Nicole & Russ French in Ecuador 2024
A passion for hosting
Sometimes guests will ask us how this adventure in short term rental hosting started…here’s the back story!
A bit of last minute magic landed us in a rental property on Pigeon Hill Bay in Milbridge, Maine in the summer of 2017 - we had planned to spend a week vacationing with a former exchange student that we had hosted at our home in Southern Maine years earlier. We had passed through Downeast Maine once before without understanding the beauty of it, so that week was filled with surprises and ended with tears when the time came to leave. We were delighted to continue renting the same cottage over the next few years - and it was clear that the region was taking hold of us because we were not in the habit of vacationing in the same place twice!
Then an unexpected twist in the spring of 2020 brought us to Milbridge for a different reason. A sweet little A-Frame cottage was for sale on that very same bay, and something inside both of us said YES, even though it was nearly 4 hours from home! A few months later, we dipped a toe into the world of Airbnb hosting and have not turned back since. Serendipity brought us two more cottages nearby, and so we quickly became full time hosts of 3 properties. We’ve since claimed one of them for ourselves, having given up our southern Maine roots, and we now call Milbridge our home.
Our two rental cottages in Gouldsboro have been a delight to share with others, and we’ve been so thrilled that our guests love those places as much as we do. We still get excited every time we receive a 5 star review, which can be as many as 4 times a week. We read every single one and we follow up with every suggestion that our guests make.
It certainly wasn’t an easy job to get these cottages AirBNB ready, but we learned SO much and it got easier as we went. We are always happy to share what we know, so don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re considering your own vacation rental business! And if you’re looking for a ridiculously beautiful place in New England to vacation, try the Downeast coast of Maine. Our digital welcome guide will help you track down the best food, fun, views, hikes, and adventures. And we can also help make your stay extra special - like we’ve done for guests celebrating a birthday, anniversary or retirement - and we absolutely love helping with surprise engagements!
