Keynotes by Casago

Steve V2: Welcome to Keynotes, a
podcast just for Casago homeowners.

This is where we explore how to get
the most out of your relationship with

Casago, learn tips and tricks on how
to make more income with your property,

and learn a little bit about the short
term rental industry along the way.

I've been a vacation rental nerd since
my 20s, and the team has finally let

me have this podcast so I can share
everything I've learned with you.

I'm your host, Steve Schwab,
and this is Keynotes.

Hey, welcome to Keynotes.

. I'm here with Philippe and Gerald.

They're the owners of Casago in Aruba.

They've been with the company now
for just a little bit underneath the

year and have seen growth already.

They're doing a fantastic
job as a local heroes

.
And today we're going to talk a little
bit about how they see hospitality,

Casago, and being owner centric.

Gentlemen, welcome to the show.

Thank you.

Thanks for having us.

Yeah.

Thanks for having us.

So nice to have you guys here.

It's so good to meet you guys in person.

We're at Casacon 2024, which is the
Casagos convention here learning a lot

about how to be better property managers,
be better business owners, how to

love on our homeowners and guests, use
technology and just all the way around

the, uh, more efficient at what we do.

Have you guys learned
anything interesting yet?

Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I think we're at
25 percent of the total package that

we're going to receive and while my
brain is about to explode, but in a

positive way, there's been so much, a
lot of learning, a lot of new techniques.

It's also really great to catch on
with other owners and hear about

their experience, learn from them.

It's been rewarding already
and we're not even halfway.

Speaker 3: How about you, Gerald?

Well, there's definitely a
lot of learnings and, uh,

25%, it's, uh, a lot already.

And we've met a lot of nice personalities,
nice people, nice homeowners that we're

learning from their previous experience.

Everybody loves Aruba, I can see.

Yeah,

Steve V2: I think everybody's
trying to convince us to do,

uh, Casacon 2025 in Aruba.

I thought it was a deal already.

Yeah.

We gotta convince the rest of them.

Yeah.

Ha, ha, ha.

So you, you both have families
in Aruba and children.

So tell me a little about
your family, Philippe.

Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm a, I'm
definitely a family guy.

My wife and I, we have three kids.

Well, we moved to Aruba, to be honest,
it's exactly 10 years ago, I think.

Not on the dot, but tomorrow or the
day after, it's ten years ago that we

moved from the Netherlands to Aruba.

And back then we were a family of four.

Um, our daughter, the youngest,
is born in Aruba, so she's the

only real Aruban in the house.

But, uh, we all feel Aruban.

It's, uh, it's It's a beautiful
place, and especially for us as

a family, it's a perfect place.

It's safe.

Kids can play outside all day.

There's sun.

Well, if there's 365 days in the
year, then it's 360 days of sun.

And if not, it's 361 days of sun.

It's a leap year.

The island is beautiful,
safe, like I said.

The kids get a lot of
exposure with other cultures.

There's people from all over
the world on the island.

So, no, it's beautiful.

It's a blessing to be able
to raise them over there.

Steve V2: Yeah, I bet.

It's amazing.

And they can't get very far.

No, no,

Speaker 2: no, no, no.

Farthest you can go is about,
uh, yeah, 20 miles up or down.

That's

Speaker 3: it.

And what about you, Gerald?

You have, you have children too.

Yes, my wife and I, we have two boys,
eight years old and three years old.

So

Steve V2: you

Speaker 3: guys were

Steve V2: both restaurateurs
before this, right?

Speaker 2: Yes, sir.

Yeah, yeah.

We've been, actually, restaurateur was
my, uh, my third or fourth life, I guess.

Before that, I was a banker, and
I also, uh, did some governmental

work, economic diplomacy.

Both very boring, uh, in comparison
to the restaurant, and especially

the world of, uh, short term
stays, which is way more exciting.

So much fun.

Steve V2: And how about you?

You're, you're also a
restauranteur, is that right?

Yes,

Speaker 3: uh, we currently hold the
four restaurants and before that I used

to work in the hotel industry, mostly
in restaurants, opening restaurants.

The four current restaurant that
we have, it's my 13th, if not

14th restaurant that I opened.

from scratch.

Wow.

And still counting.

We're hoping to open a new acquisition,
hopefully before the year end, that

would make it the fifth restaurant
that we have under our management

Steve V2: within the group.

Yeah.

It's amazing.

Speaker 3: Yes.

Steve V2: Well, it's obvious that
you guys love hospitality and

it's a natural fit to come right
into the short term rental world.

Definitely.

Definitely not

Speaker 3: working from the hotel
industry for 16 years before I left

the hotel industry again, uh, joined
another company that yet still

deal with the hospitality industry.

It doesn't get boring.

It's, uh, it's a constant
learning and a consistent, uh,

surprises in a positive way.

It's addictive.

Steve V2: Yeah, yeah.

Now, you guys have seen a
lot of growth already, right?

Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, we can't complain.

It didn't come easy, of course, but it's
rewarding, uh, when it, uh, when it works.

Uh, we're at a total of 43 properties
right now and, um, continuously growing.

Yeah.

Steve V2: That's fantastic.

That's fantastic.

Speaker 2: So,

Steve V2: you know, as you
guys are growing, what made you

decide to become part of Casago?

Speaker 3: That's a fun question.

Uh, I would start, sorry, Phil, I would
start with the process, you know, I have

always been a believer, a strong believer
in companies or companies that I've worked

for and with that had process in place,
you know, have tested the challenges and

have withstand all the opportunities there
is instead of starting from scratch and

failing and trial and error yourself.

Why not do something that, you
know, Someone had experience

of and that we can rely on.

Um, of course the competitiveness is
the top, uh, Aruba is a tough market

and having to have the edge like
Casa Go have someone to have 24 seven

support is absolutely a quick win.

Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, definitely.

And, um, if I may, uh, when we start,
because Both Gerald and I, separate

from each other, we had a property.

I had one and Gerald had one
property also that we were

renting out short term rental.

Very mom and pop type, uh, like,
uh, the approach that we both

did and both doing really good.

And looking back, we always had the
feeling of, yeah, there's, there's more.

We should do this more professionally,
but where do you start?

And then that is where last year
when, when Gerald suddenly came

up with a, Hey, this is a, this
is something that we could do.

Here's a structure.

Here's something we can rely on.

And then it's easier also to do
on behalf of others, because the

one thing you don't want to do is.

Uh, on board people, uh, and, and,
and then fail on them or not deliver

on the promise you want to make.

That would be a bummer for them and
then certainly for us, uh, the same.

So having this structure, like Gerald
was explaining that, that made the

difference that made the difference
that we said, okay, let's do this.

And, um, yeah, we went head
first and it's paying off.

Steve V2: That's fantastic.

You know, being able to systematize a
hospitality organization like this really

benefits the homeowners and making sure
that you're loving on them, that your

systems serve them, you know, that you're,
you're finding ways to systematically

transparent through technology,
through people, through training.

I think it's the real advantage to Kasago
and helps us be very owner centric and

very owner centered when it comes to.

You know, loving on these homeowners
and making sure that we serve them well

and not, you know, failing for them.

Speaker 2: Oh, definitely.

I think that's one of the scares also
for people buying into our market

is obviously you can't be there.

Some, some people are that blessed
that they can actually live, come

and live on the island, but most
people buy and then go back home.

And you want somebody that you can
trust that your property is well

managed, but also that they are
transparent as you said, uh, towards

you and everything that happens
because there's things can go wrong.

And then, and then.

So just to name an example, you can have
a leak, you can have a, uh, something

that breaks, but knowing that you can
trust them that to be followed up properly

and, and, and, and repaired and, and
that you have insight in what is being

done and when it is being done, that
makes a big difference because it's scary

as a homeowner living in the States or
in Canada or wherever in the world and

yeah, Aruba is a far away place and,
you know, it's What are they doing to my

house and is, is it really done properly?

Yeah, that's, uh, that's a big
difference that we can make with Casago.

It's, uh,

Steve V2: yeah, yeah.

Our systems, the way that we do our
work orders, the transparency with

photos, all of that makes such a big
difference for homeowners, especially

being on an island so far away.

They can't just drive over
and see what's going on.

Oh, no.

Oh, yeah.

Speaker 2: If I can give an example,
when we, uh, because we acquired a

portfolio through another company
that is now also part of Casago.

And um, one of the things that we
hear from other existing homeowners

within that portfolio is the difference
that it's, that's being made with

the transparency in the system.

They can see what is happening.

They can book their own
house whenever they need it.

They can, uh, they can adjust prices.

You name it.

They, uh, they have full control
over the property which is being

managed by us and that gives them
a very, very comfortable feeling.

It's a, it's a big change in
comparison to what they had.

Not that they were unhappy.

They were with that property
manager for a reason.

There was a lot of good
stuff, but this is better.

Yeah,

Steve V2: it doesn't mean that
last property manager was bad.

It just means that they got upgraded a
little bit by some really cool systems

and people and policy and technology.

Definitely.

Something you said earlier
about homeowners being far away.

And at the end of the day, this is a high
trust relationship we have with them.

Transparency builds trust.

And what a lot of people don't
know, we all know internally,

is we have this Orange Credo.

We go through it at every single meeting.

We talk about it.

You know, it's a set of principles
that we all agree to follow and

use as decision making processes.

And the very first words of that Orange
Credo is, I am the owner's advocate.

Speaker 3: Yep.

Steve V2: I'll make all decisions
based on the owner's best interest.

And that is such a game changer for us.

Has that been a game changer for
you guys being on the ground?

Have you been able to
articulate that to homeowners?

Speaker 3: Definitely, definitely
a big game changer for us.

The trust is a big, very, um, you know,
the, the biggest word that we can use

to, um, towards, um, to explain that.

Speaker 2: It also connects with
what we've done in the past.

If we, uh, we, we are
restaurateurs, uh, From our past

experience, and we still are.

And in our restaurants, one of the,
the really, really important things

that we, uh, we look after is that
there's satisfaction in all ends.

And that means that it's
not only about the customer.

It's certainly about the
customer who comes in.

It needs to be happy,
it needs to be serviced.

But it's also about our employees.

It's about the, the, the landlord.

It's about the, yeah, the
total experience for everybody.

That was the word I was looking for.

All the stakeholders.

And, and we, we live that in the
restaurants and yeah, with Casago,

we, uh, we relive that now in
the short term mental industry.

., Steve V2: you know, I actually , own
a restaurant down in Mexico.

And I always think about the restaurant as
front of the house and back of the house.

Exactly.

And the truth is, without great operations
in the back of the house, there is no

satisfaction in the front of the house.

That's very true.

That's very true.

And do you see that?

Do you see the similarities?

For that.

Oh, yes.

Can you tell me about that a little bit?

Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's, uh, it's as simple as, uh, the, the
cleaner is doing a proper job and, and,

and doing it according to a set plan.

I mean, if you look at, uh, what makes
you happy as a client when you come into

a house or a unit that you've rented, it's
often the simple things, uh, cleanliness,

it's, uh, that everything works.

It's the atmosphere.

It's things being in place.

It's things being simple.

It's, it's little things that make a big
difference and, uh, it's not, uh, that

the, the place is located at the beach.

That makes it perfect.

No, it's that step one, then comes
step two, three, four, five, six, and,

uh, that's similar in the restaurants
and similar in this industry.

The back of the house makes it
possible that the front of the house

can give that presentation and make
it wow for everybody who walks in.

Speaker 3: Back of the
house is the analytics.

The recommendations that you can give,
uh, the follow up, right, making sure

that they're informed of what are
happening, um, in the island or whatnot.

Speaker 2: And one step further,
and that's the difference.

Yeah, exactly.

Uh, between the, the restaurants
and the short term, uh, industry in

a restaurant, we make a menu and we
stick to that for probably 12 months.

In the short term rental industry, you
want to be dynamic, so you want to change

prices according to the market and.

That is something where the back
of the house comes in, if I may.

The back of the house is the one
that does that revenue management

and does that revenue management to
make sure that for the homeowner, he

gets that optimal pricing and gets
that optimal return on his property.

So no, the back of the house is
definitely very, very important and, um,

very well equipped through Casagrande.

Speaker 3: We actually can reverse
that because the question was,

okay, how can you relate the
restaurant business into Casago?

It's actually the reason why, a very
reason why that we believe so much and

have trust with the Casago is actually
for the same reason, same question and

same answers, which is the structure
of the back and front is covered.

You have a Bible, we have
the brand standards in place.

Any questions asked, or will be answered.

And we have

Steve V2: answers to all questions.

That's amazing.

So, I know you guys are really
passionate about, you know, taking

care of homeowners and guests
and your team and the community.

But do you have a, Is there a story
that sticks out when it comes to

homeowners that really shows, you
know, like how you feel about them or

just a great experience that they've
had that sticks out in your mind?

Speaker 3: Well, we don't have much
to tell because we started out with an

acquisition and then we inherit like 42.

We have one significant one.

I don't know if I should share.

Yeah, of course.

We have, uh, his name is Johnny James,
so he has a property in Tierra del Sol.

It is an orthodox experience, if I
may, because when you think about

the homeowners, you think about
as per immediate is how do I book

your property or how can I help you
improve your income, your revenue?

But in this case, This person actually
have had the weird contract, I should

say, because he has, um, a rental
purchase contract and being the

background of, uh, my partner here,
Philip, in debt management, uh, we said

to him, okay, how can we maximize that?

Because in the end of the day,
how much do you pay in a month?

So having, taking a look at that
contract, we noticed that it's actually

a very steep situation for him and
it's not our responsibility to give

him advice at that moment, but we Feel
and think that if we help him, we could

grow together with him fast forward.

You can continue with

Speaker 2: Fast forward.

Yeah in a nutshell We did the complete
analysis on his his property and helped

him in converting that rent to own
into a simple Straightforward mortgage

and, um, lowers his costs and, uh,
makes him happy end of the day, right?

Speaker 3: And he's looking forward
to the second property because

he found out that he's got space
for another property to purchase.

Speaker 2: He's soon to be owner
of two properties instead of one?

Speaker 3: In a golf

Steve V2: course property.

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Steve V2: It's

Speaker 3: a luxury

Steve V2: place.

You know, I'm convinced that when
we take care of homeowners, Outside

of the transaction or they're
loving on homeowners taking care of

their best interests doing things
That helped them out, even as

we're not making money off of it.

That's where our best
relationships are built.

And that's those homeowners that
end up being with us for 20 years.

Because we build a relationship
that transcends business with them.

Awesome.

Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely.

And it's actually, he's bringing us leads.

Because his neighbor is finishing
a construction of a luxury Yeah.

Property and, um, he's already given
them our numbers to, you know, to

contact them for onboarding them.

Steve V2: Yeah, great.

Gentlemen, if somebody wants to get a
hold of you guys to list their property

with you, what's a good email or phone
number that they can reach out to you

Speaker 2: with?

Yeah, absolutely.

The email address they can reach
out to is gm at kasagoaruba.

com.

Using that email, they'll get in
touch with me, with Gerald, and

with Mark Renis, who's our general
manager for the, for the operations.

Steve V2: That's fantastic.

Guys, thanks so much for coming on.

Appreciate the time with y'all
and getting to know y'all.

It's a pleasure.

It's ours.

Speaker 2: Thank you so much.