May will be filled with performances at the Lake Dillon Theatre Company, which is located just a few miles from Keystone Resort.  Performances have been lined up for ‘A Behanding in Spokane’ by Martin McDonaugh May 10-13, 16-20, and 23-27, 30-31, and June 1-3. The play is described as an edgy dark comedy with quirky characters centered on Carmichael, who arrives in town searching for his missing left hand.

Weekday performances on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays begin at 6:30 pm and cost $27.

Weekend performances take place on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and cost $29.

Sunday performances are scheduled for 6:30 pm, and cost $29.  Student tickets are priced at $24.

SummitCove is offering discounted lodging for April and May visits to Keystone when you check out the performances at the Lake Dillon Theatre Company.

Keystone Resort has a wide variety of properties to choose from. SummitCove manages nearly 300 properties located exclusively in the Keystone area, which means that our guests have always had options based on their preference of budget, size, location and amenities.  Now we’ve made it even easier to select properties with a brand new feature that allows guests to browse for lodging by picture. Follow this link to access the brand new browse by picture feature!

The browse by picture option is available right from the SummitCove homepage, and it is a great option for guests who want to select their property based on decor, visual appeal or pictured amenities.  One of the best things about booking your Keystone vacation with SummitCove is that you will always know exactly which property you will be vacationing in.  Now, guests will also be able to reserve the property that captures their attention from a collection of photos.  SummitCove is the first vacation rental company to offer this feature, and we are sure it will help our guests make the perfect choice of Keystone lodging!

Contact a SummitCove Vacation Planner today to reserve your  Keystone Resort lodging!

It’s that time of the season when SummitCove, and our homeowners receive lodging inquiries from VRBO, Homeaway, and Craigslist advertisements.  Many of our guests are working furiously to find the best property for their Keystone Resort vacation from a variety of sources. While this time of the year brings great opportunity to property owners, and excellent options for vacationers, there are some considerations you must make in order to avoid scams and ensure the legitimacy of the property that you have booked. SummitCove is committed to providing the best service for our homeowners and guests, and many of our Keystone properties may be found advertised on the aforementioned sites.  We have put together vital information for anyone using online vacation listings to keep you safe and happy this ski season!

SPOTTING A SCAM:  ITEMS TO WATCH FOR
- Careless or unprofessional emails with very poor spelling or many grammatical errors
– Use of a free email service (especially from a different country i.e. yahoo.ca)
– Requests for personal information other than a name and general contact information
– Responses with personal information other than a name and general contact information
– Responses in which the “property owner” is out of the country for an extended length of time or holds any outlandish  job title
– A guest who is attempting to arrange a surprise trip for someone and offers unasked for details of that individual or their profession
– Offers to pay more than the rate you are advertising or offers from an owner of a rate that is suspiciously low.
– Misrepresentation of  the listed property (i.e. calling a cabin a “condo” or a condo a “town home” or multiple postings with duplicate photos)

PERSONAL INFORMATION
Regardless of how formal or truthful someone sounds, NEVER give away personal information. The most information you want to give away is:
– Your Name
– E-mail Address
– and Phone number (if you want to)
If you keep it simple, legitimate property owners will understand that you don’t want to give away personal details. Any scammer should stop right there, because they will realize that they can’t get the information they need. While it is common for owners or vacation planners to establish a rapport with a guest over the course of a conversation, exagerrated, or detailed information could indicate a scam; particularly if it relates to information that you did not ask for.

PAYMENT OFFERS
Common scams involve requests for a bank account number or a money order. These are two surefire ways to spot a scam. At any mention of Western Union, Moneygram or wiring funds,  its almost always best to end the conversation immediately.  Do not deal with anyone offering to pay rental fees or accept rental fees with  money orders or cashiers check or payments of more than the agreed upon rate.

This does not mean you can’t deal with people asking if they can write you a personal check. Sometimes these are legitimate customers who prefer this form of payment. Be aware that very few owners or property managers will accept check payments, including SummitCove.  This is done for the protection and privacy of both the guest and the homeowner.

LEGITIMATE LODGING RESERVATIONS FOLLOW THESE BASIC STEPS!
1. Owner or property management company receives a request for information.
2. They send a response to the request/gather more information about the person’s vacation rental needs and general contact info (typically name, email and/or phone #)
3. Price and property specific information is shared
4. Schedule a phone call with the owner or property management company.  This is the best way to ensure legitimacy!
7. Reservations are entered.  For Keystone guests of SummitCove, this can be done by the owner, by phone with a SummitCove’s Vacation Planner,  or using the SummitCove website
8. Confirmation is sent with full balance and payment information, cancellation policy, directions and property information.

SummitCove only requires general contact information such as name and contact phone or email to share property information and pricing.  We only accept credit card payments at the time of booking, and immediately send out a confirmation with payment information at the time a reservation is booked.  We do not ask for bank account or personal information, or accept cash, check or wire transfers as payment.

If guests and homeowners follow these simple steps when booking reservations and negotiating vacation rentals, the result will be a worry free vacation!  If you would like to discuss your upcoming Keystone Resort vacation lodging, contact a  SummitCove Vacation Planner today!

Building 5 at the Pines is getting a facelift! The project will be a replacement of the siding at the Pines Longleaf building (Building 5) during May and June 2012.

According to the Pines Owner’s Association, the building’s siding has reached the end of its useful life.  Repainting the building would only extend the siding’s life two to three years at the most.  The improvements consist of removing and replacing the current white pine siding and installing new cementitious siding with a paint cycle greater than 10 years.  Balcony railings will also be replaced.

Due to the siding project’s nature, this building requires closure to all but the construction crew from May 15th to the projected project completion date of June 30 for reasons of safety.  No properties located in this building will be rented during this time period.  SummitCove will be offering other great rental options in Keystone during this time!

The June 30 completion date is projected based on the contractor’s construction schedule and on the experience with the building 6 project earlier this year.  If we experience an unusually snowy May and early June the building opening date of June 30 may be adversely affected. Owners will receive project completion updates during the course of the construction.

In early May of 2012 property management will remove all items from building 5 balconies and will move these items back onto balconies when the new siding has been installed.  If you have items hung on the interior or your exterior walls it is suggested you remove these items then re-hang them after June 30th.

If Pines owners have any questions or need further clarification on this project, please feel free to contact us at SummitCove.  

SummitCove would like to update homeowners of Soda Springs about re-scheduled Fire Alarm System Testing.  Due to a scheduling conflict, Allied Security was unable to perform testing and inspections on the Fire Alarm System in August.   This has now been rescheduled for October 4^th and 5^th.

The Inspectors will be entering every unit, and there will be loud noises during this time.  We will be notifying guests of this testing to limit any inconvenience.  Any questions may be directed to SummitCove Property Management.

Does your neighbor seem to get more reservations than you? Are you considering upgrading your rental property?

River Run Village is the most highly demanded area in Keystone Colorado, so if you are a home owner in River Run Village already congratulations. Now when a guest is looking at finding the vacation rental for a ski vacation or coming up for one of the several festivals and concerts they begin the search for there perfect place. Maybe they were told by some friends that they should stay in River Run Village and that is all they know. Maybe they are just looking for a place withing walking distance to the slopes.
We like to take a step back and think like a guest, so we did our homework and we asked our vacation planners what is important to our guests when reserving a property in River Run Village? What is important to me when I want to reserve a property on any vacation I take? Here is a short list of what we have come up with for what a guest would like to have in there rental property.

Guests like to stay in a property that is convenient to the activity they are going to be doing.
Guests like to vacation in a property that is as nice or nicer than their home.
Guests like a place where they can be comfortable.
Guests like a place that is clean.
Guests like a place that is modern.
Guests like a place that looks warm and inviting.

Now when you narrow down the short list and find a place that meets all of these criteria we realize that some additional factors come in to play. These are like the added features you get when you go to buy a car, navigation, heated seats, leather, auto dimming mirrors, stuff you don’t need but you would certainly take them over not getting them if they are the same price. Now take that mentality into your rental property.

Guests like flat screen TV’s.
Guests like comfortable inviting looking beds.
Guests like new furniture.
Guests like nice decor.
Guests like upgraded EVERYTHING.

We have put together a photo slide show of before and after some of our homeowners did a remodel of Expedition Station 8589

SummitCove Property Management is dedicated to working with our home owners in Keystone Resort to meet and exceed your goals as owners, maximizing revenues, increasing repeat rentals, and keeping our properties in first class condition.

SummitCove Property Management in Keystone Colorado is now offering Starfire Townhomes as part of our vacation rental program.  We are very excited about one of our newest vacation rentals in Keystone Resort, Starfire Townhomes 1992

Startfire 1992 is a very nice 4 bedroom rental that your family will love!  This townhouse is high end, nice furnishings, a private garage to keep your car warm and one of the most requested features we hear from our guests, a private hot tub on the back deck!

Soak your soar legs in this private hot tub right out back.

Starfire Townhomes are located in West Keystone Colorado off of Soda Ridge Road.  The location is perfect if you are interested in doing any skiing at Keystone.  There is a free shuttle that picks you up about 2 minutes from this property and drops you off at the Mountain House Base area.

Great place to grab a bite to eat in this Keystone Vacation Rental

You saw that blog title right! We get to deal with many people and situations every single day, and sometimes it just gets to be too much. This is how our managers deal with the Bull!

Keystone Vacation Rentals By Owner Program

Property Management with SummitCove allows our owners to participate in Rental By Owner programs.  We interviewed a SummitCove home owner to give you a better idea of what the SummitCove Keystone Vacation Rental by Owner Program is and how it works for our guests and our owners.  Because our owners have the ability to find paying guests on their own through sites like Vacation Rental By Owner and Vacation Rentals dot com our guests can work with a private owner but also enjoy working with a professional company, so they get the value of working with an owner and the security of staying with a company.

So what is the SummitCove Vacation Rental By Owner Program and how does it work in Keystone?

The SummitCove Rental by Owner program is basically where a guests contacts the owner to arrange to rent their property directly from the owner, I enter the reservation online and then SummitCove takes over, my guests rent my property for the price I agreed to.

How do you find a guest to rent your vacation home?

There are a number of different ways, I personally work with several people that enjoy visiting Keystone Resort so I offer them a slight discount to rent my property and it is a win win, there are also several online sites like VRBO and Craigslist where I advertise my property.

How much time does it take to find a customer?

That can vary significantly, sometimes it is the first call but others seem to want to talk to 25 home owners before they make a descision on where to stay when they visit Keystone and take up a lot more of my time.

How often do you rent your place out?

I only rent about 20 nights a year on the Vacation Rental By Owner program because SummitCove has most of the nights booked, however SummitCove offers me a discount on the management fee and takes care of most of the work.

What do you mean work, didn’t you say you found the booking?

Sure, but after I get someone to agree to pay SummitCove does everything, they collect the payment, handle keys, cleaning, deal with any lock outs or guest issues, helps them with discounts on rentals and services and provides better service than I can from Denver, when I bought my town home I thought I would just do it all my self, then I realized there was more work on the little things than was worth it, I got calls from guests who got locked out one night and I could not get a hold of my housekeeper to let them back in, the poor family was locked out for 2 hours, my guests said they even saw a SummitCove employee when they were locked out and offered to call someone for them, thats when I called SummitCove to take over my vacation rental.