Behind the Stays

Meet Alex Breen, founder of BnB Buyer — a biweekly newsletter that brings subscribers a list of new Airbnb and other short term rentals that are for sale. Alex grew up vacationing in short term rentals —  in fact his family was an early adopter of VRBO.  One afternoon, while Alex was in Dublin, his parents were scouting out second homes around Lake Norman in North Carolina.  They stumbled upon an...

Meet Mike Belleme — the creator of The Nook, an obsessively handcrafted Airbnb just outside Asheville, NC. Growing up, Mike loved to skateboard — at one point he even thought he might go pro.  But as he grew up, another craft he had dabbled in began to pique his interest even more.   And that craft was photography.  Mike’s incredible focus and unrelenting pursuit of perfection has landed him gigs...

In just a moment you’ll meet Joshua Nunnally, the creator of The Shelltown Sanctuary in San Diego, California.  Joshua is an artist.  Originally from Fresno, Joshua moved to San Diego to go to architectural school. A few years afterwards, in late January of 2020, he stumbled upon a home in southeast San Diego that seemed almost too good to be true.  When Joshua and his now husband bought the place...

In just a moment you’ll meet Steven and Kylee Niederhauser, the founders of Arrivls , a boutique vacation rentals management company based in San Diego, California. Steven and Kylee have always loved to travel.  They are the kind of people that would rather book a last-minute weekend getaway than wine and dine at California’s latest Michelin star restaurant.  After traveling in Europe for four yea...

Get ready to meet Amy Corbett Co-Founder of All Belong Co — a collective of short term rentals based in Lynchburg, Virginia.  Amy and her husband Marc have a rich story.  The couple has been married for over twenty years and have two amazing children through the gift of adoption. After working in campus ministry for 17 years, they left salaries and financial stability and even their community behi...

In just a moment you’ll meet Navid Safabakhsh , the creator of Safa Farms —  a boutique eco-hotel featuring a collection of cabins outside of Guadalajara, Mexico. Navid is a serial entrepreneur. He founded an agency that helped build products for companies like eBay, Comcast, and LinkedIn before founding a company called Placeit which was a design and mockup tool for creatives that he’d eventually...

In just a moment you’ll meet Kayla Stormont — the creator of The Apex Cabin in Big Bear, California. When Kayla would go to a toy store or jewelry shop as a kid, and ask her mom for a trinket or a pair of earrings, her mom wouldn’t often say, “No, I’m not buying you that, you could make that yourself.” And while she didn’t know it at the time, this encouragement would serve her well as an adult. A...

In just a moment you’ll meet Kelly Cronin — the creator of Cronin's Castles , which is a new collection of unique short-term rentals.  Kelly has always loved to travel and refers to herself as a professional travel hacker — she once scored an $11 Southwest flight from Wisconsin to Puerto Rico!  By the time she visited all 50 states, Kelly had fallen in love with too many places…and she began to br...

In just a moment, you’ll meet Annie Sloane — Co-Founder and CEO of The Host Co. Have you ever been in an Airbnb and wished you could buy one of the coffee mugs, rugs, or pieces of artwork from the home?   Or perhaps wished you could order some groceries ahead of time so that you arrive to a fully-stocked fridge upon check-in?   Well, thanks to The Host Co., you now can!  Annie was an early adopter...

In just a moment, you’ll meet Emily Padan — co-creator and co-owner of Hinter Company.  A few years ago, Emily left her career as a school teacher in Montreal to pursue entrepreneurship full time with her now husband, Mauricio.  The creative couple had a vision for building a luxurious, eco-friendly escape in the Canadian forest.  Over the next couple of years, Emily and Mauricio wrestled tireless...

In just a moment, you’ll meet Tim and Cindi Spaulding — the builders, designers, and hosts of Salamander Ridge — a charming tiny cabin in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.  Tim and Cindi, along with their three children, love the outdoors — the Spaulding family are avid campers, hikers, creek walkers, and trail runners.  One afternoon, after Cindi had contracted a bad case of poison ivy, the family...

In just a moment, you’ll meet Daniel and Fawn Shear, the founders of Seasons' Yield Farm . Daniel, like his father before him, served in the military after graduating from college. During his first deployment to Afghanistan, his wife Fawn mailed him a book by Chad Robertson titled Tartine — a book of sourdough bread baking and recipes, but also a compelling story of one couple’s journey building a...

In just a moment you’ll meet Michaela Carozza, the creator and host of one of Carmel Valley’s top-rated Airbnbs.  Michaela had been in the market for a property in Carmel Valley for many years.  She loved the diversity of beauty that the central California coast offered, but needed to find a place with both a main house and a second property that she could use as a rental for some supplementary in...

In just a moment you’ll meet Alla and Garrett Hohn — the creators of The Hohnstead, which is a mini-glamping resort featuring a collection of tiny cabins about 20 minutes from Missoula, Montana. Garrett’s father had always dreamed of buying a plot of land that the whole extended family could enjoy, so when he stumbled upon over 100 acres of untouched Montana forest for sale, he knew it was time to...

In just a moment, you’ll meet Andrew and Bianca — founders of the Serenity Hill Group, a growing collection of luxury Airbnb escapes in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  Andrew and Bianca live in Boston, and while they love all that the city has to offer, their hearts have always found peace in the mountains.   Andrew grew up hiking, skiing, and vacationing in the White Mountains and dreamed...

In just a moment you’ll meet Louisa Conrad, Co-Founder of Big Picture Farm.  Big Picture Farm is a Vermont farmstead goat dairy and confectionery whose award-winning caramels have won over a dozen national awards...and while these candies are undeniably decadent, there is more to Big Picture than just the goat dairy…   After leaving their careers in academia, Louisa and her husband Lucas founded t...

In just a moment you’ll meet Maris LeBlanc and JR Amantea, the creators of The Little House of Essex — a chic cottage near the Connecticut River in the most quintessential of quintessential New England towns.   Maris has spent her career in real estate — mostly brokering luxury, waterfront homes along the Connecticut Shoreline. When she met her now husband, JR, he was living in New York working in...

In just a moment you’ll meet Laura Gentry and Carollani Sandberg — the creators of The Sagecliff Satori, a luxurious Airbnb cabin in Quincy, Washington.  Laura and Carollani are what you might call “experience optimizers”.  They love to travel, try new restaurants, and explore off the beaten paths, but can’t help but do so with a critical eye.  They often ask each other, “what would you do differe...

On this episode of Behind the Stays, you’ll meet Eli Clark and Alexa Lang from Clark Family Silos .    Eli grew up on a farm in Kalispell, Montana (about 30 minutes outside of Whitefish in the North-Western part of the state). After studying design in college, he moved to Carlsbad, California to work at a design firm where he got the opportunity to work on a couple of Addidas’ leading product line...

In a minute, you’ll meet Valerie Malone — Creator and Founder of Quill Decor , a design consultancy that specializes in short-term rentals.   Valerie studied interior design at Auburn University, but always had a knack for entrepreneurship. After running a successful Airbnb out of her basement in Bloomington, Indiana, Valerie fell in love with the Airbnb community and felt a calling of sorts to ma...

The idea was born on a road trip from Waco, Texas to Ferndale, California.    Merritt Brodt and her daughter, Callie Alexandre, had gone to the Lone Star State to source antiques for their artisan shop, The Farmer’s Daughter, in downtown Ferndale.    Callie, whose husband's married family owns and operates Alexandre Farms (one of the few organic dairies to produce A2/A2 milk AND secure coveted she...

They met at a Starbucks.  Amber was working as a barista and Tyler had just moved from Utah to Tennessee.  They didn't know it at the time, but just a few years later they would not only be life partners but business partners as well. The story behind the vision and building of the Little River Tiny House — one of the highest-rated Airbnbs in all of Tennessee — is nothing short of a miracle. Amber...

Meet Katie Denton — a mother of three small children and a lifelong lover of travel and fine hospitality.  On this episode of Behind the Stays, Katie shares the origin story of Bees Nees Getaways — a boutique rental home collection she founded with a focus on unique and dreamy experiences in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and the Northern Neck of Virginia — and explains her vision and process f...

Suzie has spent most of her life working at the intersection of travel and customer service.  She traveled the world as a flight attendant for many years, before deciding to become a full-time Airbnb host. But there's so much more to her story... My wife and I stayed at this impeccably clean and serene cottage on Suzie and Neal’s stunning property for two weeks and instantly fell in love with this...

When they purchased their home in 2016, the Smith family had no idea what adventures lay ahead. On the far edge of their property sat an empty WWII train and a historic aircraft hangar... Fast forward just a couple of years, and these historic spaces have been transformed into gorgeous stays. Tune in for an exciting story of how the Smith family went from managing one to managing three Airbnbs, wi...