Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Blakely.
Hi Jennifer , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Shane and I have a blended family with four children. We love to travel. With a family of six options are limited. We started staying in short term rentals for the convenience of having enough space and being able to prepare our meals to save money. However, that came with its own challenges. Having a safe location in a good area became expensive as this way of travel was increasing. We decided to open up a boutique hotel that also incorporated a variety of different room styles to accommodate all of the different types of travelers. For the families, there is a variety of on-site activities for all ages along with large family suites that are not in an unfamiliar house in the middle of nowhere but in a safe location. For individual travelers, we have single rooms with the convenience of a chef’s kitchen, places to relax, and the ability to still interact with others. We thought it would be amazing to have a place where you could have multigenerational family vacations, but everyone would still have their own private spaces. We owned a commercial cleaning company which allowed us the ability to build an establishment that was not only kid and pet friendly but easy to clean and maintain. We started working with the architect and traveling to different areas to see what we liked and what we didn’t like to create a one of a kind experience.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We have had our fair share of challenges. We broke ground in 2019. Ran into struggles with partners, builders, of course Covid. In the end Covid ended up helping us. Because this is a contactless hotel, the entire process is automated. Before Covid people were used to meeting their host at a short term rental or checking into a hotel and going to the front desk. Post Covid people were very comfortable with the contactless experience. We are continuing to listen to our guests and improve the property and experience by adding themed rooms and amenities that you wouldn’t find at a traditional hotel. The largest challenge now is the constant changes in technology. Because we’re contactless and things are automated, and now with AI systems and processes are changing so rapidly that we take advantage of all of the resources whether it be conventions, podcasts, or meeting with other boutique, hotel owners around the world to find out what’s working for them. Therefore, we’re always in a constant state of improvement to the property, our processes and improving the overall experience for our guests. All of this while being busy parents and active in our community
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I personally love to create whether it’s furniture, artwork, and decor throughout the building. Most of the decor in the building is all repurposed or something that we’ve made. All of the artwork is local people that let me photograph their cars, pictures of places that we’ve been. We tried to make each room unique. We have two Star Wars themed sleeping pod rooms. We have a Bigfoot monster truck family suite. And we’ve just created an Instagram worthy Miami Beach themed family suite. This particular suite is often booked for girls, weekends, bridal groups, and sleepovers. It’s been requested that we have a fun brightly colored very girly room. So that was a very fun challenge for me to do the exact opposite of what I set out to do with the decor. I personally love the challenge of going in and transforming the rooms so when we have repeat guests, they can have a different experience each time they stay.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
One of the things that I believe has helped us the best is constantly continuing our education. Traveling in the United States and other countries, visiting with other boutique, hotel owners and going to as many hotel and travel based conventions has been a huge resource for us. Not only do we get to see new products constantly but we get to sit in on speakers and meet with other owners. It’s very helpful to know that the challenges that we’ve faced others have and find out what’s helped them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.landinghub.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandinghub
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1D3iEHzVKv/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@thelandinghub7605?si=km9DTU8sJIYqxQHr
