Six weeks after working around the clock transforming an ugly villa into high-end luxury accommodation with its own thermally heated hot tub, Suzie Evans thought: “What have I done?”
The interior designer turned Tremains real estate agent paid $742,000 for the tired Edwardian villa in Rotorua, and poured her heart and soul - and $50,000 - into renovating it.
The home was finally finished, and she was waiting for photos before putting it on Airbnb when self-doubt kicked in.
“I was starting to worry if I had made the right decision.”
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However, her concerns were short-lived. Bookings have been flowing in since the property on Ranolf Street went live almost a month ago, with people booking an average of five to 10 nights.
“It seems to be a hit!”
Before: Evans spent six weeks transforming the run down villa into a high-end Airbnb. Photo / Supplied
After: Calm neutral colours made a huge difference to the home and gave it a warm, more luxurious feel. Photo / Supplied
The whole renovation process had been a bit of a whirlwind for Evans, who stumbled across her next project while doing her day job.
She had been part of a group of agents doing a routine viewing of a colleague’s listing when she realised it would be the perfect project.
With three character home renovations already under her belt, she decided it had what it took to become a high-end Airbnb.
“I think I never really stop hunting for property - not always actively, but if I see something that sparks my interest and gets my thoughts going about what I could do to it, I look deeper into it.”
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The location and the character of the home with all the beautiful native wood ticked the boxes, but it was the discovery in the backyard that sealed the deal.
“I spotted what looked like a large compost bin covered in Ivy and rusted corrugated iron in the backyard; after a closer look, I realised that it was an old thermally heated hot tub that hadn’t been used for years.”
Thermally heated properties in Rotorua were becoming harder to find, and she knew it would be a hit with guests, while the thermal heating kept the home at an ambient 18 to 20 degrees.
“I have set up and run Airbnbs before (one other still currently) and knew that Villa 77 would be the ultimate high-end retreat for families/ groups wanting to visit Rotorua… The thermal heating was also a massive drawcard, and I knew it would be a big hit with guests,” she said.
“It’s the perfect Airbnb in my experience because of the location and the character. When you have an Airbnb that’s got something a little bit quirky or a little bit different – people love that.”
Before: It was painted in bright colours such as yellow, purple, red and green that made the home feel very dark. Photo / Supplied
After: Evans kept costs down by repainting the existing kitchen and keeping the original timber floors. Photo / Supplied
Evans made an offer, and after about three months of on-and-off negotiations, the house was finally hers. During that time, she had been mentally planning how she would tackle it.
She took over the keys on July 31 and gave herself a month and a budget of $40,000 to get it up and running - she blew both.
The exterior of the house had been painted before she bought it, and the house was structurally sound with good plumbing and wiring, leaving Evans to focus on sprucing up the interior and clearing the overgrown gardens.
“It was just ugly, overgrown and unloved.”
To keep costs down, she used what she could and repainted the “yuck” coloured kitchen and laundry rather than installing new ones. The black claw-foot bath stayed, but a new shower with modern black trims was installed.
The bright reds, greens, yellows and purple walls and trims favoured in the 1990s were replaced with calming neutral tones such as Dulux Sandfly Point on the walls. “It was just cosmetic really.”
The heated hot tub in the backyard gave the Airbnb a real point of difference. Photo / Supplied
Her best finds were sage-coloured light fittings for the kitchen, which were $11 each from Bunnings, and some framed prints from Inka Arthouse and Pop Motif for about $200 each. Some of the custom-made blackout curtains were reused after a dusting.
She also picked up a large squishy couch on sale from Nood for about a third of its original price.
“You can absolutely do champagne on a lemonade budget. It’s just about doing your research and looking for things. It’s little wins like those light fittings from Bunnings, Mitre 10, Kmart even – places like that are your best friends when you are doing a reno and trying to save money. There are lots of things that you can find out there that still look nice that don’t need to cost moonbeams essentially.”
Evans did as much of the work as she could herself, calling in a local plumber, builder and gardening service to help with the bigger jobs she didn’t have the time or skills for.
“I was there from dusk till dawn for most of those six weeks and had lots of family and friends call in with coffee, food and moral support during that time.
“The section was pretty overgrown with ivy and choko vines that needed to be removed, along with large tree stumps that had been left there for some time.”
The home was completed in mid-September (two weeks later than planned), and she had gone $10,000 over budget.
However, her hard work had paid off and feedback so far from Airbnb guests, who paid on average $500 a night for six people to stay there, had been glowing.
Even her real estate colleagues, who are used to taking a critical eye to homes, have been impressed with the quick transformation from ugly duckling to luxury villa and keen to draw on her skills for their own renos. “Everyone was like, 'This is beautiful.' They were blown away.”
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