20 Years with Escapia: How Coastal Joe Vacation Rentals Scales Deliberately

Brian Burkett founded Coastal Joe Vacation Rentals in 2006 after hearing local homeowners describe rental-management experiences that left much to be desired. He saw an opportunity to offer a more attentive, transparent approach and launched with 13 homes in and around Port St. Joe and Cape San Blas.

That personal touch shaped the business from the beginning—even its name. Megan Burkett offered family and friends a free weekend stay for the winning suggestion, and a relative proposed “Coastal Joe.” The hospitality was just as hands-on: in the company’s early years, Megan baked fresh bread and had it delivered to each home for arriving guests.

Over the next two decades, the portfolio grew to 72 homes. Keeping that same spirit of hospitality across dozens more properties meant finding new ways to deliver personal service.

Behind the scenes, the team’s workflows needed to keep pace, too. As bookings spread across more channels, staff were logging into separate listing-site dashboards and tracking maintenance requests on paper. They needed a more connected way to manage reservations, availability, property information, and day-to-day work—so a small team could stay on top of a growing portfolio without losing sight of the homes and people behind it.

When Brian chose a property management system in 2006, reliable online access from anywhere was a priority. He chose Escapia, which has remained Coastal Joe’s operational core ever since. As the business grew, the team added integrations for specialized work while keeping that foundation in place.

Reservation Management: Keeping Bookings and Availability Connected

The team manages day-to-day reservations from Escapia’s modernized Reservation Grid, bringing availability, bookings, and quoting into one workspace. For Coastal Joe, the value is keeping reservation information current across connected booking sites instead of relying on separate dashboards to understand what is happening.

Owner Trust: Clear Financials and More Self-Service

Coastal Joe was founded on a promise of more attentive, transparent management. Supporting that promise involves two different needs: reliable financial information and an easy way for owners to handle everyday reservation questions.

Escapia’s vacation rental Trust Accounting brings booking and financial workflows together, with owner statements and tools for tracking owner funds, charges, and distributions. That financial foundation supports the clear view of property finances Coastal Joe wanted to give owners from the start.

Escapia’s Owner Portal gives owners a way to find information and take action themselves. At Coastal Joe, owners use it to check reservations and book their own stays—tasks that previously meant contacting the team.

For a team of about seven, that self-service matters. Owners can get answers without waiting for a response, while the team has fewer routine reservation questions to handle personally.

Property Operations: Connecting Reservations to Work at Each Home

The Breezeway-Escapia integration automatically syncs property details and reservation data from Escapia to help coordinate cleaning, inspections, and maintenance. For Coastal Joe, this connects reservation information to the work taking place at its homes.

Megan says having the systems connected has supported better communication among the office, guests, vendors, cleaners, and owners.

Distribution: A Direct Vrbo Connection, with Boost for Additional Channels

Coastal Joe connects directly to Vrbo through Escapia. For specialized distribution, it uses Bluetent Boost to connect listings to Airbnb, Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, Google, and HomeToGo. Together, the setup lets Coastal Joe keep Escapia at the center while using connected tools for the channels and operational workflows its team needs. Because the core and the partners share one set of reservation and property data, details flow seamlessly between tools without re-entry.

Ongoing Support: Helping the Team Use More of Escapia

Escapia’s training resources support the people using the platform. Megan uses Escapia University to onboard new employees and explore parts of Escapia the business may not yet be using.

From pet-friendly beach getaways to larger bayfront and gulf-front homes, Coastal Joe’s portfolio reflects the range of stays available on Cape San Blas. Click through for a closer look at four of the homes the team manages.

The relationships behind the homes matter just as much. Sanctuary’s owners have stayed with Coastal Joe through three home purchases on the Cape, renting each property through the company. It is one example of the long-term owner trust the business has worked to build.

Explore Coastal Joe's portfolio

The fresh bread was one way Coastal Joe made hospitality personal when it managed 13 homes. At 72, the ways of working have changed—but the reason behind them has not.

For a team of about seven, connected reservations, property operations, and owner self-service help make a larger portfolio manageable. Escapia provides a foundation the business has continued to build on, with partners supporting the specialized work around it.

Coastal Joe’s next chapter is not about managing the most homes in the market. It is about growing carefully, earning owners’ confidence, and giving guests the personal attention that made the business worth starting. Twenty years in, the goal is still to grow the business without outgrowing that promise.

Looking for a PMS partner built to last decades, not just years?

From 13 homes to 72, Escapia has evolved alongside Coastal Joe for twenty years. Talk to our team about what that could look like for your portfolio.

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