“We have grown, and changed with the times as technology, and guests' expectations have changed. We are still at heart, a small mom & pop company that values our relationships with our homeowners, the life/work quality of our employees, which are mostly immediate family, or close friends above all else”
— Matt Carpenter
When Bodega Bay Escapes Vacation Home Rentals operator and owners, Pamela and Matt, started out in the vacation rental business in the early 90s, computers and websites were not yet part of the Vacation Rental industry. Working for Matt’s father’s business — a small company called Geroge Hait Realty — Matt sought out new ways to manage the homes, bookings, and rent which is how he came across First Resort Software with whom he purchases software and services as one of their first few clients!
Within a couple years Pam & Matt were managing the Vacation Rental side of the company. They integrated the new FRS PMS into the workflow, networked computers across 2 offices in town, and Pam had revamped the housekeeping side of the operation. By the late 1990’s Matt grew tired of the business and stepped aside to go into the new Tech industry. Pam took over all management of the Vacation Rental business. Matt stayed involved in the business via computer network support, FRS support, graphic design, advertising, working on the first-gen website, and all that followed.
Matt’s father sold the business in 2001, Pam stayed on and worked with the new owners, and Matt continued to support tech aspects, and advertising until 2008.
Pam & Matt decided to start their own company, Bodega Bay Escapes in 2009, and opened on May 15th, 2009, with only 4 homes. With extensive experience, and relationships with many of the local homeowners and businesses, the business quickly grew. Initially, the plan was to just have a small portfolio of quality homes, 40 was the number we were looking to top out at, but the demand was so great, mainly from people we knew that we had a hard time saying no, so by 2012 we had over 70 homes.
