Pyramid Peak Properties: How This Vacation Rental Manager Grew 10 Fold in One Year

Pyramid Peak Properties
Website: PyramidPeakProperties.com
Location: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Quick Stat: In just the past year, Pyramid Peak Properties has experienced a nearly 10 fold increase in the number of properties it manages. The business grew from six properties in September 2010 to a current roster of 57 properties.

Just one year ago, Joan Pilar was managing six properties. Now her vacation rental management company, Pyramid Peak Properties, is up to 57 and growing every day.

A 10-fold growth in just one year? That might sound like something straight out of a Sunday-afternoon infomercial. The only difference is that Pilar’s results are real – so real that her competition is starting to take notice.

You see, Pyramid Peak Properties is located in Lake Tahoe, one of the western United States' most popular vacation destinations. There’s no shortage of things to do there, and there’s also no shortage of businesses offering lodging to out-of-towners.

In the winter months, one of the most popular things to do is hit the slopes, and the local favorite for skiing and boarding is the Kirkwood Mountain Resort Area. Situated at a base elevation of about 8,000 feet, the area is high enough to avoid much bad weather, Pilar said, and there’s not much waiting in line, either.

“The beauty of Kirkwood is there are no crowds,” she said. “No lift lines – even at Christmas.”

For years, Kirkwood Mountain Resort enjoyed the lion’s share of the lodging market there. But, Pyramid Peak Properties is now starting to give them a run for their money.

“I am their first real competitor,” Pilar said.

One of the key aspects that has allowed the growing company to compete with an established player in the market is the company’s ability to take online bookings – a tool that Pilar picked up when she became a LiveRez.com partner.

“We really stepped it up a notch for our customer base (when we added online bookings),” she said.

Perhaps the most telling example of the power of Pilar’s LiveRez website is the comments she has received from her guests from Silcon Valley, many of which have backgrounds in technology. Pilar said these guests constantly give her positive feedback about the company’s LiveRez-powered website.

“It’s clean, easy to navigate and fully functioning,” said Pilar, recounting the feedback from her guests. “They really like it.”

Many of Pilar’s guests come from California’s Bay Area, which is located just a few hours southwest of Lake Tahoe. In the summer, they can come escape the heat of the California coast, and in the winter they can enjoy some of the best winter sports available.

And, when they need a place to stay, Pilar and Pyramid Peak Properties have exactly what they need.

“We have everything from small studios and condominiums to luxury six-bedroom homes that are ski-in and ski-out,” she said. “We have chalets and cabins and everything in between.”

Although the company offers its guest the ability to book online and offers its owners their own logins to LiveRez to access reports about their properties and make reservations – tools that significantly cut down on phone calls – Pilar stressed the importance of making a personal connection with her guests and her owners.

“I think having a personal relationship on both sides and balancing those needs is important,” she said.

Pilar’s ability to meld technology and good old-fashioned customer service has been a major player in her company’s success. She didn’t need any help when it came to the customer service, but when it came to the technology she wanted to offer her guests and her owners the modern-day features they expected.

That technology has helped her not only add new guests, but also forge partnerships with new owners.

“We’re growing every day,” she said. “And I think a good support system is having people be able to look at the website and say ‘Wow, you guys are professional.’”

But the guests and owners only see half the technology that comes with a LiveRez.com partnership. And, for Pilar, that other half was just as important.

“The one thing LiveRez offers is a fully functioning platform from the front end to the back end,” she said. “And, that’s what I was looking for.”

Pilar admits that she was nervous at first about handing over so much responsibility to a software platform. She is the type of person who likes to know exactly how a program works, and she couldn’t have any glitches. But, after more than a year using the system, she knows she can put her trust in LiveRez.

“I’ve never, ever had a bug,” she said. “Nothing has ever gone wrong. I think that says a lot.”

One feature that has saved Pilar a great deal of time is LiveRez.com’s QuickBooks integration.

“For me, the integration on the back end with QuickBooks and everything else is perfect,” she said. “I kind of transitioned into that, but now that I have so many properties, I couldn’t do it without it.”

You’d think that Pilar was paying a pretty penny for a powerful system like LiveRez. But, if you ask Pilar, she’ll tell you that, for what she paid, it’s been well worth her investment.

“You can’t even compare the affordability of LiveRez – at your base rates and then your monthly rates – to anything else,” she said.

LiveRez may just be one factor, among many, that has figured into the company’s success. But, as Pilar and Pyramid Peak Properties march forward in their quest for the Lake Tahoe market, one thing is for sure. LiveRez will be by their side.

Said Pilar: “It just backs us up.”