Mario Wiggins knows only one way to run his business: efficient.
The 27-year-old entrepreneur finished up eight years in the Air Force in March and from there started his own business, Relax Accommodations.
 Mario Wiggins Stuart L. Mattingly photo |
Wiggins wanted to work for himself. He started selling pots and pans but as hard as he tried, it didn’t pan out. During his efforts he joined the Air Force.
"They sent me to school for lodging," said Wiggins. "Then I worked lodging for them for five years. I learned the front desk, I learned to book reservations but most importantly the Air Force taught me customer service and how to run a business."
From the Air Force Wiggins took to Marriott and got a job in reservations booking groups. He learned all he could from them, and decided it was time to jump out on his own.
"I would have to be a fool to leave the military after just eight years with four kids if I was not absolutely sure it was going to work," Wiggins said. "I had to plan this out perfectly. Everything goes in steps with me."
From his connections in lodging in the Air Force, guys would come in to the base needing a place to stay. Wiggins leased two apartments, furnished them, turned on the power, cable and phone and leased it to two members of the military.
"The first time, they only were here a month and I had a lease for three months," he said. "So I was going to be out of pocket the rest. I was worried, but then two more guys came in and stayed out the rest."
Currently, Wiggins has 40 units in his name at three apartment complexes: Canyon Oaks, 600 N. Pantano Road; El Dorado, 2440 E. Glenn St. and Finisterra, 6795 E. Calle La Paz.
Because of what he offers included in the unit, Wiggins sees his competition as other hotels in the area.
"I want to offer the best, but I want to offer it at a cheap price," Wiggins said. "There are places that have nice accommodations but the price is too high for anyone to stay there."
Wiggins offers LCD flat screen HDTVs from 27 inches to 52 inches, HBO, free long distance, leather furniture, utilities included for $50 to $80 in the slow season and up to $119 a night for the busy season.
"I have everything in my units," Wiggins said. "If they even try to go to a hotel they look at it, they see the hotel has less than what I have, for more price. So they say ‘why not go to Mario, when his price is lower and he has more stuff, and I have my own private dwelling and I have the housekeeping and the full kitchen.’ I don’t give the customer a choice. I have too much and they have too little and are charging too much."
Currently, Wiggins’ business is 100 percent military, but he is working on branching into corporate clientele as well.
The efficiency he learned in the Air Force has allowed him to put things into practice keeping things simple for him.
"I run a pay schedule of the first and the 15th of the month," Wiggins said. "I would drive myself crazy trying to keep track of how much to charge who when. It is simplified. No ifs ands or buts."
He also doesn’t have an office right now, because he is the only one answering the phone calls, shopping for the furnishings, running the payment cards, doing the receipts and meeting the clients.
"It would be a waste for me to spend $600 a month on an office," he said.
This month he is launching Relax Accommodations one, which will be a janitorial, housekeeping and landscaping service to apartments so his housekeepers that want to work full time will be able to do so. Relax Accommodations two will be the business he currently operates and he plans to extend it to Phoenix, Las Vegas, California and Texas.
"I’m a hyper guy anyway so I want things to get done to my standards which is the military standards," he said.
It is all worth it to him as he pushes for his ultimate goal of a Relax Accommodations hotel.
"It will be better than any other place in town," he said. "They will be like VIP suites; because everything I do I want it to be absolutely the best."
Wiggins is from Las Vegas and sees his hotel more along the lines of the hotels there than anything here.
"I plan to have it open by 2012 and it is going to be different," he said. "There will be an upscale nightclub attached to it for people older than college kids but who still want to get out there and have a good time."
Wiggins knows he did not get to where he is on his own two feet and acknowledges those who helped him get to where he is today and where he plans to be in the future.
"Mr. Daniel Baker in lodging taught me everything I know and gave me the hotel idea. Nancy Blythe at the Marriott busted her butt to put me in reservations and teach me the civilian side of the business. Samuel Hubbard really gave me the drive to get through. Sergeant Gordon Tucker gave me ideas for the corporate bookings. And, of course, my wife Christi Wiggins who sometimes works with me, and has supported me the whole way."
Wiggins said he is pushing forward and confident his plans will come to pass.
"It will work because I’ve come a long way already from selling pots and pans to here. Then I become a billion dollar corporation and then I can relax."
Contact reporter Joe Pangburn at jpangburn@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4259.
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