Smoky Mountain Vacation Rental Forum: E18 — Matthew Shadle on Thinking Small as You Grow

For week two of his series with Smokies operators, Tom Goodwin sits down with Matthew Shadle of Cabins for You, a direct competitor and a friendly face at conferences across the region. Cabins for You is a family business celebrating 25 years, started in 2001 by Matthew's in-laws, a pastor with a real estate background and his wife, who had honeymooned in Gatlinburg decades earlier. Today it manages roughly 300 homes in the Smokies, and it grew in 2020 when it acquired the Chalet Village business. Matthew explains the company's core values of faith, family, and integrity, and why owners are treated as partners: "it's not a contract, it's a partnership."

The two talk candidly about a market where expectations have changed for guests, owners, and employees, with some owners still expecting COVID level revenue six years later. Matthew says professionalism starts with doing the right thing, including being licensed through the state, and Tom adds that keeping future bookings in a trust account is a basic marker of a professional operation. They discuss the revenue numbers new buyers are shown, and Matthew's conviction that "we have to think small even when we get big," because for a single-home owner, that home is their asset. On the team side, he says "if we take care of our people, our people will take care of our customers," and describes how gratitude and an open door keep good employees.

They also look at what the market needs next. Matthew believes the building has to slow, since inventory has grown from about 12,000 homes to well over 20,000 in 13 years, and that quality matters as much as quantity. He shares how his team called competitors to find comparable cabins when guests couldn't stay in an unsafe home on a busy October weekend, and why bashing another company to win an owner is not tolerated. He encourages owners to keep pouring money back into their homes, hopes for a return to a small town feel over the next ten years, and closes with the belief that "relationships are the foundation of hospitality."

• Expectations have changed on every side. Matthew says guests, owners, and employees all expect more than they used to, and many owners are still expecting COVID era revenue six years later.
• Licensure and trust accounting are the basics of professionalism. Matthew says licensed operators are held to a standard that many co-hosts aren’t, and hopes the state and the real estate commission will make sure everyone operates at the same level. Tom adds that a trust account for future bookings is a basic marker of a professional business.
• Think small even when you get big. A single-home owner’s property is their asset, so a company managing 300 homes still has to make every owner feel like theirs is the one that matters.
• Take care of your people and they will take care of your customers. Matthew says gratitude, openness, and treating employees like family instead of numbers are how his team builds a culture of ownership.
• Safety comes first, and competitors can help each other. When a cabin wasn’t safe for guests on a busy October weekend, Matthew had his team call competitors to find comparable homes, and he says winning owners by bashing another company is not tolerated.
• Slow the building and raise the quality. Inventory has grown from about 12,000 homes to well over 20,000 in 13 years, and Matthew believes the county has to set a threshold and expect better built homes.
• Reinvest in your home, and sometimes sell. Owners have to be willing to pour money back into their asset, and Tom says honest conversations sometimes mean telling an owner to put $40,000 to $80,000 back into a home to compete, or to consider selling.