energy efficiency
smoking damage
disruptive guests
Jacob and Elissa turned their passion for travel and hosting into a thriving short-term rental business, Rent Live Play. After purchasing and renovating their first property in 2020, they quickly scaled to become Airbnb Superhosts and VRBO Premier Hosts. Their properties have earned a spot in Airbnb’s top 1%, a testament to their commitment to quality and exceptional guest experiences. They now manage two luxury, pet-friendly properties in Arizona and Oregon, USA, and are looking to expand their portfolio.
Rent Live Play, founded by husband-and-wife duo, Jacob and Elissa, is a luxury short-term rental brand driven by their passion for travel and top-tier hosting. To ensure seamless operations and peace of mind, they use Minut for noise and smoking monitoring and automated climate control, helping them maintain high standards for their rentals from anywhere in the world.
As new short-term rental hosts, Jacob and Elissa were concerned about the risk of property damage, especially after hearing stories of unruly guests causing trouble in other rentals. They wanted a proactive, non-intrusive solution to manage noise disturbances and indoor smoking—without resorting to security cameras that might invade guests' privacy.
“Minut has helped us prevent issues before they even begin.”
Jacob and Elissa found the ideal solution in Minut’s property insights platform. By setting noise level thresholds, they received instant alerts when limits were exceeded, enabling them to resolve potential issues before they escalated. Minut’s smoking detection also provided real-time alerts, helping them stay on top of indoor smoking damage. Disclosing Minut’s presence in their listings served as a natural deterrent, attracting responsible guests and ensuring a peaceful stay for neighbors while protecting their property from damage.
smoking damage
disruptive guests
noise escalations
Managing short-term rental properties in Arizona, Jacob and Elissa faced a unique challenge: extreme desert temperatures required constant attention to ensure guests were comfortable year-round. Manually adjusting thermostats before and after each guest stay was not only time-consuming but also inefficient.
"The Google Nest integration has made a big difference in providing a great guest experience and managing energy use efficiently."
By integrating Minut with Google Nest, Jacob and Elissa automated climate control across their properties. The system links with Minut to pre-heat or cool the property before guest arrivals, ensuring a welcoming environment, and automatically adjusts settings after check-out to reduce energy consumption. This process eliminated manual intervention, improving both guest comfort and operational efficiency.
guest satisfaction
energy efficiency
unnecessary utility costs
Jacob and Elissa approached hosting as a serious business venture right from the start. They needed a monitoring solution that would scale with their expanding portfolio, seamlessly integrate with their existing tech stack, and support their remote work and frequent travel lifestyle. Finding a system that balanced efficiency and flexibility was key to their success.
"We chose Minut because it had the most integrations, the best customer support, and every feature release improves our property management even more.”
Minut’s seamless integration with key platforms was the perfect fit for Jacob and Elissa’s business. By syncing Minut with their property management software and other essential tools, they effectively streamlined operations and remote monitoring. Minut’s proactive approach to customer feedback—regularly releasing new features tailored to host needs—also aligned perfectly with Jacob and Elissa’s goals for business growth.
management efficiency
scaling the business
on manual tasks
As they expand their luxury rental portfolio, Jacob and Elissa are focused on creating unique, memorable guest experiences with strong connections to the outdoors. They’ll continue using Minut across all their properties, relying on its comprehensive monitoring and insights to support their growing business. They recommend Minut to all new hosts as a vital tool for scaling efficiently and maintaining a professional operation from day one.