Press/Media
On November 19, 2020 The Palms at Young Circle was featured in the South Florida Sun-Times:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
NOVEMBER 16, 2020
1.) HEADLINE: Even through the COVID crises, short term furnished rentals at The Palms at Young Circle has proved successful with a few key changes.
How?
Owners Marco and Danielle Cepeda have evolved their short term rental business model to now include extended stays (such as advertising on furnishedfinder.com), booking direct and capitalizing on the more in-demand amenities such as outdoor lounging. Also, they now offer COVID friendly packages which include full office amenities (printer photo below) such as a wireless all-in-one printer, work station and office supplies.
They offer each new guest a professional guidebook through hostfully.com so guests can quickly acclimate to the neighborhood and explore everything Hollywood has to offer. Many times, guests decide to make Hollywood or South Florida their new home.
Recently, they re-lauched their 2 bedroom home with a beautiful mural installation, designed by owner Danielle Cepeda and in collaboration with MSG Concepts (mural photo below).
2.) HEADLINE: Why these Hollywood super hosts don’t like renting at Airbnbs when they travel together!
Why?
Too many inconsistent Aribnb experiences at the more affordable rates have pushed Marco & Danielle to stay at more traditional hotels such as Marriot’s Residence Inn, for example. The Residence Inn offers great locations, a full kitchen and rates just as affordable as many Airbnbs. Especially for shorter stays, hotels with kitchens can be more competitive than Airbnb because the cleaning fee is already included.
But most importantly during a pandemic, they operate with checklists at the company level to make sure they’re delivering consistent sanitization levels at all their properties. “A good checklist is a MUST for any host that considers themselves professionals - and they all should” says Marco Cepeda, co-owner at The Palms at Young Circle. They offer all guests a detailed online guidebook and a house manual. Their guidebook serves up a curated list of their best local recommendations for restaurants, shopping, transportation and personal and business services so you can “live like a local”.
Booking as guests through Airbnb, hosts who get badly reviewed during their stay can get banned from Airbnb and the entire platform without warning or an appeals process. The means they lose ALL their hosting business on Airbnb - even though their review as guests is not related to their Airbnb hosting business at all! Marco and Danielle are members of several Facebook Host groups such as Airbnb’s Finest Hosts - and they’ve heard a lot of nightmare stories where hosts escalate issues with a guest. These hosts can even make unfounded complaints against the guest to get them banned, rather than face a bad review.
Airbnb will often ban a guest automatically rather than investigate simply because they don’t have the manpower to evaluate a complex situation. “It’s too risky to be an Airbnb guest when you have multiple property listings like we do. We generate close to six figure annual revenues through the short term rental business. It’s just not worth risking that business for a $300 weekend!”, said Cepeda.
3.) HEADLINE: Hollywood Hosts Launch New Mural for 100 Year Anniversary of Joseph Young.
The Palms at Young Circle isn’t just a name for hosts Danielle & Marco Cepeda. Since the launch of their first short term rental property, they sought to connect with their property with the history of downtown Hollywood.
“When we went through the eviction process with our first tenant at the property, we lost so much money in the process that we tried to recover some of it by furnishing the studio and putting it up on Airbnb. The floors were the original Terrazo, a mix of concrete and marble from the 1950’s when it was built. Industrial and concrete floors have gained popularity again so we decided to capitalize on the Art Deco theme of its time period. After renovations, cleaning and waxing the floors made it look like a beautiful, vintage throw back! We got our first booking in about 90 minutes and made all our money back in about 8 months.”
One year later, they added a second studio to their short term furnished rental portfolio and mounted original vintage postcards from Hollywood Florida on the walls as art pieces. These are original postcards from the 1930s to the 1960’s from real people that visited Hollywood Florida once upon a time. They are memories of people’s vacations together and a snapshot in time from life back then.
Today, they have 3 short term rentals in their portfolio. And in order to attract more guests, they’re also focusing on outdoor space as an amenity for their 10-unit rental complex. The two studios have access to a large shared courtyard with patio furniture and sunbrella.
Recently, they re-lauched their 2 bedroom short term home with a beautiful mural installation. The 2-bedroom plus is a detached house with a private cabana-type patio and a colorfully large Bauhaus style mural painted near the main seating area, which was just installed in mid-August.
“It connects us to the history of Hollywood’s downtown that has over two dozen artist murals that have been painted in the area since 2016. And it’s the perfect backdrop for relaxing outside in the shade while dining or having drinks al fresco,” said Danielle Cepeda.
The mural was a collaboration between owner and artist, Danielle Cepeda, who created and developed the original concept of the mural and MSG Concepts who executed the final design. MSG Concepts is a well-known professional artist and has worked throughout South Florida, including the hip and artistic Wynwood district and also with bigger names such as Disney.
The city of Hollywood doesn’t celebrate when Joseph Young arrived to Hollywood, 100 years ago in 1920. They will likely celebrate when the city was incorporated in 1925. But that doesn’t matter to hosts Danielle & Marco. “We love Hollywood and we love the history of Hollywood. Our goal is for all our guests to fall in love with Hollywood, too”, said Danielle Cepeda.
“So the property, the postcards, the mural and the guidebook all help us to tell the story of Hollywood and Young Circle. It gives us a hand in helping to craft the story of Hollywood’s history and future through our guests and their experience. We want them to go home and tell people about this relatively undiscovered gem in South Florida that was unique but affordable and close to everything you could ever want.”
And many do just that.
LATEST PR PITCH
How to know if your Florida rental property has been properly cleaned to protect you from COVID
Safety comes first at the Hollywood FL Palms at Younge Circle short-term furnished rentals
Hollywood, FL – Before signing up for that great rental deal you’ve just seen online, look for signs that it’s been properly cleaned to protect you and your family from the coronavirus.
Here are a few tips from Marco & Danielle Cepeda, husband and wife who are super hosts with over 150 reviews on Airbnb and their direct booking website. They have 3 short term furnished rentals and 7 long term rentals, all in the heart of downtown Hollywood Florida. Their company DMC Property Pro also manages other residential and commercial property in Florida and New York.
A dead giveaway at cleanliness is online reviews. If you see a pattern that should be a concern. New or unprofessional hosts tend to be lax about cleaning procedures.
“It’s the little things that will give you an idea of how thorough they are at cleaning. The more professional they are in their process and approach from start to finish, the more likely they are to be consistent in the quality of their final product. It means they’re probably operating with checklists, which matter a lot in the hospitality industry. Are they quick to respond to your inquiry? If not, that can be a red flag because it might mean no one is minding the store. An ideal combination of professionalism and a personalized approach is a sign of a great host that values your business relationship.” said Marco Cepeda.
They’ve heard of some Airbnb owners asking guests to clean dishes and think this is a bad idea. These owners are leaving their cleaning and sanitization responsibilities to guests. Guests are on vacation and aren’t going to do a thorough cleaning job.
Since opening two years ago, they’ve regularly used mattress encasements, box spring encasements, and pillow protectors on all their beds, including pull out mattresses. This is one of the best hygienic practices to protect guests and bedding. Believe it or not, even many four or five-star hotels around the world don’t do this. “Ever since we started using bedding encasements 2 years ago, every time I check into a new hotel or an Airbnb I’m always curious to see if they’re using encasements. And I rarely ever find them, no matter how well known the brand or exclusive the property!”
“You should also look at how soon the previous guest left before you check-in,” said The Palms at Younge Circle co-owner Marco Cepeda. “If they just checked out the same day you’re checking in, you might want to ask for a different room, or go to another place.”
For your own safety, expect to spend a little more to make sure everything is clean. There should also be a one to three-day gap between rentals to ensure rooms are properly cleaned and ventilated.
When COVID hit, they had to change their business model from short-term of two or three days to extended-stay rentals with a minimum 30-day stay.
“Back in March, we began sanitizing all touchable areas, while our cleaning crew wear gloves and have an inspector go through, making sure nothing is missed. We also run an ozone generator for about 180 minutes to kill airborne bacteria. It’s also effective against viruses too. It's been used in the hospitality industry for years and is in standard use by crime scene cleanup companies for the worst biohazards,” said Cepeda.
Not everyone in the industry is doing this. Their goal is to exceed all CDC recommendations and guidelines.
“As people can see from our reviews for the past two years, we have a very high degree of cleaning standards. We’ve always used a professional cleaning company instead of doing it ourselves,” said Cepeda.
They are currently booked solid through the fall and have regular clients coming from up north to stay for the winter. They also host students and business people.
Right now, they’re offering a COVID-friendly office amenities package in their 2-bedroom plus house. The package comes with a printer and everything you need to for office work. It gives you an opportunity to work if you’re in town for business or on vacation.
To attract more clients, they’re also focusing on outdoor space as an amenity for their 10-unit rental complex. The two studios have access to a large shared courtyard with patio furniture and sunbrella. The 2-bedroom plus is a detached house with a private cabana-type patio and a colorfully large Bauhaus style mural painted near the main seating area, which was installed in mid-August.
“It connects us to the history of Hollywood’s downtown that has over two dozen artist murals that have been painted in the area since 2016. And it’s the perfect backdrop for relaxing outside in the shade while dining or having drinks al fresco,” said Danielle Cepeda.
The mural was a collaboration between owner and artist, Danielle Cepeda, who created and developed the original concept of the mural, and MSG Concepts who executed the final design. MSG Concepts is a well-known professional artist and has worked throughout South Florida, including the hip and artistic Wynwood district and also with bigger names such as Disney.
“Before COVID, many hosts were doing the bare minimum to make a profit just because they could. It was a commodity and many hosts were making good money, but now the trust factor really matters. We had another guest that stayed with us for a week when the pandemic first hit. They checked out and left for Miami - probably because they found a cheaper deal - but came right back. When we asked them why they decided to come back, they said it was because the other place wasn’t nearly as clean or professional,” said Cepeda.
Rentals start at $49 a night through November 24th and can be seen at the Palms at Young Circle website. It’s only a five-minute drive to the beach in Hollywood, FL. Every rental comes with a professional guidebook with tips and recommendations to local restaurants, activities, and services.
For further information check out https://palmsyoungcircle.com/ or contact Danielle or Marco Cepeda at CONTACT@PALMSYOUNGCIRCLE.COM.
-ENDS-
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Danielle and Marco Cepeda
Owners
Hollywood, FL
Phone: (954) 980-4188
Email: CONTACT@PALMSYOUNGCIRCLE.COM