To the Limited Partners of Ziggy Resorts River Cabins, LLC

Happy 2024! We've had a phenomenal first calendar year. Below you’ll find some highlights, lowlights, and upcoming plans. 

If you haven’t had the chance to visit the cabins, please see the policy and availability here.

We appreciate your continued support.

Regards,

Ziggy Team 

Property Management & Other Operations

• In October, due to their high fees, we fired our property management company. We now handle all property management and guest relations in-house. We have since doubled our margins. 
• We have hired and trained a staff of an 'on-the-ground' property manager, 24/7 guest communications, and three cleaners, as well as in-house repair, snow removal, landscaping, and hot tub maintenance. 
• Improved the cabins with new art, linens, and new ambient lighting throughout the property. Achieved Superhost status on Airbnb. We average a 9.4 quality rating on various rental channels (we aim to improve this to 9.5+). We are just getting started and have many more improvements planned for the Spring. 
• As the weather warms, we will assess two cabins for substantive renovations before the summer high season. Pending six months of stable and above-target revenue, we will continue to assess further cabins for upgrades so that we may then begin investor distributions. 

Revenue

We achieved new revenue highs each month culminating in $24,583 in December Operating Revenue (86% higher than our modeled return requirement average). 

Our financial model (and projected IRR) requires an average monthly operating revenue of $14,277 in the first year of operations. To date, we average $13,246. However, since we brought property management in-house, we have averaged $16,242 per month. This is a promising start.

Much remains unpredictable as wait for a full year of operational results, seasonal changes, and an established reputation across booking channels. We will continue to focus on listing exposure, optimal pricing, top reviews, and property improvements to capture more bookings and revenue per booking.

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Occupancy & Earnings per Stay

Our previous property manager utilized low prices to maximize occupancy (and their fees). Since taking over in October, occupancy has fluctuated as we improve ratings and wait for more bookings as we earn better placement on Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com. We prefer lower occupancy and a higher Average Daily Rate to achieve increased revenue with minimal wear and tear. 

2024 Next Steps

1. Improved Analytics. We have contracted Key Data to help us improve pricing and conversion rates. By better understanding how we compare to competition in the area, we will be better able to improve and stand out. ‍
2. Expanded Property Listings. We have already added listings on VRBO and Booking.com in addition to Airbnb. Our goal is to scale on those platforms. Additionally, we have listed on Google.com for more traffic. Next after Google iares Expedia and Tripadvisor. ‍
3. Two Cabin Renovations. Our construction crews are scheduled to begin upgrades beginning in March and April. We have plans for new kitchens, roof upgrades, modern finishes, blinds, and painting.

Market & Conclusion

After months of rate hikes, there’s beginning to be a consensus that interest rates may have peaked. Strong jobs reports notwithstanding, we expect the Federal Reserve to hold steady and possibly begin lowering rates this coming Summer (all eyes are on a hotter-than-expected January 2024 CPI). If rates do follow course and ease, this could mean the possibility of refinancing a year from now, but more importantly, it means the housing market could begin to heat up again this summer raising property values everywhere. 

We will continue to monitor the domestic macroeconomic outlook combined with geo-political events to try and make the best decisions regarding the timing of interest rates, overall property value, and tourism appetite to book at higher ADRs.

Tourism trends in the larger Blue Ridge region naturally affect demand. These trends are outside our control but we are hopeful that with a baseline of great reviews and our much improved operating margins, we will double or triple Spring 2024 revenue up from 2023.  

We appreciate your continued support and belief in Ziggy Cabins. We hope you can visit soon (before renovations and again after) to see the property evolving. We’ve received some invaluable feedback from investors and look forward to more. 

Thank you again for your partnership. Please send us any questions or concerns. 

Sincerely, 

Ziggy Capital General Partners

P.S. Investor stay policy