Stay Porter is one of the largest independent luxury holiday rental brands in the United States. With more than a decade long track record in the Arizona vacation home rental market, Stay Porter delivers professional management services and local knowledge to guests and homeowners—and they pride themselves on having the highest client satisfaction in their industry.
Stay Porter’s Michael Pedenko and his team are tasked with ensuring their luxury high-end properties are protected and safe. Rowdy parties have been a threat to the short-term rental business since its early days and scrutiny of the problem has recently increased with the planned IPO of Airbnb.
High Stakes at Luxury Accommodations
Luxury accommodations at Stay Porter come equipped with high-end furniture, equipment, and amenities. Out of control parties are a risk both to the luxury home itself, and also to the brand and core values of Stay Porter. Unfortunately, larger luxury homes can often be sought out as ‘party houses’ and even the most prudent screening process isn’t infallible and guests intent on having parties can slip through.
“In the old days it would be somebody sitting down in a truck going down there talking to them, maybe we would come into the house, invading their privacy, risking a bad review. The whole domino effect.”
With properties at a 40-minute drive or more away, keeping an eye on them is a real challenge. Pedenko shares “In the old days it would be somebody sitting down in a truck going down there talking to them, maybe we would come into the house, invading their privacy, risking a bad review. The whole domino effect.” He knew technology would be a critical part of the solution to protecting Stay Porter properties, looking for something unobtrusive to guests but also easy for him and his team to use. Most importantly, the technology would have to actually work to identify and stop unwanted parties.
Technology Delivered Peace-of-Mind
Pedenko started by identifying the most at-risk properties in their portfolio. These properties were locations which had special concerns from neighbors or that had valuable furnishings and assets. His team researched sound monitors, video surveillance cameras, and special-purpose people counting technologies as possible solutions. “You can’t put cameras inside your properties, and sound monitors must be placed where the party will be…and even then can be muffled.” Instead, Pedenko’s team selected a solution designed for this specific need: the Party Squasher home occupancy monitoring service. His team deployed eight of the tiny Party Squasher sensors at each of the eight properties he deemed most susceptible to parties.
With a sensor that is inconspicuous to guests, but never violates their privacy, Stay Porter has been able to keep a closer watch on all of their party-prone properties. Saving them time and money, Pedenko and his team can attest that Party Squasher “just gives you that peace of mind and allows you to not worry so much, especially in the more expensive properties. Those, when the damages get up there—they really get up there.”
Since installation of the devices, Party Squasher has helped Stay Porter stop trouble before it starts. “A few weeks ago we got a notification from Party Squasher that at 8:30pm on a Saturday night the property had 24 guests, which exceeded the maximum allowed threshold. when I drove through the property on the perimeter there were strobe lights and different colored lights going against the wall and they actually had a DJ set up in the backyardSo we immediately reached out to the guest and basically told them that’s something that shouldn’t be happening…if it wasn’t for Party Squasher something tells me that was about to be pretty much a rager.”
Happy Neighbors, Fewer Worries
Stay Porter delivers luxury experiences and service, which extends to providing superior consideration for their neighbors and community. Party Squasher devices usage means neighbors are happy, which in turn means Pedenko and his team have peace-of-mind. “Whenever a neighbor says I don’t know what’s going on over there, you can just look on the Party Squasher and tell them ‘well there are only 11 devices over there so I wouldn’t worry too much about it’,” he reports.
“When you tell neighbors ‘Hey I’ve got a Party Squasher’…it gives them peace of mind and shows them that you do actually care about their neighborhood. It demonstrates that you are taking a professional approach, especially now, given the coronavirus and requirements for social distancing.”
Party Squasher & Stay Porter Protection
With Party Squasher sensors Stay Porter is able to protect its most vulnerable and valuable properties. High-end properties, that might otherwise be targets for unruly parties, are monitored in a non-intrusive way through device counting technology and real-time alerts sent by email or SMS from Party Squasher’s Cloud service. Neighbors can rest assured that Stay Porter is taking responsibility for their properties and constantly working toward delivering safer short term rentals. This additional line of defense has allowed Pedenko to be more vigilant when it comes to high risk properties. “You can ask 100 questions and they’ll answer them all correctly but then, all of a sudden, they tell you it’s just 6 of us but Party Squasher shows 24 devices. Party Squasher has definitely saved us quite a few times!”
