Adding optional paid activities to my mountain STVR rental.

[Marcello Di Gerlando]

I'm exploring the idea of offering optional paid activities to my guests like personal chef, back country skiing, mountain climbing lessons, UTV rentals, horse back riding, fly-fishing and the like. Our STR is on the larger side and accommodates 16 with 2 kitchens and is divided to suit 3 families comfortably. I have drafted up a website and liability docs and I'm working with Fareharbor for scheduling software and plan on forming a separate LLC for this project. However, I have no experience in adventure tourism per se. The intent is mostly to make local activities available directly to my guests and not to get-rich-quick with this offering. I have a Johnson and Wales local chef and back country hiking/ski guides interested, willing and ready to go. I can only imagine taking a small fee from the guides and chef to cover expenses. I do expect to invest in UTVs and offer them out as full day or extended rentals. Per day rentals on these should be between $400-$500 and I would expect to make a return on my investment in year one and possibly make profit with these toys if all goes well. Very interested in feed back from the STR BP community.

[Michael Baum]

Hey @Marcello Di Gerlando, that sounds like a neat idea, but have you looked into the tax implications? All of that sounds like "significant services", especially the chef. Even if they are paying for those extras, the IRS could make that determination.

Check out this article. This guy covers the info pretty well. https://markjkohler.com/how-a-...

Outings and the like are considered significant services. Makes you more like a hotel and not a passive business like a vacation rental. UTV rentals could be construed as providing transportation. Here in Idaho, they are legal to drive on the road. That could be the case in CO as well.