All Forum Posts by: Ken Boone

Quote from @Bill B.:

If they’re willing to turn them off aren’t they willing to put tape over the lens? Or park a Christmas tree in front of it if they want to be less obvious? Or a big a** party here sign? (Facing away of course.)

 Well typically with my cameras they are mounted in locations where a guest would need to get a ladder to do something like that. They are monitoring the driveway/entryway only.

Quote from @John Underwood:

Quote from @Wesley Myers:

Awesome idea. Not to sidetrack but do you think it really helps to have the camera?

 absolutely!

I want to know if someone is there that shouldn't be or if a party might be developing. I can tell my cleaners if someone leaves early to give them more time. In the winter my boat is trailered and I can keep an eye on it. I could see if a tree is down after a storm. I can see if vendors where there for things like pest control. The list goes on and on.

💯 

Mine are wired back to a breaker in the breaker box instead of a light switch in the cabin.  They could still turn it off but they would have to go into the breaker box to do so. 

Quote from @Account Closed:

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Hey @Luka Milicevic, I will say that it needs to be properly setup. I don't mean a pro calibration but in a light controlled room, proper distance, the right screen etc. All of that needs to match up.

My 3800 is a good match to my 1.1 screen. We had an Optoma DLP before that and it was a little on the bright side for that screen.

Like @Ken Boone, once it is setup right, it looks like you can swim around in it. Now there are crappy projectors, but with a good quality projector and a screen to match, it will easily match the best of direct view TVs.

I took a look at the JVC 4k units at CES 2 years ago and I am seriously thinking of dropping the cashola on one. They are the best of both worlds of LCD and DLP. They are D-ILA which is a 3 chip LCD that is like a DLP that reflects. Amazing blacks, colors are so saturated and perfect. The one I want is about 7k though which is a huge investment.

I'm new to STR.
I'm setting up a 5 bedroom in North Phoenix and I wonder if anyone knows if having a TV in every bedroom is necessary?

It seems to me that people come to Scottsdale/Phoenix to be outdoors and enjoying the sun, having a large Smart TV in the family room is plenty. Or am I missing something?

 So this is going to get as many opinions as the original topic!  So I put a 55" TCL Roku TV in every bedroom.  My guests are coming for the same type of things, tons of activities, national parks, amusement parks etc in my market that they are coming to.  However, at the end of the day a lot of people like to crawl in to bed and throw something on TV.  Helps with rainy days, cause now the kids can go off in a bedroom and watch whatever they want, or the parents can go watch a movie in the evening separate from where the kids are watching etc.  I personally think it helps to have them everywhere and they are super cheap.

Quote from @Andy Whitcomb:

I have an unpopular opinion on this one.. no TV, no projector, nothing.  We own cabins in the PNW and the only electronics we have is a record player. Our thoughts on this are: most of our guests are coming from the city (Seattle) and want to get out into nature to unwind. They sit in the hot tub, listen to the river, watch the fire, and spend time with loved ones or friends. We've hosted THOUSANDS of guests at our cabins and maybe 2 or 3 asked about a TV. 

Does it hurt our bookings? We're more full than ever with a backlog of people wanting to stay at our properties. Long story short; what you do and how you furnish your property comes down to knowing your guest avatar, designing the experience you want them to have, and designing the space accordingly.

Absolutely.  You need to know your target audience and your market. 

Yea go with a smart TV... People that want a theater room will book my cabins 2 to 1 ;)   I'm just joking around guys!  You just have to weigh your options and what you are trying to accomplish and how much work will be involved and whether or not the end result is worth it to you.  It may be worth doing a projector or it may not be depending on YOU.  

I run an Epson 1080 in my pool rooms, because it is cheaper and will be a replaceable item in that type of environment.
I have an Epson 2150 in one of my theater rooms and I have an Epson 3800 in another theater room.
The theater room with the 3800 is in my latest cabin build and that worked out so well I think I will be going back to the one with the 2150 and changing that setup to 4k as well.

I have found Epson to be very good from a warranty perspective.

The key is to have very good instructions complete with photographs and pictures hanging on the wall and in your cabin manual or guidebook.  It took awhile to get it all figured out and in the beginning I used to get a number of calls from guests.  But once I got my system and instructions honed down, I hardly ever get a call anymore, and I have 5 projectors across my cabins and my guests love them.

Quote from @Luka Milicevic:

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Ok so that isn't true @Luka Milicevic. Modern projectors have crystal clear pictures. Our Epson is clear as a our Sony 75" direct view. Just bigger.

The days of blurry projectors went away 10+ year ago.

A top of the line projector like JVC 4k units have clearer pictures than any direct view screen. They are amazing but expensive.

 How much is the projector that has clearer picture than a TV compared to the TV? 

I have never seen a projector that has a clear picture, let alone a clearer picture than a TV. I've watched stuff recently on brand new projectors too. 

Well I will tell you when I am running a 4k video on a 120" screen from my epson 3800 projector you fee like you could step into the screen.  The thing as far as guests go, the majority will not be a/v afficionados.  The majority will be totally happy watching a 1080p movie on a 120" screen because to most guests it will simply be a novelty, something that is neat and cool that they don't do at home.  And the kids and some adults (like me ;)  will be thrilled to play Xbox on that big screen too.. My point is, there is value in the novelty of it all vs just having a TV, even if the TV has a sharper image.

When the flat screen TCL Roku TVs reach 110 - 120" and under 1.5k, then I'll switch over to the flat screen.  What I see all the time in my market is for a listing to say they have a theater room and really what they have is theater seats with a 65" TV.  If you go with an 85" maybe you can make it work, but a picture showing a large 120" projector screen in your listing really makes it pop.  Yes it is more work than just slapping a TV on the wall for sure, but I will tell you the teenagers LOVE playing Call of Duty and Fortnight on my 120" projector screens.  It is an experience they don't get at home. Also, if you go 4k and Dolby Atmos things get more complicated, but it looks and sounds amazing.  Again, it gives the guests an experience they probably won't have at home.

Having said all that TCL did release a 98" 4k smart TV which is starting to get in the area of maybe skip the projector setup for me, however it is 5k.

My CPA friend told me there is a LOT involved in from a tax perspective but he said it was worth it.