Community-centered hospitality

Ready for your weekly dose of hotel intel? This week, we’re exploring digital strategies that’ll supercharge your direct bookings and get guests clicking “reserve” without hesitation. We’ve also got a peek at a stunning adaptive reuse project that combines the best of urban resort vibes with a private members' club (and design for dayssss). And let’s talk numbers: boutique hotels crushed it in 2024, achieving higher average daily rates than most comparable U.S. hotels. Curious how they did it? You’re in the right place!

Luxurious, scandalous and downright ridiculous. A Real Housewives vacation is not a typical trip. Skip the drama and head straight to the hotel or resort (or, you know, castle) via The Real Hotels website to find where all your favorite wives have stayed during every season and every iteration of the show.

Don’t get caught in “channel first” thinking. Charlie Osmond, co-founder of Triptease, dishes on digital strategies that drive direct bookings.

Pet-friendly stays are the cat’s meow. In honor of National Pet Day (April 11), you should know that today’s travelers aren’t just booking for themselves—they’re booking for their pets too, fueling a surge in pet-friendly hotel demand. The market is projected to hit $6.55 billion by 2028 with an impressive CAGR of 12.4%.

Hotels are on a hiring spree. By leveraging new tools and technologies to grow and retain their workforces, AHLA reports that the hotel industry is expected to add more than 14,000 employees in 2025.

Seattle’s hotel scene just leveled up. From sleek and modern to cozy and artsy, these four fresh stays bring serious style to the Emerald City.

‘Hospitality should be a business without walls’

Donte P. Johnson is an accomplished hospitality leader committed to community-centered service. In 2019, he was appointed GM of Hotel Revival in Baltimore's historic Mount Vernon neighborhood. During his tenure, he collaborated with local organizations to support community initiatives, notably orchestrating produce distributions during the pandemic and offering the hotel's restaurant space to local small food businesses for carry-out operations.

Currently the GM at Thompson Atlanta Buckhead, he is active on multiple hospitality and civic boards, championing social impact and inclusive economic development. Here, he shares how you can champion those initiatives, too. -Jennifer Glatt

How do you define great hospitality in a community setting?
We should seek to blur the line between where the hotel ends and where the community begins. Hospitality should be a business without walls, where what’s happening inside the building reflects the best of what’s happening in the community outside the building. This is putting the spirit of hospitality at the core of the business of hospitality. This can be through event and activation curation or even initiatives like intentionally sourcing local small businesses to support hotel and restaurant operations.

What’s the key to building real connections through service?
Authentic care. We must create spaces where people feel seen and cared for. It can be as intentional as a deeply personalized welcome experience or something as passive as a deep cut on the playlist. I’ve had locals become regulars because they felt a deepened sense of connection to the space based on the first song they heard when they entered. The feeling of “someone thought of me when they put this list together” remains at the center of our sonic identity strategy. However, what happens on the other side of that initial moment of belonging must also be thoughtful and substantive.

Where does modern hospitality collide with being hospitable, and what is the result?
As needs and interests amongst customer segments have shifted, we’ve been given an opportunity to recalibrate our offerings. I’ve read a lot of industry trend lists with “the experience economy” and well-being close to or at the top. There’s an opportunity there. Event-led growth (ELG) strategies create space for the true spirit of hospitality to shine through while driving brand awareness, cache and top-line revenue. 

What are three ways hotels can reimagine the way they participate in their communities?
Do a listening tour. Meet with prominent community leaders who aren’t public officials and business leaders. Creatives, activists and non-profit founders all have a lens on community that can help businesses orient programming in ways that best connect with their audiences. We created an advisory board that functions in two critical ways—idea partnership and accountability. The ancillary benefit is that this group is incredibly passionate about our business and sends a steady stream of referrals.

Host community conversations, town hall meetings and coffee talks to create space for meaningful conversations when issues arise that need attention. The building doesn’t need to (and probably should not) have an opinion relative to complex issues. But, the connections created in these moments are often lasting and meaningful. 

Host a fireside chat to discuss The Impact Hospitality Handbook. An informal, conversational event like this is designed to create a more intimate and engaging experience for the audience and allows you to get at the heart of your community. We’ve hosted these conversations, not as much to talk through the content of the book, but to talk through what the evolution of the philosophy might look like. The book is a quick read; you could burn through it in an afternoon in the park. But the concept is meant to stay with you forever.

Above: Donte P. Johnson (left) and The Impact Hospitality Handbook co-author Jason C. Bass (Courtesy Ryan “DJ Impulse” Rhodes)

Southern and swoon-worthy

Left Lane recently transformed a 19th-century Southern Gothic mansion into a modern luxury hotel. Part urban resort, part neighborhood clubhouse, the Hotel Bardo Savannah introduced a private members' club within the hotel, showcasing an innovative strategy to build a local clientele, foster community engagement and create a steady revenue stream.

Why it matters: The maverick development firm plans to expand the Bardo brand into high-growth secondary markets like Pittsburgh and Providence, R.I., highlighting the opportunities in markets where demand for upscale accommodations is growing but competition remains manageable. (Interior Design)

Tech tricks to multiply F&B earnings

Pool-side days are coming soon, and hotter temperatures mean fun in-app prompts like “Would you like to add a glass of rosé?” (Yes, obvs.). Don’t have your summer F&B strategy figured out yet? Simple tactics can help you leverage technology to increase your profitability.

Why it matters: Smart digital strategy is the key to summer F&B profits. Real-time promotion of on-site activations such as local wine tastings or guest chef takeovers can increase attendance and revenue, while data dashboards help you analyze sales performance by menu item, outlet, time of day and guest segment. (Hotel Technology News)

Boutique hotels: Setting the standard 

The Highland Group's Boutique Hotel Report 2025 reveals that in 2024, boutique hotels outperformed most comparable-class U.S. hotels in average daily rates.

Why it matters: The industry is buzzing about experiential stays—something boutique hotels have quietly excelled at for years. “Boutique hotels intrigue through design, storyline, food and beverage and unique amenities," says Kim Bardoul, partner at The Highland Group. Solid performance of this hotel type continues to attract development within the indie boutique, lifestyle and soft-brand collection categories. (Hotel Management)

Hospitality is not performance art

Transforming service into hospitality isn't magic; it begins with intention and ends with a sigh of contentment. “The best hospitality businesses, those that endure, inspire and outperform, invest first in their people. Not as a strategy, but as a philosophy,” says luxury hospitality consultant, restaurateur and hotelier Simon Harris. Get your company’s culture right, and the rest will follow.

Why it matters: Real hospitality asks something deeper than competence. It asks for heart, which cannot be mandated—it must be cultivated, Harris posits. “The team is the experience. Their energy, their mood, their sense of belonging, it all comes through in every guest interaction.” He shares his six essential ingredients of a hospitable work culture—the foundation upon which every guest experience is built. (LinkedIn)

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