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May 31, 2025 20 mins

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Ever wondered what it really takes to run a successful Airbnb? Linda from the Coconut Casita in Vero Beach, Florida takes us behind the scenes of vacation rental hosting, revealing both the magic and the madness of this increasingly popular business venture.

The labor of love that is Airbnb hosting extends far beyond changing sheets and handing over keys. "Running an Airbnb can be 24/7 almost, although you learn to create your boundaries," Linda shares as she describes days filled with preparing for back-to-back guests, maintaining lush gardens, creating personalized experiences, and managing social media marketing. Her passion for hospitality shines through in every thoughtful touch—from researching guests' interests to leaving vintage birding books for nature enthusiasts or pregnancy resources for expectant parents.

But hosting isn't without its challenges. Linda candidly discusses financial pressures, especially as the rental income has become more essential following her husband's retirement. She also shares entertaining mishaps, including the notorious "electric teapot incident" when a guest accidentally melted an electric kettle on the stovetop. Rather than creating tension, these moments have become cherished stories that showcase the grace and humor essential to successful hosting.

For those considering entering the vacation rental market, Linda offers valuable wisdom: "Don't put all your eggs in one basket." She recommends diversifying beyond the Airbnb platform, understanding your target demographic, and being transparent about your property's unique character. Most importantly, she advises approaching hosting with genuine love—a philosophy that has clearly served the charming Coconut Casita well, earning not just positive reviews but meaningful connections with guests who've become friends over the years.

Curious about Linda's journey in Vero Beach? Tune in to our next episode where we'll explore why she chose this special Florida community and what she loves most about it.

The Vero Beach Podcast & MyVeroBeach.com is presented by Killer Bee Marketing, helping local businesses in Vero Beach reach more customers. Learn more at killerbeemarketing.com

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hey, welcome back to the Vero Beach Podcast.
This is part two of ourinterview with Linda from the
Coconut Casita.
So during this episode we'regoing to dive into the
day-to-day what does it looklike running an Airbnb, and some
of the lessons you've learned,some of the challenges you've
come across.
So we'll get to the challengesa little bit later, because my
name might drop in there at somepoint.

(00:20):
I don't know, but what does atypical day look like for you
running an Airbnb?

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Linda Well, running an Airbnb can be a 24 seven
almost, although you learn toyou learn to create your
boundaries.
But so typically we will have.
We are often very booked and sosometimes we'll have back to
back guests and so then it is amassive run for the whole
household because we arefluffing pillows, we are washing
everything, we are doing whatwe need to do and we have to

(00:54):
continually work on the garden,keeping the garden going.
At times I'll have somebody, afabulous cleaner, that will come
help me and she just knows, sheknows my whole aesthetic and
she knows how to move a pillowhere.
But my favorite part is reallythe fluffing.
I love just putting anotherflower out and looking how this
looks, and then I'll always sitand just relax for a little bit.

(01:15):
But there's a lot of marketinginvolved and there's a lot of
social media, which is fabulousmarketing, I find.
But you are constantly tryingto do that to keep the place
booked.
There are.
You know, there can be mishaps,there can be air conditioner
issues.
I've learned to try and workwith grace, do it with grace and

(01:38):
sometimes a bottle of wine toget through it.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
We weren't going to share that with everybody, linda
, that we're sitting here?
Okay, we're having wine, we'reenjoying this nice relaxed area,
but we're dripping sweat.
No, it's not that hot.
The air conditioning, you knowit's important.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
I turn the air conditioning off by mistake, so
I did that myself.
But that would be a classicwhoopsie and a bottle of wine
fixes all mistakes.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
And you know we've talked about having episodes
later in the future interviewingsome legends from here, and it
sounds like your airconditioning unit might fall in
that category too, so which ispretty present 50 years old, you
said it is 50.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
It is the mascot of our fabulous air conditioning
business.
They do not want me to changeit until it's absolutely dead
yeah and they, literally theysay that it's our mascot.
We don't.
We've never had one this oldand it's working beautifully.
But we always do worry a littlebit about it, because sometimes
you'll get guests that you andthey, literally they say that
it's our mascot.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
We've never had one this old and it's working
beautifully.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
That is hilarious, but we always do worry a little
bit about it, because sometimesyou'll get guests that you know
they're in Florida and they'rein the tropics and they turn it
all the way down and then theyopen all the windows.
Oh, yeah.
So that is part of being hostin Florida and it works well if
you leave it turned on.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
So that was the whole mistake air conditioning is
working great here.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
She just turned it off, so that happens, I did I
love kind of doing a little bitof homework on the guests that's
coming.
Why are they coming?
Uh, you know what?
What do they know?
You know if maybe they're goingto be birding and so I'll bring
out some old vintage books onbirding in florida, or maybe
they're pregnant and I'll havesome books out.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
So I really, truly love to create an experience for
them and I can say you do anamazing job on your social media
.
I mean, my business ismarketing, so when I see what
you do on social media, you doan amazing job and you're great
at supporting other people.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
So that's a big deal.
You do your own Instagram.
Yes, yes, linda it's amazing,really it is amazing.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
I know no difference, but I really appreciate you
saying that.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
I can't believe you're so good at so many things
.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
I think it's the creative part and I think
Instagram can be a creativeoutlet.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
Oh yes.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
As can just decorating this Absolutely.
I can change it at whim.
It is an outlet for me and asis hosting.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
I love that.
That's amazing.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
You said that you do research as your guest.
Again, it was four years ago,but did you do research on us
Now?
I'm curious.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
Well, by research I don't mean, no, I'm not looking,
but often I'll ask them somequestions.
Like why are you coming?
Have I'll ask them somequestions.
Why are you coming?
Have you been to Vero Beachbefore?
And often they'll tell us a lotof good information.

Speaker 3 (04:08):
I remember her asking that, do you?

Speaker 1 (04:10):
remember.
This is interesting because Icame here, we came here as a
family for that first vacationto take a break from the
business, and Shauna rememberswhat it was like when we got
here we had the charcuterieboard so we indulged on that and
then you want to share, kind oflike, what happened.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
So Brian had not taken any real sort of break
from the business since hestarted it and, of course, when
you're starting a business, youknow it takes a lot of your time
, a lot of energy.
And he was just exhausted, andso we had decided when we came
here that we weren't going touse our phones or watch TV.
Good, and so he brought a book,nice, and he laid right on that

(04:51):
couch right there and startedreading his book and just fell
into such a deep sleep and I wasso moved by it, because, you
know, it's not everywhere thatcan give you so much peace, and
especially like stepping awayfrom your business for the first
time, you know.
So I was very skeptical abouthow much he would actually be
able to relax, and so I likesnapped pictures of him while he

(05:15):
was sleeping and I sent them tothe team members that were, you
know, handling everything whilewe were gone.
And I just said this ispossible because of you, and I
also want just said this ispossible because of you, and I
also want to say this ispossible because of you, linda.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
What would you say has been your biggest challenge
so far running Airbnb.

Speaker 2 (05:35):
The biggest challenge has been well, interestingly,
my husband retired, although hestill does some gig work on the
side, and so now it is afinancial.
It's important for usfinancially.
So the biggest challengeseemingly this year is to make
sure that we are getting asteady income and that we're

(05:55):
bringing in people and that I'mworking three jobs and the
Airbnb.
Sometimes it feels like it'sit's a lot, but it does always
get done in the end and and itis it is the guests that often
make the difference, because somany of them have become friends
um through the years and I'vegot to stay at their Airbnbs or

(06:16):
help them out.
So the biggest challenge isprobably just the financial
aspect of it.
It's a big property, it's a bigtwo houses to maintain and as
prices go up and everything goesup and money is not coming in
as much.

Speaker 1 (06:35):
That changes things.
Actually, that was the thingthat I didn't notice, I think,
when we came here in 2021, youonly had one Airbnb.
Is there a second one now?

Speaker 2 (06:44):
No, okay, we have a barn.
Okay, we call it, the barn bar.

Speaker 1 (06:49):
Oh, the barn bar Was that good.
I don't think the barn bar wasopen yet was it Well, I mean,
it's always been there.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
It literally housed horses.
They used to have horses on theproperty.
We haven't fixed the inside yet, but just the outside has some
chairs and there's literally alittle barn and there's some
music out there.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
Oh, that's cool, so people will hang out out there.
I remember seeing you postabout the barn before the barn
bar and yeah, for some reason wethought you were opening
another Airbnb.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
Always was a dream.
You know, you're always, I'malways kind of looking and there
was this one magical piece ofproperty that was on Blue
Cypress Lake and it was onstilts.
It was this little 600 foot andI go kayaking every weekend and
love to see what's around.
And I was kayaking and all of asudden they had a for sale.

(07:35):
So there was three propertieson stilts.
It was amazing and I just Italked to the owners and I was
an inch away from doing it, butthe land was held by the state,
so you actually don't own it andthey can take it at any time,
but I already had the name.
I had floating coconut, but thenI realized, like man, I got to
go out in a kayak and bring thesheets and the towels.
I didn't feel like, okay, thatdream can end Go with that one.

(08:00):
But we have loved doing this somuch that I have thought of
doing, you know, anotherboutique type of a place.
So that's always kind of on theback of my mind.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
You said you like to go kayaking.
Where do you like to gokayaking?
Out here?

Speaker 2 (08:13):
Oh, the Indian River Lagoon is just amazing.
It is magical.
It is probably one of the mostbiodiverse estuaries it is in
the entire United States.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
It's where fresh and saltwater meet.

Speaker 2 (08:25):
We have manatees, dolphins, 4,000 different plants
and animals, and there's somany places that are a little
hidden.
I call them alligator alleysand spoil islands, and there's a
few of us that just love to goout, usually at sunrise, okay,
where it's like color and lighttherapy, and um and there's.
You know that we have lakesaround, so indian river is a

(08:48):
community full of lots of hiddenlittle places to to really
explore nature that's reallycool.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
I know we were talking about getting some.
You know, again, this is partof us being new to the area, you
know, but the uh we we weretalking about getting some.
You know, again, this is partof us being new to the area, you
know, but the uh, we've beentalking about getting a couple
of kayaks.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
Oh, I'll show you all my secret places.
Yeah, that would be cool,awesome yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
We're not far from.
We're right down the streetfrom Indian river right.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
You're right there.
So we were wondering if thereare any good stories about, like
weird or surprising things thatpeople have left behind.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
We do a lot of sending things back.
Yes, I think I have an entiredrawer full of phone chargers oh
my goodness.
Yeah, so we got everything youcould need, but you know, if
they ask us.
So the special things.
We've had teddy bears thatwe've had to send back.
We've had those clear retainersoh my goodness, that we had to

(09:38):
send back.

Speaker 3 (09:38):
We've had those clear retainers.
Oh, my goodness that we had tosend back those are so expensive
, I know.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
Glasses, lots of glasses, Kids leaving their.
I didn't even know what it was.
What is it called?

Speaker 1 (09:51):
Not a stitch, oh a switch, A switch, oh a switch.
I was like etch a stitch.
You know my age.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
I was right there with you.
No, somebody said my daughterleft her switch and I'm thinking
like a little switch I can seeon the wall and I'm looking all
over for this switch and why isthe switch so important?
And then I find this hugelittle electronic thing.
I'm like oh, and I had to ask afriend like is this a switch?

Speaker 1 (10:21):
That's great.
Well, they didn't put a labelon it, so the people that don't
know that hasn't been here.
Linda's got labels oneverything and I love it.
Like we came here, I'm likewhat light switch works what?
And there's labels on everylight switch.

Speaker 3 (10:35):
It makes it so much easier to figure out a new house
.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
It makes it so much easier to figure out a new house
.
It makes it so easy, except forthe one thing you didn't put
the label on which we're goingto get to here in a minute.
I bet there's a label now.
I bet there is.
There's a lock on it.
There's a lock on it.
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 3 (10:53):
You have to put your credit card in to use it.

Speaker 1 (10:56):
Well, the next question.
I was going to ask if there'sbeen any funnier surprising
moments.
I think we're kind of at oneand you might have another one,
but what I was talking aboutduring the first episode was
when we came here again.
We came here to enjoy, relax,rest.
It was exactly that the firstday was magical have some tea.
Have some tea.

Speaker 3 (11:14):
Yeah, oh actually, the next morning we were going
to do pour over coffee, whichwe've never had before.
Oh, okay, that was the plan.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
So what's cool here is here at the Coconut Casita
they have an actual is that likea vintage orange?

Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yes, our vintage orange juicer.

Speaker 1 (11:31):
Orange press.

Speaker 2 (11:32):
Orange press and we get oranges from our local
groves, Shack Groves andPeterson's.

Speaker 1 (11:37):
So we get up in the morning and Shauna makes some
fresh squeezed orange juice.
It was delicious, Amazing.
She's like I'll get in.
She's like in the shower.
Okay, I'll figure out this pourover coffee thing.
I go to heat up some water inthe tea maker and I put it like
I've learned how to run that atthe house.
At the house, Sean had one yeah, Like the oven and the tea.
Good job, but the tea was likeyou just stick it on top of the

(11:59):
oven, you know.

Speaker 2 (12:00):
Uh-huh, put water in it.

Speaker 3 (12:01):
I'm over like looking at the other side, some people
call it a stovetop?

Speaker 1 (12:04):
Yeah, some people call it a stovetop.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, you put it in thestovetop or on the stovet and I
swear my eyes and my brainregistered there's water

(12:27):
steaming.
That's what I thought I saw.
That's not what I saw.
So I'm like, ooh, that watermust be done.
So I grabbed it and when Igrabbed it it looked like water
was like shooting out from thebottom.
So I'm like, oh my gosh, thewater is like coming out of the
bottom.
So I push it down on the stoveand I scoot it over.

(12:49):
And I'm like the whole place isfilled of smoke.

Speaker 3 (12:50):
now I realized it's not steam, it's smoke, oh dear.
It's not water, it's meltedplastic.

Speaker 1 (12:53):
It's melted plastic.
Yes, let's start clarifyingthat.
I guess I yell for Shauna.
She comes out and it's likeearly in the morning, I think it
was like seven or something,which is early for us.

Speaker 3 (13:02):
I'm like I don't know what's going on.
I don't know what's going on?

Speaker 1 (13:03):
I don't know what's going on.
And she came out and I liftedit up and the whole bottom just
popped off and there's all thesewires hanging.
And I realized that shauna goeswhat did you do with it?
Did you put that on the oven?
I was like, yeah, that's howyou heat up water.
She goes that's an electric teakettle, you don't need to put
that on the oven.
So I melted the whole bottom ofit across your whole oven.

(13:24):
Uh what?
is the whole stove top wholeglass stove top melted plastic
smeared has now smeared anddried oh and you know, bonded
itself yes to the beautifulstove top that is in the coconut
casita so I'm like, oh my gosh,so we're trying to get it aired
out.
I'm like we are never gonnacome back here, like they're
never gonna have us back.

(13:45):
I was like it smelled so bad.
It doesn't smell like that now,everybody.

Speaker 2 (13:49):
It smells great in here.

Speaker 1 (13:51):
It was so scary because I'm like look up the
teapot, we found the exact sameone at Amazon.

Speaker 2 (13:57):
You did indeed.
I was like we've got to findthis.

Speaker 1 (13:59):
I found it, ordered it.
I had to have it shipped toyour address, which is your home
address, which is your homeaddress, not the Airbnb, so I
couldn't sneak this past you.
Oh, so I'm like.
I told Sean I was like babe,you're going to have to go, let
her know that she has a newteapot, cause she's just going
to show up and she's going to belike why do I have a?

Speaker 3 (14:19):
teapot.
We have one day to figure outhow to explain this.

Speaker 1 (14:22):
But I did learn out later.
I did learn later that it wasreally your fault, because,
because you did not put a labelon it.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
Darn, that was my fault.

Speaker 3 (14:31):
I'm not sure we can swing that as being Linda's
fault.

Speaker 1 (14:35):
I do remember Shauna told me I was like, what did she
say?
Did she say get out of here?
She said that was the one thingshe didn't put a label on.
She knew she should probablyput a label on it because
someone will probably think this.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
They won't realize it's electric right, except for
the cord and everything yeah,the cord?

Speaker 1 (14:54):
yeah, I didn't really , so you must have taken it off
the base, I take exactly, theystayed up there, yes oh, and
there is now a sign that sayselectric teapot.

Speaker 2 (15:01):
Thanks to brian thanks to brian yeah, you're
welcome.

Speaker 3 (15:04):
You're welcome, guys, you're welcome the great thing
about that story is number one.
We got all the plastic off thestove top, which is what I was
scared about.

Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah, I looked at the stove and I was like babe, we
can't replace a stove, so youneed to get that cleaned.
I don't know how many hours youworked on that.

Speaker 3 (15:20):
But the beautiful thing about that story is you
were so gracious with us and wewere so thankful.
I didn't see it though yeah,that's true, like you didn't see
it till it's fixed, but it wasjust super scary staying in such
a beautiful place and we'relike what have we done?
I should never have let brianloose in the kitchen.
We we have rectified that sincethen.

(15:43):
We brian is not allowed loosein the kitchen.
No, pour over coffee for you.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
Still, to this day, we haven't had pour over coffee.
We have not had it.
I'm thinking that that might beone that's probably hit your
funny or strange stories, but doyou have any others?

Speaker 2 (15:59):
Well, I actually I love that story, because I do.
You did mention something andall of a sudden, literally like
within an hour, there's thisbeautiful electric teapot.

Speaker 1 (16:10):
The exact same one.
Well, I do have to say I didn'tnotice.
You didn't bring it out to usto use.

Speaker 3 (16:16):
Such a wise woman, I wasn't going to try anyways.

Speaker 1 (16:21):
Well, linda, what would you say?
Uh, as we get ready to wrap upthis, this episode, what would
you say you have learned aboutyourself since starting at
Airbnb?

Speaker 2 (16:30):
I have learned how much I love hosting and how much
I love hospitality, I havelearned boundaries and I've
learned to say no.
We often will get lots ofinfluencers that want free stays
for pictures and we've had somebeautiful and I'm open to that.
But I learned to really movethrough them to see what, who is

(16:52):
their audience, and I'velearned the demographics.
I've learned who I want youknow as my perfect guests and
that's where the, the socialmedia goes.
I'm trying to, you know, movetowards that and I've learned
that, um, even what might notseem like perfect guests can
turn into the most amazingguests.
We had one group and they wereout in the yard every night.

(17:15):
I think they had a wedding theywent to and, just laughing,
apparently, they were dancingnude in the backyard.

Speaker 1 (17:19):
Now it is a jungle that no one else can ever see.

Speaker 2 (17:23):
We didn't know about it, but they literally made a
totem out of all that.
They were artists and they madethis totem of this this like
with a palm tree skirt and aface and a mask during the
pandemic, and they left it thereand rolled up in a banana leaf,
was a thank you note.
So I learned that I just I,yeah, I just I love, I love, I

(17:43):
love the.
I love the little magicalmoments.

Speaker 1 (17:57):
That is cool, you know.
I am going to ask one morequestion on this episode because
I think that it could behelpful to a lot of new, maybe
entrepreneurs that might bethinking, hey, I want to get
into the Airbnb business.

Speaker 2 (18:04):
What would you say to someone that might be
considering what are some of thethings they should be thinking
about?
I would say don't put all youreggs in one basket.
There's a lot of short-termrentals.
Think of it as not Airbnb, as abusiness, and you are running
your own business.
So having your own website,potentially doing direct
bookings, potentially moving outto different booking platforms
BRBO, bookingcom you know tryingto.
You know you put all your eggsin one basket and if that one

(18:26):
business Airbnb decides, or forwhatever, or you know you put
all your eggs in one basket andif that one business Airbnb
decides, or for whatever, or youknow, for whatever reason, so
important to really, yeah, moveout into as many different
platforms as you can.
Not that I do that.
I've tried and I thought it wastoo complicated.
I have too many jobs, but we dodo.
Sometimes We'll do directbookings and things like that.
Know who you want, know yourdemographics, know what kind of

(18:48):
people you want and kind of dowhat you do towards that.

Speaker 1 (18:51):
Always keep in mind you know the guests that you
want.

Speaker 2 (18:54):
Know that if you are not a property where children
you know work, know that you putthat out front.
Know that you let them knowthis is an old, quirky, charming
, charming but quirky house andyou know it's not a hotel and

(19:14):
it's got its 50-year-old thingsand its 60-year-old things and I
would say go full force, but doit with love.

Speaker 1 (19:17):
That's good, that's good, I love that.

Speaker 2 (19:18):
It's perfect.

Speaker 1 (19:19):
And just to let everybody know as we wrap up
this episode, it has gotten alot cooler in here, so that
50-year-old air conditioner iskicking it.
I tell you what.
All right, that's the end ofthis episode.
Next episode we're going totalk about why Vero Beach, why
Vero Beach, Linda, and what youlove most about it.
So with that, we will catch youguys in the next episode.
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