With properties spanning nine resort communities from Maine to California, Bob Milne, president and COO of First Chair Destinations, is excited about the launch of a new vacation rental and hospitality brand based in Steamboat Springs.

“We feel like we can build something unique with respect to the First Chair brand and do something that’s never been done before,” said Milne.

Milne ran The Resort Company from 1997-2011 before shifting to a position with Wyndham, which had purchased the company. Milne took the position of president of Wyndham Vacation Rentals North America. He also held positions including president and CEO of Resort Land Properties, and more recently, as senior vice president of operations for Vacasa. He was with Vacasa for nine years.

“I’ve been in this industry a long time, and all the short-term rental companies are either in one market, or they’re trying to be like Vacasa — everything to all people,” Milne said.

He said First Chair Destinations, which was formed in 2025 by a group of former Vacasa and Wyndham executives with private equity backing from Paceline Equity Partners, is different.

“One of the things that cements the whole local feel is I’m living right here in Steamboat Springs,” Milne said. “The decisions are made at the local level, supporting that local team. The local operations managers, the general managers, the housekeepers and the property caretakers, they’re the ones that do all the heavy lifting and really make it work, so if they know that their support team is right there behind them, it goes a long way.”

When Casago finalized the acquisition of Vacasa in May 2025, it created an industry-leading brand that manages thousands of properties across North America, Belize, Costa Rica and the Caribbean. The $130 million deal took the platform private, delisting Vacasa from the Nasdaq.

Casago’s philosophy was to take the 34,000 homes at Vacasa and franchise those out to individual franchisees. Milne said after the transition to Casago, he heard from colleagues at Wyndham and Vacasa, who all saw a great opportunity. That group entered into a licensing agreement with Casago to create First Chair Destinations.

First Chair Destinations has acquired a portfolio of vacation rental properties in coveted ski destinations and coastal locales carved out from Casago’s recent acquisition of Vacasa.

“We’ll still have all of our distribution on Vrbo, Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia,” Milne said. “We’ll still have connections, so that you’ll be able to see all of our inventory on the Vacasa.com and the Casago.com websites.

In addition to Milne, the leadership team includes industry veterans such as Rishi Nigam, chief executive officer; Kristen Taylor, vice president of operations; Nate Tomlinson, vice president of customer experience; Meghan Lutterman, vice president of community association services; Matt Hope, vice president of revenue and analytics; David Carlson, general counsel; Tim Koropsak, chief financial officer; and Clint McRae, vice president of people and culture.

Milne added that the hospitality-driven organization will empower local teams, respect the character of each market and prioritize strong relationships with team members, homeowners and guests.

“With Casago, a bigger national brand, we can still tap into that 100%, which is why we have a licensing agreement with them,” Milne said. “It allows us that flexibility to really build the First Chair brand, which we think is going to be kind of unique because it caters to the ski market.”

Destinations where First Chair Destinations offers properties include Killington, Okemo, Stowe and Stratton in Vermont; Sun Valley and Schweitzer in Idaho; Sunday River and Sugarloaf in Maine; Bretton Woods, New Hampshire; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; and Mammoth, California. In Colorado, First Chair offers properties in Steamboat Springs, Vail, Beaver Creek, Crested Butte, Purgatory, Wolf Creek, Breckenridge, Aspen, Telluride, Keystone, Copper Mountain and Winter Park.

Milne said First Chair also will manage resort properties on the East Coast: “I also have a deep affinity for Maine, so we are also able to pick up some of the coastal properties in New England, Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. It’s primarily ski destinations with a little bit of New England sea coast mixed in.”

He said in Steamboat Springs, changes will become apparent in the coming weeks as First Chair Destinations begins to rebrand.

“I’m really excited,” Milne said. “We’ve just signed off on our branding and our icon, and so you’ll start to see the shuttle buses transitioning. The ones that you saw running around town that were the Vacasa shuttles, you’ll start to see those transitioning to First Chair.”

This story is from SteamboatPilot.com.