How a near death experience inspired two brothers to go all-in on STRs (Ep 608)

In today's insightful episode of “Get Paid for Your Pad,” I had the distinct pleasure of discussing the evolving landscape of the short-term rental industry with Zohar and Eran Lotem, the dynamic sibling duo behind 5 Star STR. Their journey from various entrepreneurial ventures to leaders in the short-term rental space is not just a business story; it's a narrative of resilience, adaptability, and a deep understanding of what it takes to create exceptional guest experiences.

Zohar and Eran, seasoned entrepreneurs, have a rich history of ventures spanning from retail operations across notable locations such as the Las Vegas Strip, California, Hawaii, and the Virgin Islands to unique forays into the fashion and CBD cosmetics industry. The transition to short-term rentals post-2016 marked a significant turn in their careers, especially following a life-altering accident in 2020 that Eran endured. This incident led them to establish the first accessible Airbnb short-term rental home in Las Vegas, a reflection of their dedication to inclusivity and adaptability.

Their company, 5 Star STR, has seen remarkable growth, expanding its portfolio from four to 20 properties within a year. They specialize in managing high-end properties, catering to a premium segment of the market. What sets 5 Star STR apart is its dual approach to management: offering premium full-service and online service, each designed to deliver an unparalleled level of excellence to property owners and guests alike.

During our conversation, Zohar and Eran shared their unique insights into the operational and strategic aspects of running a successful short-term rental business. They emphasized the importance of safety and meticulous maintenance in their properties, citing examples of unexpected safety hazards they have encountered and addressed in their properties. This level of attention to detail not only ensures guest safety but also reflects their commitment to providing a secure and comfortable stay.

The discussion also delved into the challenges and opportunities unique to the short-term rental industry. The Lotem brothers highlighted the role of advanced technologies and property management systems in streamlining operations and reducing the need for extensive manpower. They contrasted their current business model with their past ventures, noting the shift from a pure revenue focus to creating value and memorable experiences for guests and property owners.

A key topic of our conversation was their innovative approach to creating unique guest experiences. Zohar and Eran are exploring ways to differentiate their properties through high-quality, luxury furniture and unique features like custom wall prints from a vertical printer. This strategy aims to offer guests something more than just accommodation—it's about creating unforgettable experiences that resonate on a personal level.

Zohar and Eran are also strong advocates for collaboration within the industry. They believe in joining forces with other industry players to acquire unique items for their properties, enhancing the overall guest experience and staying competitive in the market. This collaborative spirit is evident in their invitation to others in the industry to connect through their website, 5starstr.com, for potential partnerships and collaborations.

In wrapping up the episode, it was clear that Zohar and Eran's approach to the short-term rental business is not just about business acumen but also about creating a positive impact on people's lives. Their story is a testament to the evolving nature of the hospitality industry and the importance of being adaptable, innovative, and guest-centric.

As I concluded the conversation with Zohar and Eran Lotem, it was evident that their insights and experiences provide valuable lessons for anyone looking to thrive in the short-term rental industry. Their journey from traditional business entrepreneurs to pioneering figures in the short-term rental space offers inspiration and a roadmap for success in this dynamic industry.

Jasper Ribbers (00:01.095)
What's up everybody, welcome back to Get Paid for Your Pad. It's been a few weeks since the last episode, almost a month actually. I've been on the road, I've been in Europe, traveling to Paris, I've been skiing for a week, so I had an amazing time and kind of took a break from the podcasting. But now I am back with two of my favorite people in the Rising Star Masterminds, Zohar Lotam and his brother Aaron Lotam. And I…

These guys have sent me an amazing introduction. So I'm going to go ahead and read the full introduction because I appreciate it when people come prepared. So there we go. Joining us today are Aaron and Zohar, a dynamic, broadly duo with a shared history of entrepreneurship and family values. They're not just siblings, but longtime business partners with over two decades of joint ventures under their belts. Both are devoted family men, each happily married with children.

Their business endeavors included establishing and running a thriving retail operation that spanned the Las Vegas Strip, California, Hawaii and the Virgin Islands. They also founded a unique fashion line and a CBD cosmetics brand that they've not only created, but also manufactured and distributed. The pivot to short -term rentals came post 2016 and truly took flight when they decided to go full throttle after liquidating their prior businesses.

during and because of the pandemic. This strategic shift was bolstered by their participation in the Legends X Accelerator program, a move inspired by a near -death experience event that reshaped their perspective. In 2020, Aaron survived a life -threatening accident that left him temporarily reliant on a wheelchair and the support of his family. This experience spurred them to establish the first accessible Airbnb short -term rental home in Las Vegas.

Since then, Eran and Zohar have exponentially grown their portfolio from four to 20 properties in just one year and launched their own property management firm, 5 Star STR. They specialize in managing properties that cater to the higher end of the market, particularly those with five or more bedrooms. 5 Star STR distinguishes itself by offering two tiers of management services.

Jasper Ribbers (02:23.977)
premium full service and an online service, each designed to deliver an uncompromising level of excellence to property owners and guests alike. Mic drop. Well, congratulations guys. This is episode number 608 and I think you guys have sent me the best intro. So, you know, we're almost 10 years of podcasting. That's a congratulations. Who wrote the introduction here?

Zohar Lotem (02:35.551)
Woo!

Zohar Lotem (02:53.715)
Well, I'd say we worked on it together and then we had the amazing assistance of the artificial intelligence to improve on it.

and fine tune it later and yeah, that's what we came up with.

Jasper Ribbers (03:10.793)
I was gonna say, I have a suspicion that ChetGPG had a part in this.

Zohar Lotem (03:14.751)
Yeah, it definitely helped us somewhat.

Jasper Ribbers (03:20.361)
But anyway, we'll give you the award for the best intro ever on the Get Paid for Your Path podcast. So congratulations. And it's been quite a journey. I've known you guys for a few years. I've seen you guys join our group and expand your portfolio, start your management company. I know there was a lot of challenges and a lot of learning lessons along the way.

Not just on the business side, but as we just learned, Aaron, for you also on a personal level. Well, we're very happy that you're still with us and you've recovered from that accident. But let me start off with the first question. What were the biggest challenges for you guys? Making the pivot from the retail space to the short -term rental space and really building that management company in Las Vegas.

Zohar Lotem (04:16.735)
Um, well, we're excited, very excited to be here. First of all. Uh, yeah, we've known you for many years already, I can say, and it's always been a pleasure. And your, your podcast has always been, uh, an inspiration, uh, in our, uh, progress within the space, uh, in this industry of, uh, short -term rentals. I think it's probably the best podcast in this industry, in my opinion.

Jasper Ribbers (04:45.351)
Woohoo. I agree.

Eran Lotem (04:46.158)
Hehehe.

Zohar Lotem (04:46.655)
For sure, for real. Well, yeah, we've been doing business for a very long time together, and we had multiple partnerships, and we've tried so many different spaces in the business industry, which is endless, of course.

But we stumbled upon, we just did it at first for fun. We opened up one apartment that we owned and started just short -term renting it. We saw it was doing pretty well, very easily at first. It was around 2016, 15 maybe. And we were shut down very quickly by the HOA here in Vegas.

And then we actually purchased our first villa house. And there, and then thanks to that occasion, we actually licensed it immediately. And we're told by the clerk that we're very lucky that it's not gonna be like that. How we just filled out this document and then you get a license. It's not gonna be like that very soon. And sure enough,

Regulations in Vegas became very harsh, very quickly. And now you have to maneuver between those regulations. And we became actually specialists of this area in the Las Vegas area, which has four counties. Each one has different regulations and different rules. And…

We have properties wherever you can license. We actually bought us a property and licensed it. And there's one county that still you cannot get a license, but that's a different story and a long story, which is also an opportunity. We say if you can't fight them, join them. Instead, like we know a lot of people that are very mad and are very frustrated with regulation.

Zohar Lotem (07:06.953)
you know, cars were used to be had no rules. You could drive whatever age when they just begun. And but rules came in and it was for the good, less accidents and more supervision because it's it's a killing machine. So same with this. You want a neighborhood that you can live in, but yet you want to have short term rental, which is awesome as well.

So we love regulation in a way and we live with it and we're not fighting it, we're joining it. We had a lot of pain points when we started short -term rental and we, after Iran's experience, we decided we want to do what we love and what we enjoy.

in work and in general. And we love traveling. We love hosting. We love a great experience. And all of this and hospitality and all of this together just funneled into short -term rentals, which we enjoy what we do. We enjoy the industry and…

and we enjoy the business opportunity in it as well. And it's very sophisticated and it's endless and very, very interesting. And there's so many different levels you can actually deal with and be in this endeavor. So pain points that we dealt with, there's many, there are many.

Iran actually, he specializes with, Iran, you want to talk about hospitality?

Eran Lotem (09:06.512)
Sure. So what we try to do, we're called Five Star STR, we try to deliver a five star service to our guests. Now we learned that, you know, not necessarily you need the best home, the nicest home, the biggest home, or the most important thing is experience your clients are gonna go through. That's the way we see it. And…

I want to say we try to over deliver. For example, we have a house that always gets five stars and the entry is pretty disappointing. When you go there, you're going to say, Oh my God, where did we come? You know, what is this property? And when you enter the property, you're wowed. So we put some thought, should we change it? And we decided, no, you know, I think it's great. It's a, it's a small example for, uh, to over deliver now.

I know Eric speaks a lot about the book Unreasonable Hospitality. And we are also, we also, we read the book and we follow a lot of interesting quotes from the book. One of them that I wanted to mention, and it's also, I'm also getting my staff, my VA's, I got them the book.

And we're discussing the book actually every once a week. We're trying to implement some of the things we read there in our system. But they have a few quotes that we love. For instance, I chose two quotes to mention today. So the difference is the book is more about restaurants. He talks about restaurant. And he say, you know, to serve a plate that somebody ordered to a table on time and to be accurate.

That's service. And that's fine, that's important. But to have the personal connection with a client, that's hospitality. Or another way they say it in the book, service is black and white. Hospitality is color. We try to be the color. We try to add color to the guests. So we try to reply to them within less than five minutes. And we try…

Eran Lotem (11:27.28)
We used, for example, if a guest would complain on an issue that used to give me headaches, let's say a sauna, you know, he asked about it and I gave him a few tips how to fix it and I didn't hear back. In the past, I wouldn't ask again, you know, okay, it's quiet, let's keep it this way. Nowadays, our system change. We keep on asking until we get a straight yes, it's solved, it's working. You know, we wanna show them we really care, because we do, we really care.

Jasper Ribbers (11:45.161)
Hehehe

Eran Lotem (11:55.312)
If it's not solved, we need to find a solution, even if it's a compensation. So pretty much that's, that is what leads me in with our clients.

Jasper Ribbers (12:11.369)
If I could just interrupt because I think this is a really good point. I think it's a really important mindset that we as hosts have to make. A lot of people, when they start their Airbnb, they're excited, it's a new opportunity. But then soon enough, they realize you're dealing with people and you're dealing with people 24 hours a day. And there's going to be challenges, there's going to be issues, there's going to be guests that are communicating in a way that we might not want to be communicated to.

Right. There's and in the beginning it's just like, you know, it's, uh, it's, it's kind of like hard to enjoy that process because you don't really expect it necessarily. So then it's like, Oh, at some point you just got tired of like the guest complaining and the, you know, the little, little things that you couldn't even do anything about. You know, I had a guest complain about the smell one time because there's a store in my, it was a store in my street sells fresh fish.

And I saw that as a good thing. It's like, hey, how awesome is it? Within a two minute walk, you can get a fish that was caught on the same day. But this guest was like, your house smells like fish. And I was like, well, I mean, there's a fresh fish store in the street. What am I going to do? Tell them to move their shop or something like that? But changing that mindset from just kind of resisting, dealing with guests that

give that type of feedback to really like coming from a place of, hey, you know, it's my responsibility as a host to provide the best experience possible to my guests, no matter what their feedback is, or no matter how they communicate, it's still my responsibility to provide the best experience possible. So kind of, you know, putting the ego on the side and just coming from a place of like, how do I always over the liver?

to my guests, regardless of who they are and what they are communicating to me. So I just want to share that because I think that's a really important mindset shift. And it sounds like you guys have made that shift, which is awesome.

Eran Lotem (14:19.152)
Yes, definitely. Yeah.

Zohar Lotem (14:20.991)
If my I'd like to add to that Iran that we also try and it's like a goal of us to see our our guest as best friends old old friends as old friends and that mindset is also helping us.

And one of the most difficult things was to answer anytime, you know, we have guests coming from different countries and they approach you in the middle of the night and you want to be competitive in this market. So how can you be available in the middle of the night in a barbecue on a Sunday? So those are.

That's a pain point that we had to deal with. And the solution is to have a virtual assistant, which are real people, but just on another continent that are available 24 seven to cater to your customer. If the guest is having a problem in the middle of the night, or if they're inquiring about your property and you want to answer ASAP before.

they actually approach another property that will answer them in the middle of the night. You want to be there all the time, available with the perfect answers, with frequently asked questions ready for you. So yeah, that's one pain point that we had to deal with when we started as amateurs and going through the process of becoming professional hosts.

that we actually learned a lot in your accelerator, Jasper, for sure with this part. Then another pain point is, I spoke about it, is the regulations coming. So that's another pain point that we actually dealt with and actually use it to our advantage.

Zohar Lotem (16:23.679)
Because as soon as the industry really regulates itself throughout the United States, there will be no going back. And whoever has the license, that's a cash cow for life. As long as you manage it right and you don't have parties and get shut down for irresponsible management, that's a huge, huge asset. Which right now, whoever wants to open can open.

And you know, it's just uncomfortable for the neighborhoods and it's not gonna last. It's not gonna last. So it's an advantage if you know how to, if you have the right mindset towards it. Another problem we had, especially lately, it's becoming a big one, is the low occupancy.

because of competition.

Zohar Lotem (17:25.631)
So basically that happened because of COVID, I would say. During COVID, it was really easy to run a short -term rental because everyone was escaping the public hotels. They were afraid to get sick and they would look for a short -term rental. So one, it actually created, people got to know short -term rentals, people that never imagined.

to find themselves staying in a short -term rental and they said I would never stay in a house of someone I would always go to a hotel they had no choice and other reasons the hotels were shut down or you didn't want to share an elevator so everyone went to a short -term rentals and whoever opened was successful immediately but that all stopped after the pandemic went away and

Then everyone started feeling the pain of too many properties, too much competition, people dropping the price irresponsibly. And that's a new market that you have to, or a new situation you have to deal with. And when you do it professionally, there are tools to deal with it. One of them is revenue management. See your competition and what you, and how you can compete.

Another is exposure. Have many different channels or OTAs like Airbnb, VRBO, Booking .com, Hopper, Direct Booking, Wimstay, Google's, Rentals, it's endless. There's a huge list. And if you can actually be in many of them, you get to have your name in more places and social media.

and email blast to your guests that stayed with you. All of this, you cannot do it when you're just dealing with this alone. You have to be doing it professionally. And we actually, again, we are part of your alumni group of Legends X students. And we actually…

Zohar Lotem (19:48.229)
our paths crossed with Mark Simpson, which is also an industry very known person because he leads the, he has a Boostly, which is a website for direct booking. And he's a specialist in that industry. And we actually have begun this,

endeavor with Mark Simpson. We're the first to be part of a secret new project within our industry to actually get more bookings and get more exposure and do better with revenue management and

other different things in other different methods. Again, it's still secret so we cannot talk about it, but it's very exciting. Very exciting.

Jasper Ribbers (20:52.713)
I love secrets, so you're going to have to tell me later. I already know.

Eran Lotem (20:53.84)
Yeah.

Zohar Lotem (21:00.177)
What else, Iran?

Eran Lotem (21:02.288)
I think we skipped maintenance and safety issues. That's a big one. Me and Zora, we like to sleep well at night. So when we see a property, first thing before anything, we look at the safety, smoke detectors, all of that stuff. You'll be surprised how homes are, so many homes are neglected. Zora, remember, I think it was house number 15. I don't know why I remember that number.

but I think it was, I went to see a house and while I was inspecting it with my housekeeping manager, I opened the box where for the pool, all the toys for the pool, you know, the inflatable and there are, you know, Coca -Cola bottles filled with chlorine for the pool inside. So yeah, or as far as you remember the long…

Zohar Lotem (21:45.501)
Oh yeah.

Zohar Lotem (21:54.845)
Mary.

Eran Lotem (22:00.336)
the high voltage line near the pool you encounter crazy things and crazy stories so the first thing we try we want to make sure the property is safe for the guests so there are so many many examples I can I can probably write a list of yeah probably

Jasper Ribbers (22:20.233)
He could probably write a book. What I think is really interesting about you guys is that you are so experienced with business, right? You ran all these businesses in the past. So I'm really curious for, because for a lot of Airbnb hosts, for a lot of people that started management companies, they actually came from, what you call it, like just a nine to five job, right? And then they started renting out a couple of units and now they are quitting their jobs. And.

Zohar Lotem (22:22.685)
Oh yeah.

Jasper Ribbers (22:48.605)
you know, going all in on the vacation rental industry. But you guys, you guys are entrepreneurs, have been entrepreneurs for a very, very long time. How does, how does it compare to run a short term rental management company versus the other companies that you guys have ran in the past?

Zohar Lotem (23:09.247)
That's a good question.

Jasper Ribbers (23:13.929)
Those are the questions I ask, the good ones.

Zohar Lotem (23:16.063)
Well, first of all, now with AI coming and all the technology that is in our industry and in our business, and because it's quite a new industry, a lot of things are not set yet. And it's a challenge. For instance, we transition between, I think, five or six property management systems.

until we landed one we actually like and agree with and feel that it's actually doing us a service. So yeah, it's a challenge, but if you run it, if you wisely build it, the manpower you will need is a lot less. I mean, I know…

I met someone that has hundreds of properties but also has hundreds of employees. And that was shocking to me because you can run the same operation with a lot less manpower and it's very competitive, this industry. And if you run it with less manpower, you save a lot of money and you do it a lot, the accuracy is a lot higher.

But it's very challenging, for instance, creating the formulas for accounting in the property management system is super difficult because every channel, every website like Airbnb, VRBO, they all have different categorization for income and expense and they sometimes change it around and different situations change the numbers and to handle all of this and…

and to do all of this and to have it all integrated into one system and to try and automate it as much as you can is a challenge, which is fun, but it's also a big challenge. And when you deal with other businesses, like classic, for instance, retail, you have the salespeople, you have their manager, you set their goals, you have a CEO or a…

Eran Lotem (25:30.832)
Zor, I think the main difference is in the retail, we were very targeted towards making money. It was about making money, revenue. And of course, we're in business to make money. But over here, I want to say we're trying to do good to other people. If it's our clients, the homeowners, we try to give them a superb service.

Zohar Lotem (25:31.167)
Not sure about it.

Eran Lotem (25:59.088)
And definitely for the guests, to see the reviews, the guests, how they praise us, how they enjoy their stay. For us, for me, it's worth everything. And for sure, the money is extra. When the money comes, definitely, it's a success. But definitely, I want to say we're doing something we love, both of us. We really enjoy what we're doing. It's a young industry with so many opportunities.

that, you know, if you like technologies, there is a place, if you like logistics, there is a place for you. If you like customer service, there's a, it touches so many different areas that I'm sure any person can find, you know, find his spot, what he likes and be a part of it.

Jasper Ribbers (26:45.097)
Yeah, I think that's a really good point because, you know, imagine somebody going on a holiday, like most people go on on holiday once a year, right? Sometimes it's a special occasion. It's a, you know, like a honeymoon or, you know, the could be like really like experiences that people will never forget for the rest of their life. Right. Versus like, you know, let's say you have a clothing store or something. Somebody buys a jacket. Yeah. You know, they're happy with the jacket and it's great.

Eran Lotem (27:11.824)
Exactly.

Jasper Ribbers (27:13.105)
you're also having a positive effect on somebody else's life, but somebody will always remember their honeymoon, for example. You guys could be part of that, right? So I think that's a really good point. We have the ability to really make an impact on somebody's life and create an experience that they will never forget. And they might even tell their children and their grandchildren about it, right? Which is awesome.

Eran Lotem (27:40.816)
Exactly. Yeah.

Zohar Lotem (27:43.327)
Totally. Totally.

Jasper Ribbers (27:45.801)
Um, do you want to add anything to that? Or, uh, cause I've got a couple other things I wanted to ask you guys.

Zohar Lotem (27:52.319)
Um…

We wanted to talk about also about the, well, after we managed a bunch of properties, we found that not, like we found that different designs, like if you had a restaurant and you had this secret recipe that would have people stand in line for, because of that secret recipe, nobody knows how you make it, but everyone is standing in line just for that specific.

Secret sauce or something. So we actually encountered a few properties that For some weird reason they're next to each other and we couldn't figure out why this one gets packed and this one doesn't Eventually, we actually we we actually figured some of those secret recipes out and and we want to be able to to to duplicate it and

When then when you go on and you actually want to duplicate it, you find out sometimes it's very expensive and ROI wise return on investment, it's going to be hard to to. What?

Eran Lotem (29:00.752)
specifically the design specifically you're talking about the design part

Zohar Lotem (29:07.071)
It could be design, it could be there's other things, but specifically this, for instance, you want to do, you want to create a unique home with a special luxury furniture. Because when someone is in a, in a, in a property that has luxury furniture that he might not have in his own house, he appreciates it more and he's going to review it better. And he's going to want to come back and he's going to refer you to other of his friends. So.

We started looking at it and it didn't make sense with the numbers. Like how am I going to return? Like there's furniture that costs five, six, seven, $8 ,000. There's other fixtures for the house that can reach 30, 40, $50 ,000. And it doesn't make any financial sense to actually get it except for the fun part of offering like an amazing experience. So then we started thinking like,

Well, we're in a group of like us managers and people that aspire to offer the best experience to their guests and amazing service to the property owners. And why not join forces? And we found that if we can import, like we used to import stuff, we used to import fashion from India.

and from other places in Asia and export it actually to other countries from the US. So we have some experience and we know that we can get furniture and fixtures and structures for a lot cheaper. Like what the stores in the US do and they mark up the prices like five, 10, 15 times the cost in Asia, we can bring it.

if we join forces because they would want quantity and you need a specialist that actually can go and sort out the product and the quality, that it's a good quality and that it stands like the standards of the United States, et cetera. So if we joined forces, I can give you another example. There's a new thing, it's called a vertical printer. Have you heard of that?

Zohar Lotem (31:35.647)
It's a printer that can print on walls. So you can have like a Picasso art piece or an amazing artist that you love and you can just print it on your wall or anything you want printed on the wall. I have a few pictures of stuff I can share. That machine, I found one just randomly that is produced in Germany.

It costs $50 ,000. Now, if you want to rent the service, you're going to pay around $1 ,500, $2 ,000 for one wall. So if we bought it as a group, let's say 10 managers, 15 managers or 15 property or owners of a short -term rental company, then it would be around $3 ,000, $4 ,000 for each company.

and then the shipping between us. And you get it for like a week to your print on all of your properties, these amazing designs, and you become unique. Nobody else has it. You become very competitive. I mean, and you and your ROI will not, will not, will still be intact, you know, your return on investment would be good. So we actually started a group.

in your Legends X for people that want to join us with this to actually buy stuff, buy furniture, buy fixtures. Can I share a few? Can I show? Okay.

Jasper Ribbers (33:21.001)
Of course.

Zohar Lotem (33:25.919)
You sure?

Zohar Lotem (33:37.535)
There we go. So here is an example for the swimming pool. So this you would pay for this in the US minimum $2 ,000 and it can go up to three, $4 ,000. Here it is another example. This would probably be the same price.

Jasper Ribbers (34:00.969)
And Zohar, just for the people that are listening to the audio and not watching the video on YouTube, we're looking at furniture that you would place around the pool. For example, like a big, what do you call it? Like a little, I don't even know what you call these things.

Eran Lotem (34:17.616)
and take some good notes.

Zohar Lotem (34:19.423)
I think it's called Ratan furniture. It's like a…

Jasper Ribbers (34:23.433)
Very comfortable lounge chairs and beds that you can put along on the side of the pool.

Eran Lotem (34:31.984)
Yeah, thanks for listening.

Zohar Lotem (34:32.125)
Yeah, like, uh…

Zohar Lotem (34:36.447)
And it makes a whole difference. If you have something like this by your pool, it's like. Now here is another one. This is a splash pad. It's like a water park area. Um, and you get this whole unit. I saw it for like $1 but you have to buy a bunch of them. No. Yeah. You need to build like, uh, like the area around it, uh, that will, uh, capture the water with a.

and the filter, but it's not a real pool, so it's not going to cost as much. But this is an experience that your competition would not be able to have because it's going to cost them $30 ,000 to do this. $50 ,000. And for us, it will be $20 ,000 because of the pool thing, or even less. So it would be an amazing thing. It would make your home a lot more attractive.

Jasper Ribbers (35:17.289)
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers (35:27.879)
Mm -hmm.

Zohar Lotem (35:33.439)
You're going to get a lot more reservations and you're going to give an amazing experience, an unforgettable experience to your guests. And it's, it's nothing, I have nothing to say. This is like a play, a play for the indoor, indoor playground for the kids. Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers (35:56.167)
Indoor play area, right? Yeah. Yeah, no, these things look really cool. And, you know, I like your, I like the way you're thinking. Like these are, these are kind of things that, you know, for an individual host, you know, is, is, is going to be very expensive to source locally. Uh, but you know, if we want to source it, uh, from a different country where we can get these things more at a better price, we're going to have to order in bulk, right? So we're going to have to find a few people who are.

all interested in having one, one, you know, either like a play park in a, in a, in a pool or like an indoor play park for, for children or really nice furniture for along the pool. And there's, there's a lot of different options, right? These are just some examples that so are showing.

Zohar Lotem (36:42.047)
The more units you buy, the cheaper the price is. And if we get a specialist…

Jasper Ribbers (36:49.577)
So Zohar, how about this? Why don't you let people know if people are listening to this and they're interested in this idea of creating really unique experiences in their homes with this type of furniture, what's the best way for them to contact you?

Zohar Lotem (37:07.571)
On the on our website 5 star str .com So basically it's a str is short for short -term rental. So 5 star str 5 is the number 5 5 star str .com and just give us a holler over there contact us through the website and And let's let's hook up. Let's connect

This is another example here of the vertical printer. It doesn't seem like much, but this puppy costs $50 ,000. It's called a wall pen. That's the name of this brand. And it just prints whatever you want. It can print in color. It can print outdoors as well as indoors. This is another example.

Jasper Ribbers (37:56.169)
Yeah, it's incredible. That's beautiful. Yeah, and if you're listening to this and you want to see what we're looking at, go to YouTube and you'll find the podcast video there. So you can see what type of wall designs that we're looking at that has been created by this vertical, what's it called? A vertical printer, right? Yeah.

Zohar Lotem (38:18.675)
Vertical printer. Yeah.

So yeah, here you can see, I'll try and zoom in. Oops.

Jasper Ribbers (38:31.369)
Yeah, it looks incredible. A giant, what is that, a giant lizard?

Zohar Lotem (38:31.423)
It's true.

Zohar Lotem (38:36.383)
A giant whale. This one is like environmental awareness. So they put it in a coffee shop and they paid for it. This is like I'm getting advertisements from this company for how much you would earn if you bought this and you actually created a business with your printer and sold it. So this one, this thing was, they paid for $1 just for this print.

Jasper Ribbers (38:38.217)
I don't will.

Jasper Ribbers (39:03.623)
Mm -hmm.

Zohar Lotem (39:04.415)
So as a group, if we buy a printer like this, we can go crazy with what we do in our properties and be very unique, very special, offer an amazing different experience to the guests and not go overboard with expenses. Yeah, we'll have to wait in line for the printer, but…

Jasper Ribbers (39:24.969)
I love it.

No, I love it. I love it. Awesome. So if you're listening to this and you're interested in joining Zohar's group to explore some of these ideas, again, go to five, the number five and then stars as in S T R A R S no, sorry, five, the number and then S T A R and then S T R five star S T R with the number five .com. You can see Zohar's amazing properties in Vegas. He's got some.

really, really cool properties. So just looking at the properties is already worth visiting the website. But there's a button on the website that says contact us where you can reach out to Zohoar if you're interested in joining this group. And also, of course, if you're interested in any management services as well. Are you guys just in Vegas or I think you guys expanded to other markets as well, right?

Zohar Lotem (40:26.303)
Yes, we actually are also in Texas, in Florida and in Arizona.

Jasper Ribbers (40:40.457)
Gotcha. Okay. So anybody in those markets or are you also interested in expanding to other markets?

Zohar Lotem (40:47.423)
possible.

Definitely possible for the especially for the online tier.

Jasper Ribbers (40:54.185)
Right. Awesome guys. Well, we've been talking about for about 40 minutes. I love the mindset that you guys have, the inspiration with all the, with the group book buying for, you know, to create unique experiences. I think you guys are definitely on the right track with that because, you know, we talked about it and we've talked about it many times on this podcast in the last year or so. I think everybody's feeling the, you know, the slowdown or the,

the increases in supply in our industry. So we have to step outside of the box and we have to up our game in order to stay competitive. Because as we mentioned, just getting something on Airbnb and sitting back and waiting for the bookings to come in, those times are definitely over. So any final words before we wrap up?

Zohar Lotem (41:51.239)
You're on.

Eran Lotem (41:53.026)
Happy to be here, Jasper. Thank you.

Jasper Ribbers (41:55.721)
All right. Well, I appreciate you guys. I'm excited to see what comes out of this initiative and to the listeners. I hope you enjoyed this podcast and I will I'm actually flying to the States this week. So starting next week, I'll be back on the regular schedule of two podcasts a week. So we have a lot of cool episodes, I'm sure, coming up in 2024, which is going to be the year that we celebrate the 10th.

year anniversary of this podcast. So sure we'll have some special episodes for that. So thanks so hard. Thanks, Aaron. Appreciate you guys. Thanks all the listeners and we will see you next time.

Zohar Lotem (42:26.655)
Woo!

Zohar Lotem (42:37.119)
Bye.

Join Us in Making a Difference!