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Matt Landau
  • Founder, VRMB

The Signature Property

In this week's unlocked interview with Virginia Virginia (embedding it below if you haven't listened) at 40:00 we begin talking about the kinds of properties that are in vogue and Virginia reveals that she now offers a teepee!

In the listing description she BEGS people NOT to come to her teepee ("Do NOT come to this teepee! The road is rough, grumpy neighbor, you have to use outhouse") and lots of people DON'T come because of that. But those that DO come have life-changing experiences.

I follow up by asking Virginia if she'd recommend other owners/managers consider a tee-pee or a treehouse (or caboose shoutout to CCreek CCreek) and her response hits hard: Only if a teepee is a place YOU would want to stay. What unique place are YOU interested in? What makes YOUR heart race? If it means something special to YOU, it will probably mean something special to a lot of others.

I really loved this sentiment. It belongs in the first step of 3 Steps To Unlocking Niches: The Next Wave in Vacation Rentals

IDEA: A signature property can stand out from a crowd but it is best when chosen from the heart.
ACTION: Jump in below and share (if money was no object) what kind of signature property might would make YOUR heart race?

 
I am going to bypass the “if money is no object” part of the what I love about a place, so much makes my heart still race about Tropical Blessings that the money part almost seems irrelevant. Although I had some major doubts that my dream could or would come true for me, namely a home of my own on St. John, that dream finally came in for a landing on May 16, 2011, a day I will never forget.

My heart sure has skipped more than one beat many a time about what I found over a decade ago and after 10 months away from Tropical Blessings when I walked through the door again three days ago I found my breath taken away once again. I already know full well how wonderful it feels to to be at Tropical Blessings but experiencing it is not like remembering what it is like, even for me.

My journey home again began as I boarded the Mona Queen ferry boat in St. Thomas. I chose to sit on the upper deck. As we traveled the seas to St. John a beautiful rainbow suddenly spread across the skies, an omen of hope and new beginnings. That symbol was absolutely perfect since my beginning of a home experience after too long away was in the process of beginning again for me.

Once in Cruz Bay I was seeing familiar sights that I’ve known so well for over 30 years. I spotted Slim Man as my jitney bus bus passed him, shouted a quick hello and he greeted me back with “Hello, Stranger!” My sense of happiness seemed to be blooming bigger and bigger by the minute.

Soon the jitney bus dropped me off at home and although I’ve been here many times walking through my front door felt so exciting that one might think I’d never done it before. I dropped my luggage on the floor and headed straight out to the main balcony and sat down as the sun was setting. The ocean view was as beautiful as ever and the sound of tree frogs and a few roosters crowing sounded like music. I don’t think I can ever stay away from St. John for 10 long months again. This island has captured my heart entirely and over 30 years later there’s no turning back, not ever.

A longtime local friend stopped by to visit me the next day and told me he had been prompted by an 80 year old woman to start up a new band and they’d play Quelbe music which is traditional Caribbean folk music. That woman is an active participant, shaking “maracas” made from dried gourds that I believe come from flamboyant trees. There are seven people in the band and they’re now getting gigs everywhere. He shared a couple of videos with me and I understand why the band is gaining popularity so fast. It’s great that visitors are getting exposure to local culture. My friend also just started teaching scratch music at a local school. Quelbe and scratch are very similar, many consider them to be one and the same but I’m sure I’ll learn more about that very soon.

I am going to wax poetic about why I love Tropical Blessings and St. John so much. I recall Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem (Sonnet 43): “How Do I Love Thee?”

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and heights my soul can reach……”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning spoke of a “thee” and one can only assume she was referencing a person but I’m sure she’d be entirely gracious and agree that it’s possible to be in love with a place. A place actually has a personality, as does the owner and as do the guests who stay and so does the local population who live here year round.

So I find myself in love with St. John as a place, a most beautiful one since it’s 70% National Park. I’m in love with the culture that dates long back to the the Carib and Arawak tribes. Christopher Columbus discovered the the islands in 1493. He wasn’t even headed here, he more or less took a wrong turn and ended up here by mistake and decided to name the islands after St. Ursula who had 10,000 Virgin followers.

I’m in love with pretty much every everything here. Tropical Blessings itself has been a work in progress from the start. I’m very proud of what I’ve done but I finally know I’ll never stop doing it. I recently added a major amenity but haven’t gone public about it. I know people are liking it a lot so I need to make it known. It’s definitely a “selling point” but reservations are strong. My guest communications are great and I got another “I’m homesick” e-mail today. Mr. Grumpy Husband doesn’t want to return but Ms. Homesick is ready to travel back alone. She definitely doesn’t need 3BR/3BA but I totally get how she feels and told I’d gladly help her try to find the right “somewhere else.” St. John is fondly known as Love City and that’s a teeny clue: There is ever so much to love about being here. If you don’t know that just visit once and you’ll likely find out. And if you get hooked like I did don’t ever try to blame it on me. I’m now thinking I should add a clause about that in my Rental Agreement that waives me from any and all liabilities if a guest falls in love with Love City.
 
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