Hello! We are Coe and Avonlea Guthrie, founders of Alaska Vacation Rentals & Cabins. In order for you to get to know us in present time, we must turn the clock back to 2009 and introduce you to the young, newly married couple living in Pagosa Springs, a small town in Southwest Colorado. Coe was a carpenter, and Avonlea was a full time homemaker; we had recently bought our first house, and the Great Recession had essentially halted the construction industry in our small town.
An advertisement appeared in the local newspaper: a lodge in Red River, New Mexico was looking for on-site managers. We were the 20th couple to apply for the position, and, thankfully, the owners took a chance on us – a 19 and 24 year old with no previous hotel experience! This was our introduction to the hospitality industry!
Blue Lake Ranch
The experience gained in New Mexico paved the road for us obtain the management position at Blue Lake Ranch- a world renowned Bed & Breakfast and Event Center in Durango, Colorado, just an hour from ‘home’ (Pagosa). This was a dream job in many ways, and the knowledge gained during our time there continues to impact our lives!
During this time, we still owned our property in Pagosa. Along with the construction industry, the housing industry was suffering severely. After great frustration with long term rentals, we began to explore the idea of offering the house as a vacation rental, a fairly new concept at the time. We worked nights and weekends getting the house ready for our first set of holiday guests.
‘The Pagosa Cabin’ was the 78th vacation rental to be listed in Pagosa; today, there are over 300! We learned the ins and outs of being vacation rental hosts, and built a profitable business out of our starter home!
The Pagosa Cabin
We learned quickly that the building economy was not what it once was and times were lean! The idea of managing vacation rentals from home began to ruminate in Avonlea’s mind, and one Saturday morning (while Coe was working!), she started to research vacation rental management in the area. Amazingly, the property management company who we were renting from, also managed vacation rentals. Avonlea immediately called the owner, presented her skill set, explained that she was 8 1/2 months pregnant, and asked if they might be interested in a part time work from home reservation manager. Shockingly, the answer was yes! This simple phone call led to an 12+ year working relationship. Avonlea continues to manage vacation rentals for this company in Colorado from her home in Alaska.
We have learned countless lessons over the years, the most valuable being how to work together well. While Avonlea is often the face of the business, Coe is the idea man, trouble shooter, and photographer!
Our goal is to build a family business that we can one day share with our children. We are excited to launch Alaska Vacation Rentals & Cabins, and hope to one day be offering vacation rental services across the beautiful state of Alaska!