting new project to convert a chapel and warehouses to apartments and we have a chat with the amazing @davegoodfellowofficial, author of Airbnb Simplified and all-round cha...

Welcome to Episode 20 of Season 2. Business Rates Breakthrough & Just Say No To Bullies In this episode we talk about guests demanding a refund because we prevented them from being burnt in their beds, we give some tips on saving money through business rates, Caroline gets back from testing hot tubs and drinking gin and we implement a new complaints policy. We hope you enjoy the episode. We ar...

Welcome to Episode 19 of Season 2. Sleepless Nights & Chief Hot Tub Tester In this episode we lament our plumbing woes, we recall another embarrassing mistake at one of our properties, we throw some energy at our direct booking strategy and we catch up with Genna on the incredibly difficult few months that she has been through and why she has been absent from the podcast. We hope you enjoy the...

Welcome to Episode 18 of Season 2. A Chapel Conversion & Thrilling Is Bad news In this episode we talk about a project we are looking at to convert a chapel to apartments, we take steps to make sure that we don't become another in a long line of #servicedaccommodation management companies that go bust and we start documenting our progress towards Quality in Tourism Accreditation. We hope you e...

Welcome to Episode 17 of Season 2. We've got something a little bit different for you this week! Let's All Be Kind To Each Other & A Social Media Masterclass In this episode we have a very special guest - Paul Anderson AKA The Social Media Hotelier If you are listening to this and you are a hospitality host who finds social media a bit of a dark art then this episode is a must listen! Paul giv...

Episode 16 of Season 2. It's been a crazy week and we have so much to fill you in on! Divine Cheesecake & We've been hacked! In this episode we fill you in on our trip to Barcelona for the @scale.show, we catch up with Lisa for a game of Review Roulette and she gives us the low-down on an important project she is working on for our business with @touchstaywelcome and we let you now what it's l...

Episode 15 of Season 2 has landed! Is this the half-way point in the season?? Barcelona Bound & Gerri Halliwell's Highlights In this episode we talk about onboarding new properties under management and how important it is to set realistic expectations for your landlords from the outset, we look ahead to an exciting trip to Barcelona next week and we ask the question - Hostaway- is it working??...

A little bit later than usual but Episode 14 of Season 2 is here! The Big Bad Wolf & Lisa's Marriage Proposal In this episode Mark recounts his week tracking bears and wolves in mountains of Italy, Caroline gives us a run-down of her first week flying solo and she makes a brave pledge to get Booking com to sort out their financial dealings and the pair talk about their differing outlook on the...