Meet “Puako Pattie”: Your Guide to a Luxury Vacation on Hawaii’s Big Island

Hawaii Vacation Rentals
Location: Kamuela, HI
Website: VacationBigIsland.com
Quick Quote: “Because of LiveRez, I’m able to run my business on my own. I can run everything from wherever I am.”
 
On Hawaii’s Big Island, they call her “Puako Pattie.”

It’s a nick name she’s earned in her more than 30 years of experience in Hawaii’s real estate industry. A master in professional networking two decades before LinkedIn hit the web, Pattie Freeman, the owner and operator of Hawaii Vacation Rentals, can’t seem to go anywhere on the Big Island without running into someone she knows.

It’s these connections that make her so valuable to the many guests of the luxury vacation homes she manages.

“I have the kind of guests that like that one-on-one attention,” she said. “It’s a very personal touch that my company offers.”

You see, Freeman doesn’t just offer her guests luxury vacation homes; she offers them her many connections, as well. If a guest needs something or wants to do something when they visit, Freeman knows just who to put them in touch with.

“Any type of service that the guest wants, we can do it,” Freeman said. “If they want groceries delivered or massages in their homes or private yoga instruction, I can put them in contact with those kinds of people.”

It’s an extremely valuable quality on a small island located more than 2,000 miles off the west coast of the United States. Freeman is a true island insider – something her guests recognize and an aspect that keeps them returning to do business with her.

“Because I’ve lived here so long, I am able to offer the guests more of an experience of what it’s like to live here,” Freeman said.

And, if you’re lucky enough to stay in one of Freeman’s 19 luxury homes, oh what an experience you’ll have. Freeman’s properties are all top of the line, mostly located on or near the Kohala coast – where most of the Big Island’s best beaches reside.

“I focus on quality rather than quantity,” Freeman said of her inventory.

Freeman estimates that 50 percent of her business is return customers – an impressive statistic for any manager. But, she also maintains strong, long-term relationships with her owners, as well.

When she signed up with LiveRez in January of 2011, Freeman began to take a deeper view of her relationships with owners, thanks to a concept stressed by her new software provider. That concept is “partnership.”

It’s not that Freeman didn’t know about the value of partnerships. She had been forging them with her business contacts on the island for years. But, this idea of a partnership with her software provider was a new concept.

And last year – when she was in the process of making one of the biggest changes to her business that she’s ever made – she learned firsthand that “partnership” is more than just a word to LiveRez.

You see, last spring Freeman decided that she could now run her business on her own. So, she closed her commercial office that she had kept for 17 years. And, she went from a staff of herself and four employees to running nearly every aspect of her business on her own.

“So, I had to learn everything myself,” she said. “Believe me there were some tears and some stress, but when I asked for help, LiveRez gave it to me.”

Freeman said she can’t speak highly enough of the support she has received from LiveRez, especially when she needed it most.

“I felt like when I was in such a desperate situation, I got fabulous help,” she said.

This support and the advanced features of the LiveRez platform were key factors in Freeman being able to make such a bold and decisive move.

“To give up my office was such a huge thing for me,” Freeman said. “But, I realized that I didn’t need that office anymore.”

According to Freeman, cutting out the monthly rent on a commercial office and saving on four employees’ salaries has allowed her to reap substantial savings.

“Really, for me, it saved my life,” she said. “I was drowning in overhead.”

And, moreover, it’s given her freedom.

Thanks to LiveRez’s 24-7 availability online, Freeman has been able to travel recently and run her business remotely.

“Because of LiveRez, I’m able to run my business on my own,” she said. “I can run everything from wherever I am.”

Freeman said that the ability to make changes to her LiveRez website has been one of her favorite features.

“That is huge,” Freeman said. “Because I am not a web tech person; I’m a people person.”

Before she became a LiveRez partner, Freeman had to rely on her previous software company to make modifications to her website – a lengthy and frustrating process.

Freeman said not having to depend on someone to make website changes – instead being able to do it herself immediately – has dramatically changed the way she does business.

In her many years of experience in the industry, Freeman has had the opportunity to see the progress of vacation rental software. She’s seen the good and the bad. And, she knows the difference.

“I’ve been through about five reservation systems, which has been quite costly,” she said. “But, I think that’s why I appreciate LiveRez so much.”

Freeman is very grateful for her repeat guests, loyal vendors and most importantly her son, Jonathan Ditto, who pushed her to embrace the LiveRez system, social media and working with a virtual office.

With all of Freeman’s experience in the industry and on the Big Island, she has become a master in building and retaining relationships – with her guests, with her owners, with her contractors on the Big Island, and now with her software provider.

Said Freeman: “It really has been a partnership.”