Today we’d like to introduce you to Heleena Sideris.
Hi Heleena, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My mom, Rhonda, started Park City Lodging in 1984 managing just a single home. Today we manage nearly 300 properties in Park City and 12 HOAs. My mom was an incredibly driven entrepreneur and managed to pave her way in the property management and vacation rentals world in the early years of the industry.
When I was growing up, she was constantly working, staying late at the office, continuing her education with certificates and special workshops, and attending conferences. In the mid-90’s, Rhonda started to focus on international visitation to Park City and began international travel to South America to grow this now principal market. Rhonda now manages a team of up to 100 people and is a positive influence on her staff, the community, and the industry.
I took a different route, after graduating from the University of Oregon in environmental studies and Spanish I moved to Costa Rica to work in education and sustainability. From there I returned to Park City to work in various non-profits and eventually landed at our local Chamber as the International Sales & Marketing Manager for Latin America.
In 2015, Park City Lodging was finally in the construction phase of the long-awaited green headquarters that would bring all departments under 1 roof in a sustainable mixed-use building complete with employee housing and an organic rooftop garden. I officially became part of the team at this time to be the green building project manager and have continued my work in the family business ever since.
My background in environmental sustainability helped to advance many of the environmental initiatives my mom had always wanted to incorporate into the business and has provided me with a meaningful outlet for my true passion while also being able to contribute to the family business (mom is a pretty great boss). I have also had the opportunity to speak at various industry events on how to bring sustainability into business models, which is exponentially meaningful in advancing sustainability in the hospitality world. In addition to social responsibility and sustainability, I manage our international sales as well as our concierge department, and if the laundry staff needs help folding during a busy holiday weekend, I’m there. No task too small!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We have really benefitted from having such a great reputation of integrity, transparency, and success. Our reputation and longevity in the community have opened up so many opportunities for Park City Lodging, but like any endeavor, we have had our fair share of challenges.
I know most people can relate to the challenges brought forth by COVID over the recent years, and when things first shut down in March of 2020, we were in the middle of the height of our season. We ended up refunding nearly $1M during that time period alone, opting first and foremost to take care of our clientele and protect our staff and the community. Since then, the opportunities to adapt have benefitted us in the long run and we were once again reminded of the necessity of flexibility in a quickly changing world.
Other challenges are more common and come with the territory and include staffing shortages to meet increased demand (compounded by inflation and local housing inaccessibility), robust real estate market that causes properties to change hands, competition of an increasingly aggressive marketplace, tourism pressure on local communities (aka sustainable tourism), and challenges in providing the same standard of quality in our business when working with larger OTAs.
At the end of the day, we are extremely fortunate that the quality of our services can simply speak for themselves; it has taken nearly 3 decades to build the reputation to where it is today, and it was worth every single step along the way!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Park City Lodging, Inc.?
Park City Lodging, Inc. was first established in 1984. We are a full service property management company, specializing in nightly rentals and HOA management. 2022 marks the 4th year that PCL was awarded Best of State in Vacation Rentals. Rhonda Sideris started the company 38 years ago with the management of a single home, today PCL is proud to manage nearly 300 properties in Park City and 12 HOAs, Rhonda is still at the helm today.
PCL offers unique services to our vacation guests and owners including a full-service complimentary concierge, 24-hour front desk, in-house maintenance, housekeeping, and a commercial laundry operation. Most of our staff have been working with the company for 10+ years and we proudly operate as a unified “family” – regularly sharing labor and resources between departments.
We are proud stewards of the community and environment with a robust Corporate Social Responsibility program that includes various sustainability initiatives, nonprofit support and an excellent working environment that puts the employee first.
What’s next?
PCL grew immensely over the past two years, while there are still development opportunities that we are engaged in, the primary focus right now is on staff retention, employee satisfaction, and maintaining a high quality of service in all aspects of the operation.
Instead of focusing so aggressively on inventory growth, the immediate future will focus on enhancing the guest experience even further with continued industry education and development of the concierge program, which entails forming lasting partnerships with other local business providers (such as restaurants, guided adventure, transportation, etc.). We are always looking for additional ways to demonstrate our commitment to the environment and to the community.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@parkcitylodging.com
- Website: www.parkcitylodging.com
- Instagram: @parkcitylodging
- Facebook: facebook.com/parkcitylodging
- Twitter: Park City Lodging
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUX64s1-LwhlVaM-KQHkJqA
