It is often the most challenging times that spark a creative movement. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to heavily impact the lodging industry, it presents the opportunity for innkeepers and boutique hotel owners to develop new ways to differentiate their properties.
In late 2020, we published a series of COVID re-opening stories that provided tips and insights from innkeepers on how they have pivoted their businesses during the pandemic in order to survive and oftentimes thrive.
In addition to these insights, Christa Freeland of the Founder House Austin provided some creative tips for property owners in a recent podcast interview we did with her.
“Now is the time to shine,” says Christa. “It’s amazing that we have this golden opportunity to be more creative and different, and redefine hospitality.”
Here are some ideas provided by Christa, as well as some other innkeepers we’ve interviewed, intended to help you get creative and try to differentiate your property:
- Find the one thing that makes your property special, and fully leverage that to current and prospective guests.
- Host live music events.
- Hold socially distanced spin classes outside.
- Project creative visuals on your property to draw attention to it.
- Find your passion and focus your property’s offering around it. For example, Dan Tatarka loves to brew beer, so he and his wife Terri have made beer the central attraction to the guests they host at WildManDan’s Beercentric B&B.
- Hire video jockeys to hold socially distanced electronic music/art events.
- If historic sites are close by, host a knowledgeable tour guide for breakfast with your guests and have them talk about it.
- Partner with local crafts people and have them hold exclusive classes for your guests.
Thanks to Christa Freeland, an entrepreneur, former tech venture studio executive, and the manager of the Founder House Austin, for contributing to this Frictionless Innkeeper TIP. Be sure to also listen to our first podcast with Christa where she discusses how the Founder House Austin shifted from solely being a Bed and Breakfast to being part of a co-working and co-living space for entrepreneurs.
Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash
