Sandcastle Escapes: An Eye for Details

By Bruce Collier October 19, 2006 Issue

Justin Shelton and Taylor Williams are part of the ownership and management team constituting Sandcastle Escapes in Destin. The business is technically that of “rental management,” serving developers and rental property owners in processing and overseeing all aspects of tourist rentals. But the real nature of the game, both say, is paying attention to details.

“[We] hadn’t thought of starting a business,” said Shelton, who together with Williams worked for several years at an established local rental company. Years of listening to developers, owners and renters gave both a sense of what was not being properly addressed. They wanted a change from what they considered the “ho-hum attitude” of some management companies. “Anybody can rent,” said Shelton, “but cleaning and maintenance are often overlooked. We took all the negatives over the years and we’re trying to turn them around.”

Cleaning and maintenance are only two of a number of areas for which Sandcastle Escapes hopes to set the local standard of service. Theirs is a young company. The two started building their office on Emerald Coast Parkway in April of this year. The first reservations were taken in August. From their present client roster of about 40, they expect to expand to up to 400 client properties. To that end, their present office space looks especially roomy, in expectation of all that growth. “We’re trying to avoid growing pains,”said Shelton.

The office has a decorated lobby and a large reception desk, behind which are several still-sparsely decorated offices, a conference room, and employee dining room. The decor is still a work in progress, but Williams and Shelton have not skimped on the technical gear. “Everything we have here is state-of-the-art,” they say. According to Williams, in the office are 10 computers, 10 telephones, and seven more lines. Both he and Shelton keep up with the latest technical and computer advances.

Sandcastle Escapes’ use of technology extends even to door locks. In the conference room is a table with a prototype of a keyless coded door lock. These, Williams explains, can be fitted over an existing door lock without damage. The advantage is that they are operated by keypad code, eliminating the multitude of keys, and copies of keys, that owners, cleaning people, renters, and rental managers must keep track of. Another advantage is that coded entries are logged and can be tracked and recorded. This is for security and to make sure that routine service visits are being made. The cost of the locks is somewhat steep, so Sandcastle Escapes purchases its own and makes them available to owners without cost to them as part of the agreement.

Even farther back in the office space is a large storage room. The walls are lined with shelves, and there are tables and shelves in the middle. On them are stacks of supplies — tissue, soap, shampoo, trash bags, vacuum cleaner bags, light bulbs, coffee makers, toasters, blenders, hand mixers, phones, irons, and spare parts for them. Rows of identical red vacuum cleaners stand like a regiment. To ensure sanitary consistency, the company also makes up portable kits of cleaning supplies for housecleaners to take on the job.

The main thing, said Shelton, is to be “structured for service.” As part of the overall effort to provide something extra even in routine matters, both point to their company’s policy of complimentary mid-week housecleaning service, higher thread-count linens, and high-end quality bathroom amenities such as thicker-ply tissue. “You have to give more to make more,” said Shelton.

On the website, also a work in progress, Sandcastle Escapes provides “vacation quick search” tools, flight and car rental setup, special offers, live chat capability, maps, and click-on guides to area fishing, shopping, and other attractions. Williams hopes to tweak all of these, especially the search capability, to allow prospective renters as much detail and date-specific information as possible.

Both Shelton and Williams are in their 30s. Shelton has lived in this area for about 15 years, saying “I came for the beach, that’s why everybody comes here.” Williams has lived in this area for most of his life. Their education and “hands-on experience” prepared them to start up this business.

The office is not overcrowded with people on this day. Many are out working on properties. The number of employees and subcontract labor at Sandcastle Escapes varies seasonally, but Shelton believes training and a good work atmosphere is critical to keeping employees. “People will work in an area if you create an environment they can live in.”

Sandcastle Escapes is located at 12555 Emerald Coast Parkway in Destin. The telephone number of 650-2753. The website address is www.sandcastleescapes.com.

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