SUGAR PALM RENTALS INC.
DESTIN, FLORIDA

Sugar Palm Vacation Rentals provides an entirely unique class of professional marketing, management and caretaking services previously nonexistent in the vacation rental market. We call it: Professional Rental By Owner – a comprehensive offering, combining the benefits and business acumen of a property management service with the personal, service-oriented touch of Rental By Owner.  Sugar Palm Vacation Rentals’ distinctive collection of vacation properties connects discerning travelers with quality property owners to provide memorable, confident, seamless, carefree experiences for everyone involved. Sugar Palm Vacation Rentals’ Professional Rental By Owner service is the brainchild of two well-known industry veterans, Christine Karpinski and Jeff Marken.   When Karpinski (the indisputable Queen of Rental By Owner) and Marken (vacation rental industry pioneer) consolidated their personal vacation home collections marketing and management, they experienced groundbreaking economies of scale and business efficiencies that they’re passing along to home and condo owners in the Destin-area in the form of Professional Rental By Owner services.   Jeff and Christine, along with their experienced team of operations, marketing, guest services, maintenance, and housekeeping experts, now manage the most distinctive vacation rental homes and condos in Destin, Crystal Beach, Sandestin, Miramar Beach and Panama City Beach, with a collective valuation of over $32 Million. They've been extremely successful in scaling the Sugar Palm Vacation Rentals home and condo collection, while still maintaining a personalized touch that provides travelers and property owners with the best experiences possible. Stop worrying. Sugar Palm Vacation Rentals provides a unique class of service previously non-existent in the vacation rental market. We call it Professional Rental By Owner.  With our services, you'll benefit from the business acumen of a property management service, while being able to deliver the caring, personal touch of a Rental By Owner experience to each and every guest who stays in your vacation property. Sugar Palm Vacation Rentals treats your home to the best marketing, guest screening, management, caretaking, and guest services in the business. You can scour the globe and you will not find a team anywhere with more experience, know-how, passion or expertise in the vacation rental industry. . Backed by 20 years of experience and research, she has turned the vacation rental business into a science, and her eye for vacation home and condo marketing is as sharp as her wit. As she built her dynasty of vacation rental properties (renting them without the use of a property manager), she became the undisputable Queen of Rental By Owner.  Christine also worked for HomeAway,Inc (the company that owns VRBO.com, VacationRentals.com, HomeAway.com ) She played an integral role in the development and growth of vacation rental juggernaut with her greatest accomplishment as the work she did for the acquisition of VRBO.com. Christine has as since joined Jeff Marken as co-founder of Sugar Palm Vacation Rentals. She rules the industry with a Midas touch, turning every property she manages into absolute gold. Christine is based in Austin, Texas (but she is in Destin 4-6 months out if the year) is married with one son and two dogs, Trumpet and Piccolo, and in her downtime travels with family and friends and reads everything she can get her hands on. Jeff built VRBO.com…literally.  He was the first website developer for VRBO.com.  Jeff has been in the travel business for over 30 years. He spent much of his early career working for major airline companies (Eastern Airlines, United Airlines) and vacation rental companies, like VRBO.com (he built the VRBO website from the ground up) and Owner Direct Vacation Rentals.  He has spent the last several years building his portfolio of vacation rental properties, perfecting the rental processes and forming Sugar Palm Vacation Rentals with Christine Karpinski. As a pilot, Jeff has a great eye for the big picture. His bird's-eye view allows him to see over projects holistically, but his thousand-point pre-flight safety check keeps him meticulous and detail-oriented - these qualities translate into everything he does. Outside of work, Jeff enjoys traveling, piloting aerobatic maneuvers, and spending time with his wife, daughter and his two dogs, Ladybug and Gracie. Rae comes to Sugar Palm rentals with over 18 years of experience in the hospitality industry.  Rae's responsible for all things operations related at Sugar Palm Rentals.   She's the one who works behind the scenes making sure everyone and everything is running smoothly.   Rae's past experience in the hospitality industry is an asset to the She loves to roll up her sleeves, get out in the field, greet guests, take reservation calls and she's been known to make friends with guests staying in our homes.  Rae is a loving mom of loving children and is one of the rare natives who was born and raised in Destin.  She enjoys spending time with her children and relaxing at home. Sherry comes to Sugar Palm Rentals as a veteran staff member of Christine.  She has been cleaning, maintaining and inspecting for Christine for over 10 years. Because she worked so closely with Christine, she knows exactly how to uphold the highest standard in cleaning.  Her daily responsibilities include managing Sugar Palm Vacation Rentals housekeeping staff, managing linens and property inventory, completing property reservations and tending to guest services and needs. Sherry's number one priority is ensuring the guest experience is nothing less than perfect, and she handles the details with ninja-like precision and skill. In her free time, Sherry enjoys spending time with husband, family, and friends, relaxing her special getaways with her sisters.