E47: Scaling Soul: Preserving Boutique DNA While Growing a Platform w/ Rob Vogel

Speaker A: Welcome to today's episode of Future Hospitality. I'm, um, Dustin Myers, joined by co host Jeremy Wells. We're partnered at Longitude, a hospitality branding and design group. Today is our first episode in video format, and we're excited to begin this chapter of the podcast and hope that it makes it easier to connect with the guests. So today we're excited to welcome our friend, Mr. Rob Vogel.

Speaker B: Hey, guys.

Speaker A: Welcome to the podcast.

Speaker B: Thanks for having me.

Speaker A: Absolutely. Yeah. We've, we've had the privilege to work together on a few projects ongoing, and we learned a lot from you off camera. So we thought it'd be really fun to just get together and talk through some of your professional journey and some of the lessons you've learned, particularly around the boutique world and kind of operations, in creating unique experiences at scale.

Speaker B: Yeah, um, um, um, it's been a fun relationship that we've developed over the course of time and obviously, uh, I've known. I think I joked with you, Jeremy and Dustin. I think, uh, you know, I was like, when I first before got involved, I was like, why do I keep learning about this hotel and the, uh, the Ozarkers all over my socials and then, uh, you know, a, uh, year later, so, you know, we're sitting at table with each other talking. So it's cool to see kind of things come full circle.

Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker B: That's really cool.

Speaker A: Maybe just share a little bit about your journey, how you got started in the hospitality industry.

Speaker B: Yeah, sure. You know, I think it's probably very similar to a lot of people, which is kind of falling into it. I started out working in, uh, restaurants in high school and into college to pay bills and, you know, at that flexible schedule. And I really liked it. And it was also really fun atmosphere, um, versus. I tried working in retail and lasted like about a week. I do still know how to fold shirts, though. Um, but that all I took from it. But I, you know, I went to. Actually I was living in, uh, Florida for college and, you know, obviously tourism and hospitality is a huge part of the economy down there. So I was working at a restaurant and wanted to go apply for this new restaurant just opened in this cool hotel, the W, in Fort Lauderdale. And it was a really cool restaurant

Speaker A: right on the water.

Speaker B: So I went and applied and this very crafty HR person was like, what about you ever think about working in the hotel side, you know, at, uh, the. At the front front office? And I was like, sure, why not? You know, again, I'm. I was 19 at the time and, you know, Open to really anything that. And um, it kind of just started from there. You know, I never really looked back. There was moments where I was. I was in school for marketing, but I quickly realized that I really loved every day being so unique and different. You know, eventually my. My life took me to. To New York, which is really where I got into the boutique space. And. And you know, this is about 2012 when you know, there were so many amazing boutique products in the city. And it just really was an inspiring time to be like. Well, I. I don't know if I ever want to go back to a larger group. There's all these really cool, unique things happening. And you know, here I am m today. That was, wow, 20 years ago at this point.

Speaker C: That's awesome. You kind of left your story off there, uh, in New York. Like what happened between New York and now and what was that, that jump like from you know, maybe like a chain or like a more, you know, less boutique experience. Jump out of the boutique and independent and kind of lifestyle space. Did that transition?

Speaker B: Great question. Yeah, it's actually. It was. It was. I went and so I've been from um, you know, and this is during the Starwood days when it was still owned by Starwood. Um, you know, and tons of, you know, support is a much bigger hotel. Um, and then you had again a big, big regional team and in that area. And then I moved up and I started working at Gramercy Park Hotel, which was um, an Ian after Ian Schrager re envisioned it, uh, with Julian Schnabel doing the design. And I think he had deployed. He had left. This is right after the uh, the recession. So he had left the picture but was basically the hotel was running on its own as his own boutique. And it was like trial by fire. I was exposed to so many things. I was, you know, I came on as an a front, uh, assistant front office manager. And you know you have. At that time there was a nightclub, Rose Bar there, which was like the spot in town is famous for turning Paris Elton away, but also famously would be turning hotel guests away that would come shout at me for not getting into the club. But you know, to. To just the uh, the different, you know, guests that would come through the door and people in the neighborhood. This is, you know, Gramer Mercy park is a very unique area. It's the only private, private park in the city. So you have to have a key, uh, to actually be able to. Or you have to live on the park visually to. In order to have a key. To go into the park. And there's very strict rules with that. All sorts of like, really, like, because it was this bit of a hidden gem in a way, you know, really well known people to, you know, folks that were just kind of travel junkies or like design junkies and was really into the boutique space. And so that, you know, I was there for a couple years and again just learned so much. I was in. Eventually they formed a management development program, so I got to get my feet wet and revenue management for. For a while and housekeeping, which was like the two to me the most. I was like, okay, this is where I want to kind of be able to plant my flag as like, I know rooms operations from the point of getting someone to book all the way through to making sure that the room is clean and ready to go to departure. And so I kind of, you know, went back and forth, um, very intentionally in revenue management and rooms ops over the course of the next six years, um, because I wanted to continue to kind of work those muscles. And so, you know, I then moved over to, uh, Ferndale Hotels, which at that time was Crosby Street Hotel, which now they have three properties in New York by the time the first one outside of London. And that was an incredible experience. If you're familiar with Firmdale, they've. They really create a culture there where you're, you know, in the city. Everybody knew about Crosby as like, you're going to work really hard, but you're going to learn so much and you're going to work with probably some of the best people you'll ever work with in the industry. And I'll. I remember my first morning stand up there and I was just like, okay, I can learn from every single person in this room. And. And everyone in their role takes this very seriously. Doesn't take themselves seriously, but they take the role seriously. And that had really helped kind of like, form those future me along that path of like, what kind of leader I want to be, what kind of culture I want to create and help nurture. Because that was truly, you know, I spent five years with them. I opened their hotel that Whitby in Midtown, um, and kind of helped take the culture of Crosby and try to bring that to Midtown, realize what didn't work even in different markets, as, you know, Midtown and downtown Manhattan are so different, you know, and we didn't really fully grasp that until we got there. And we're like, this is. We have to tweak. You know, that was my first moment of like, okay, these looked Slightly differently. They feel like they're their own, you know, they have their own name. But we can't just totally plug and play the same framework and experience that we had downtown to Midtown. And that was like that first kind of click in my head. So, you know, that was a great experience. And, you know, I, uh, eventually wanted to kind of go back to more, um, approachable hospitality. As far as Price Point, you know, Ferndale, you know, the average starting rate was north of 700. And I was. I kind of yearned for my time when I was with the W, because it does that felt like you were hosting your friends. You know, it felt a little bit more just like they were curious, you were curious on what they wanted to do, and it wasn't so, you know, you're. I don't know, it felt like we were providing hospitality at the masses a little bit more. So, you know, I. I ended up talking with Brad, uh, Wilson of Ace Hotels. Just by an introduction, he had said to me, he was like, how would you bring luxury into a hotel that has kiosks? And I was, at the time, I was still working with Ferndale. And I was like, I joke with people, I say it was like clutching my pearls coming from again, like being in the, in the luxury space, there's like a kiosk. I was like, I couldn't wrap my mind around it. And he just like left. Planted that seed in my head. And we, you know, didn't talk for, you know, had a great conversation with him about, uh, a lot of other things. Yeah. But we didn't talk again for another like, six months. But, like, I remember at work thinking, I was like, how would I do that? And I just kept on thinking about it for six. I couldn't get out of my head because I was like, what is it? It really. And that was the moment where I was like, being able to say to myself, what am I doing every day? Or what's my team doing every day that doesn't cost a lot of money or doesn't need to cost a lot of money to have that same feeling in someone's heart or that moment of connection. And, uh, you know, Brad called me back up a couple months after that. Six, I mean, six months later. And. And hey, we're doing this project called Sister City. It's going to be like kind of a micro hotel brand. Uh, we're going to use kiosks. It's going to be this really unique experience on Bowery. And I would. That by that point I'd Been thinking about it for literally six months. And I was like, let's go, I'm in, let's. And so I, I came on as their hotel manager and I'm um, employee number one. Construction delays and all that. I, our, our head, our kind of pre opening office was, was at Atelier Ace, the corporate office. And I really was able to just take sponge, just listen to the, the doors all being open here, the design team, how they are thinking about something. And it could have been a totally different project. But just like interesting or hearing Brad on a call and what he's asking and development person coming by and saying, hey, would you look at this? This like formula. Just like real quick, does this seem interest, like does this make sense to you in the market? Um, and it was just a kind of really great experience. And so we were able to take, take that time there and also take the brand book that had been created and turn that into something that was physical, you know, turn it into the actual hotel experience. And that was like, uh, just probably one of the most rewarding experiences of my life to say like we took this literally, a esoteric idea and turned it into like, okay, how does the check in experience now work? How does a housekeeper function in this space? How does all these things. And you're doing it within a place that had a really strong culture of its own with ACE being ace. And this was very much supposed to be the little sister. It was Sister City was the idea. So it was like this really fun challenge to say, okay, what part of the DNA do we want to pull out of ace? Uh, the ACE DNA and what do we want to make as its own for Sister City? And it was ended up being really focused a lot around just engagement because again the kiosks, uh, scenario, when that came to life, we were like, well, I thought about my time as a front desk agent and I would always be like, you know, waiting to see my name on TripAdvisor reviews or get it, you know, hopefully maybe get a tip or something like that. But. And I was like, man, I'm never getting any of the tips and the bellman that's doing like half the stuff and it's just a great schmoozer and is going to tell a guy or a woman how to make a left or a right to the subway is cleaning up and they're getting all in their name on the TripAdvisor or the, you know. And so that was one example. And then the other side of it was the concierge which More fair. I'm not hating on the bellman at all, but the concierge, you know, locking them in with like, great reservations or recommendations. And I was like, well, what is like the connection? How do we. If I don't need to be worrying about like, what is basically processing somebody through a system check in because they're doing it all themselves, what kind of person should be there to greet them? And I was like, can I mash together that bellman personality and that concierge know of what's really fascinating and interesting and make that what the. The, you know, we called. I think it was a guest services managers, uh, agent and it was, you know, and then that helped us form who we wanted to bring on because we knew that we had one, maybe two touch points with the guests because once they make their keys, they never have to come by that front desk ever, ever again. So how do we just like, hit them with like so much excitement that they're there and meeting them also where they're uh, at are they actually exhausted and they just got off a really long flight and they just want to go crash? Like, okay, let's, let's maybe take a different approach with them. So a lot of like, super high EQ folks that we brought in and we had a really great, did really well from the, um, the, the, the operational and gas experience. And then Covid happened, um, so that shut everything down and everything ground to a halt in our industry and obviously, I think shifted so much of what we look at today as, um, through the pre and post Covid for so many people in, in so many different facets of, of life. But like, I think particularly in hospitality, we think about it a lot because Ed changed everything and kind of reset the play. You know, having to rewrite the playbook and figure out what does this world look like from a staffing perspective and from a guest perspective, what are they going to be looking for? As we came out of the pandemic, um, and that kind of led me, uh, eventually to debunkhouse hotels in 2021, um, and joining their team down in Austin, Texas running their. Originally it was a hotel, San Jose and Austin Hotel. And then we picked up the Carpenter, uh, hotel, which is just another block away. Incredible.

Speaker C: It seemed to me like. And fascinating how you touched pretty much every single facet of hospitality development, marketing. And so I think it, you know, you bring so much, you know, experience, but also just perspective that I think you're valuable, especially as you, um, you know, I've come into your new role here at Arbus. Get, uh, get into. How did all of that that you described, you know, prepare you for what your Arbus and what you guys are doing, kind of defining, you know, next steps for Arbus as well as, as you guys are building it out and, and envisioning what the future looks like.

Speaker B: Yeah, thank you. I think that, um, that's a great question. I think that, you know, for me it's, it's been a kind of a culmination of all these things. It's interesting how life takes you on a path and you, you know, when you're younger perhaps think, okay, this is what will be the next logical thing. Um, and it's, you know, letting kind of the chips fall and see what happens in some cases. Um, and you know, that's around the time, you know, uh, with. I had been with Bunkhouse for about four, four years at that point and um, started talking to Eric and Steven, the founders of Arbus and Eagle Point Hotel Partners. Um, and we started talking about what they were trying to build and I was like, this is really f. Fascinating to me because there's ah, you know, there's a, there, there's only a handful of, I think boutique groups really left that are trying to ensure that they're creating something hyper authentic. And I think the part that I resonate with is I really love brand. I love, I love that part of the business of understanding, um, and appreciating what is really to me is the foundation of what is going to drive the experience afterwards. You, because it's going to define who the guest is going to be and define who what kind of employee wants to come work for you. You know, if it's, if you're a Ritz Carlton or something very high end, you're going to get a certain type of guest and a certain type of person that wants to come work there. Something that's a little bit more funky, a little bit more unique. You're going to get that funky and unique guest and employee and those all, you know, there's the pluses and minuses to all those things. And so, you know, that was the excitement of working with Steven and Eric was they had all have these really unique properties that are hyper distinct in their own ways. Um, and trying to help figure a way of connecting them the right way that doesn't feel inauthentic or you know, we're kind of, you're wiping the slate clean of what has been there to put this stamp of, you know, Arbus on top of it as we've talked internally and continue to tweak and figure out how we want to connect the properties we talked about, like Arbus as the mother, um, not the mothership, just the mother. And then the properties are all siblings. They're all the family. If you, if anybody, ah, I think everybody knows somebody with siblings. You know, there's usually like, something, you know, one might be really outgoing and one might be very artistic, one might be like, hyper, you know, into mathematics or sciences, and the other one might be a jock or whatever, all these different personalities. But you all know, you're like, okay, that's the Vogel family or, you know, the Wells family or the Myers family. And you know, there's that connective thing there. But it's not like they're not like, hey, this is who our family is, and this is what we, you know, this is how we all behave. So that's been the fun. The. The fun experience of like, trying to make sure that we're very protective of like, what we would consider kind of micro brands of each of the hotels and, and not, uh, while also finding the connective tissue. And to me, that's really comes down to this really big embrace of authenticity, um, experiences. And I think those are very broad terms. Right, But I think, you know, there's. I think if you go to any of the properties, you walk in, you know that somebody deeply cared about how this was created, and the people that are working there deeply care about their particular property and who it, who it is and how they come into that fold of it. You know, it's especially apparent when you do. It's, you know, it's very easy to see it when the properties are in the same market as each other, you know, right around the corner or, you know, in the hub and spoke model kind of situation where a, uh, cash house guest in Jackson Hole is very different than our Anvil guest and they're literally in the same building. You know, one's a hostel. It's more, you, um, know, approachable in price point. It attracts a very specific type of guest. It also attracts a very specific type of, excuse me, employee that is guest facing, that wants to work in that space. And, and, um. And while at Anvil, it's a different price point, a different traveler that becomes more of their home base. And so we're like, okay, how do we make this someone's home base? But then really get the amazing recommendations and experiences that are not just a, um, you know, whatever the other hotel down the streets, plugging or Some you know, toro that anybody can sign up on, on, you know, via it or whatever, any of those kind of, of online tour agencies. But like you know, going back to the Cash House, Cash House guests are, they're usually there for one night. They are highly self sufficient, they're very fun to talk to. They're probably coming out of the woods after camping for a number of days, like really in some cool spaces being that uh, you know where those properties bump up to, um, to Teton, um, National park along with Yellowstone, uh, National Park. So you get that. And then in the winter you have these skiers that are just hardcore. They're out door very early and they're back early and they're ready to crash and knock out for the night and then you get another, you know, random kind of group. So it's, it's a really, I think that's the fun part is um, recognizing all those things and like, okay, how do we make sure if you're a guesting at Arbus Property that you're not being inundated with this formula that would just like make no sense to each one of those properties. Guests that are looking for something a little bit different at each one.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, I think that's really good insight. We see so many properties at a really small scale that understand their guest and are creating these unique experiences. You know, the team is aligned and then kind of on the other end of the spectrum you've got the very sterile, robotic, consistent, scalable, probably profitable, you know. And so trying to blend and the uniqueness as well as the scale and the profitability is definitely a challenge I think for those of us in the space. And it seems like what you learned at Bunkhouse and kind of what you're implementing with your role at Arbus is kind of trying to blend those two and making sure that while it is super personalized and boutique, it is also something that can scale and can be profitable and repeatable. So I guess kind of with that thought, what are some of the challenges that you've seen and overcome?

Speaker B: Yeah, totally. I think you take took the words right out of my mouth in a lot of the ways it's, it's, you know, a lot has to do with the challenges really come around scale because you are asking folks to usually wear more hats than they would uh, in a bigger box hotel that has, you know, the, as I tell people, usually when they sign up for any boutique experience and they're coming from a more um, larger organization. I'm like you, I've Worked in those spaces, you get a playbook. They say, do not deviate from this playbook. And I'm like, your playbook is here. There's no pages in here. You write the playbook. You get this level of autonomy that is very special in my mind. But at the same time it's a lot of responsibility and it's actual work straight, you know, to completely honest, you know, um, and obviously we're not saying we give them no direction, but again, to your point and to what we're talking about, we do need to. The check in experience isn't going to be the same at the Ozarker as it is going to be for Cash House. It's going to need to be tweaked. It needs to feel different. We have different key counts. There's a different, uh, you know, different approach on how you can engage and can you. You know, we're working on a project right now with 19 keys. We're going to be able to have a really high, touch long check in experience that's going to engage and talk. But, uh, we can't do that with. I mean, frankly, after you get over 40 keys, 50 keys, and if you get up to a hundred, like Ozarker, you don't have that time because you multiply the math. Especially on a weekend, uh, high travel period of time, you're like, I need to get these people into these rooms because otherwise they're going to be upset with me that they're here waiting in line and hearing the same spiel over and over again. So I think that that's kind of, you know, things that we've been working on and what we're trying to do to combat that is work on an overall structured playbook. Kind of, uh, as I said, there was no playbook, but there is one that we're working through. And the goal is that we'll say, okay, here's a really strong foundation for you at, ah, any property, you can take this. And we say, okay, you need to have an orientation. That orientation isn't just for your hotel, it's for your department because it's important. As a housekeeper, what is my role in this organization? Every role is important to this business to be successful. So we need to make sure that they have an understanding of their connection, you know, so it's like. But we need to tweak that, right? It needs to fit whichever market that we're, or, uh, whatever asset it's going towards. Job descriptions, same deal, SOPs need to be tweaked. Again, same, same story. You know, different room type needs to be approached a different way when it comes to the steps of cleaning and inspections and what needs to be in the room. So that's one of our goals, is to help build more muscle memory in with people in the team so that it's more that we can plug and play the parts that are not the sexy bits of running a, uh, hotel or boutique space. Uh, and. And be able to, whether it's a front desk or the kitchen or wherever is like, how can we utilize efficiency and create a smoother process so that they're not bogged down and just working hard all the time, but they have moments of working smart and freeing them up to be able to engage with guests more. And I think that that's really where we start to do that. And then it's also when we start to think about scalability with these things. You know, say if you're wanting to. To grow the platform is recognizing again, also that size of a property in that we're living in. With post Covid, as I was, as we were talking about a little earlier, the industry shifted massively. Um, a lot of people left and a lot of people that there was a lot of hiring freezes for a period of time. So that, you know, that time I was talking to a friend, I remember a couple years after Covid, two, uh, years after Covid, and I was like, man, I can't find a good sales manager anywhere. And he was like, because all those sales managers that would have been sales managers now, they got frozen as a sales coordinator during COVID there was no development or that role was eliminated. That pipeline that was occurring disappeared or froze. And so you now have to fill this gap on a lot of positions. And I think also just with the workforce and the new generation entering, they have a different way of approaching how to learn and how to work. Um, and it's meeting them where they're at. For so long, I was, um, old man shouting at the sky, kind of like, why don't they understand this is. You know, and, um, it's. It's just. It's not how we have to meet them, where they're at and figure out how do we teach them and develop them and get them to a level where we were. We're confident with their skillset. And then also as a management company, how do we support them? Like, almost like flank them on both sides and say, okay, you're great with these couple things. Want to spend time developing you more on here. Let's say it's you know, operational efficiency like all right, let's dig in there. Let's, let's talk about that more and let's figure that out who's another person I can connect uh, them with on the team to say from another property or from the corporate team and say hey, will you kind of give them some guidance here or you know again kind of creating some, some guardrails to help them be successful and then also realizing again that you don't have the giant mothership of Marriott with a group that could swoop in and do everything basically to have that uh, to solve these issues and also the you know, kind of bopping around a little bit here. But I think like having some, a larger group come in like that it pulls away from you might solve some of your issues with that. You uh, know these, these smaller boutique properties but then you suck the life right out of it, you know. And so it's this delicate balance of like okay, how do we support as a management company and protect these, the team and provide them everything they need to do their job well and then how do we make sure that we. You don't take away the secret sauce, you know?

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. And that kind of. I think that that leads right into my next question. One thing that I, I always hear is a challenge and maybe this is an industry specific to hospitality but I know just because that's the industry we're in, it's top of mind for a lot of folks is who you're looking for. Like what's an ideal candidate? How do they fit into the Arbus mental pennant spirit that those things skill side what are you, what are you looking for and how are you trying to solve for that?

Speaker B: Yeah, great question. I think to me it's really a lot of it has to do with how curious the person is as a soft skill is. Is the as um. Or a character ah attribute. And that can show up in a lot of ways. Right. You know, someone that's interested in photography as their, as a hobby or they like to fix cars or they're inter. You know, love to read books, whatever it is. I always like to ask like, kind of like what, what are, what are you into? Like what are you. What's. What are the things that kind of make your. Make you really think on? Because that tells me a lot about a person because to me that's you know, usually those things if, if you're curious and you're picking up things like this, it's because you want to learn and you want to figure something out, you want to problem solve. And I think curiosity naturally meets when you're, when you're curious, you naturally meet people with a little level like of openness more than I think, like people that are, are not as curious. And I think that makes, it creates a safer space in nature, uh, just by nature of it. Because I can say to you, you know, I, you and you, Jeremy, uh, and Dustin, we've had plenty of conversation. I'm, I'm really curious on like what you do, like how do you get, you know, how do you create these experiences? Or like how do you take a product that you may have only seen one time physically and then create a whole story to it, you know, and I take that and I think I, I, I apply that to when I'm talking to whether it be a gm, um, and see how they think about that as well as, you know, a front desk agent as well. Like what, what do you, what are you into? What. Tell me more about you. I want to know about you. And then I think the second part is, is empathy is critical. And I think that that's where we've had a lot of success as like hiring in, in 2026 continues to be challenging to find the right people. But when I've shared the vision of Arbus where it' around responsibility, hospitality, community and, and looking after each other. If you're in hospitality, you're usually pretty naturally an um, empathic individual. So I find that it attracts them almost immediately and it gives me like, okay, I have an in now to talk to them more about it. And like, how does that empathy show up and like how, how do they approach things? So for me those are like the two most important things. Uh, if you don't have those parts, it's Mrs. A ripple effect on the other, other soft skills that you do need as, as a leader or just a team member.

Speaker C: What are like a couple questions or things you might look for? You mentioned curiosity. You know, you mentioned empathy. But like how do you like, are there questions you can ask that kind of get to the root of that?

Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. I think there's for me the, the, the curiosity one is always first. I kind of, I'm asking about what, what are uh, their hobbies is the, the obvious one. But I think once you get into empathy is the interesting part. I try to, I always, I, uh, picked this up from a, uh, colleague and I, and I was like, oh, it's such a great question. And I was like, what are your Three adjectives. Your, your people that report into you would just how would they describe you? And that tells you a lot right away because if it comes off a certain way, you're like, oh, this person thinks very highly of themselves and they're not thinking about. I asked the question not what do you think about yourself? I want to know what your team thinks about you. Um, about the people that have to deal with you on when you have a bad day, when you're having a crazy idea. The person that's, you know, then on the days of like stability, you know, providing that, that space. So I, that's, I, that's my. One of my favorite questions to ask. Um, and again it's a very soft skill question. It's, it's not like gonna, um, it helps me figure out who that personality type is because you know, then my follow up is always is like, you know, what is your leadership style? And I think a lot of times I say, you know, it's. They might use throw around the term servant leadership, which is very, you know, buzzy word and hospitality space. And then I like to double click in and say like explain to me what, what does that mean to you? And if they can eloquently be able to describe to me how are they show up to their employee and their team and show up and treat them as the, as what I like to call as like um, or many people call as the internal guest. I don't get much time with hotel guests anymore because of my role. And I tell the managers often, you are my guest. My job is to look after you. So make sure that you have what you need to do your, your job. Make sure that you have an uh, you can call me at any time. You have my phone number. I will always call you back or text you. You can email me about anything. In my expectation is that you're doing the same thing for your employees that are reporting into you. And if, if a leader doesn't have that approach to. It's. It's just not going to work because again talking in the boutique space especially you wear so many different hats. If you're uh, a department like higher up department head or gm or sometimes you're a pseudo HR person, you're a pseudo uh, therapist, you're a pseudo um, you know, sometimes in like a paternal uh, or maternal way, this relationship that you create with, with the crew, you know. And uh, you know, I always stay away from like oh, we're just a big family. It's like, no, we're A team or crew. We work together because I think it's important because that can also get a little bit dicey when you start to go into those, those terminologies. It's, you know, um, you quickly realize if you develop a nickname of some sort of. I was like Uncle Rob for some, some hotel employees as a running joke. And like, like, then I was like, okay, I know what my, what my. What I am to them and how they look at me and how I need to make sure that I'm approaching them and how would, how would I do that? And that's obviously not to say that I'm going to be not holding people accountable. I think a good uncle or whatever would do. Would, Would hold. Be like, hey, dude, what are you doing? You're screwing up over there. This is, you know, you need how to do your job. You've done it a million times. You know, we've talked about this. Come on, let's get back on track. You know, um, but yeah, I think, you know, that's a, A long way of saying. I think it's really, uh, it's digging into, like, what type of leader they are and asking specifically, what do you give me examples of how you do it and what is. How do you go in and show up? Also, to me, the other part of it is if they aren't in the trenches, you know, with the team and aren't able to, you know, jump go, like, aren't willing to get down on their knees and look under a bed to make sure it's ready for a guest or to, you know, do the, the really, you know, again, coming from housekeeping background, a shower curtains there, I pick up the shower curtain and I make, I smell it because I want to make sure it's clean. If I don't have a GM that's coming in and is willing to do that stuff at the level uh, that we want our boutiques to operate, they're never going to work out, out. You'll never get what you need out of them. That might go work at a bigger, uh, a bigger box where they have an executive committee and a housekeeping director and all these things where they're mostly behind a computer. I want somebody that's in the weeds, and in turn, you're going to get so much respect out of the housekeeper, the housekeeping manager, or that front desk agent or that cook that you just sat there on the line watching them expedite.

Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker A: Okay, Rob, um, pretend that I am a new hire. You have observed curiosity. You've observed empathy through the process and say, I'm on the front desk. What type of charge would you give to me to be able to take ownership, create a personalized experience for our guests? Like what would you be saying to somebody in that new position?

Speaker B: Great question. Um, I think I would say to them, I'd say, Dustin, welcome to the crew. First off, we're super excited to have you here because of who you are and you know, the, what we talked about in your interview and you know, what I want you to feel is comfortable saying hearing a guest talk about something. Maybe they're here for a special occasion or maybe they're traveling alone and you want to do something nice for them, go for it it and you know, it's all okay to give a shot. Like let's, let's go through it if there's time. I think the one rule I would tell you is we don't comproms without an approval from the gm. Otherwise I, uh, trust you. Whatever you give away, no one's going to die. No one's going to. We are going to be okay. It will not put the business in ruins. So I want you to feel comfortable, surprising, I guess with something kind and a nice gesture. And I, you know, and it can be as simple as a coffee clocking what kind of coffee they like from the morning before, uh, or a special drink that they like the morning before to um, you know, checking in on them on, you know, how their stay has been. But specifically if they were doing something, you know, very, you know, maybe they're on a work trip or something like that. Like what are. We can do so many things. We just want to kind of get you a beer when you get back tonight from your, from your day. Um, or you love the hotel so much, why don't you grab a T shirt on the way out, Take whatever one you want and have those moments and if I come back to you and I say, hey, dustin, you gave 15 shirts away today, I love you and I love this energy, but let's make it maybe two shirts a day, one shirt a day and mix in some of the other kind of lower cost items. I think that would be how I would approach. But I think it's very important. Like, like, um, you know, we've, we've talked about this on, you know, ops calls, like getting the team to feel comfortable giving away, giving, giving something free but not understanding that it's connected. And this experience that just added so much value. You giving me a free T shirt or baseball Cap on my way out. Oh my God. I am free advertising for you. Because not only, um, you know, any good experience gives. I think they say that a person will talk about it to five different people. But now you've just upped your opportunities because I'm wearing a cool baseball cap that says Ozarker on it. If you were like, oh, what's that? I'm like, oh my God. I have to tell you about this place rules. If you're, if you're coming to Branson or even if you're not, you need to go to Branson and make this a little trip like weekend getaway. You just, you just upped the Annie so much, you don't even realize what you've just done. For this, for the guests and for the business, uh, what are some of

Speaker C: the things you're looking ahead in the future of this industry? Different trends, different things you're preparing for you personally or arbest as a portfolio and a team looking ahead at and excited about?

Speaker B: Yeah, sure. I think for me, you know the buzzword and, and I'll uh, add a lot of context to it is, is AI obviously is a big topic right now. My interest in it is really focused on kind of going back to what we talked about earlier of I want the back of house experience to be as most efficient so that staff can focus on doing their job really well and engaging with guests. I don't, I don't have as much interest. I think it's going to go in two different ways. I think you'll find a lot of the like pod style hotels with kiosks having more AI engagement where you know what you're signing up for. And then I think that there's going to be this continued want and this is kind of the other part of it is every report talks about millennial and Gen Z travelers being interested in highly experiential and authentic experiences. And I think if we are able to utilize AI over here to make things really smooth and easy to operate, we can focus on making sure that the guest experience feels really, truly authentic and we can create really unique experiences and make it feel a little bit more analog. I think people are going to be wanting. I know that I find myself and uh, I can't stand seeing QR codes all over the place. I want to see like, you know, I want to hold something in my hand sometimes. You know, I still like, like I don't use an ebook. I read paperback. I like the, the feeling of a book and I think that we're going to keep on doing that as all this technology is, is inundated into our lives. There's going to be this, you know, you're already seeing it with like listening bars, things like that vinyl coming back into the world. I think we'll just continue to see that like on steroids. And I think the last part I'll leave with is as the industry, all these boutique groups getting acquired by the bigger groups, that pulls the authenticity away further and further. I'm watching it in, um, I'm not going to throw shade at any name of any groups, but I'm watching it and hearing about it and the consumer's going to know that right away they can sniff it a mile away. So there's going to be this demand that's left, but the actual amount of, um, inventory isn't there. So there's a, I think a great opportunity to be able to do that. I think the other part of it is making sure is trying to make sure we find on the real estate side of people that are a little bit willing to take a little bit more risk and not bet on the bonvoy points that you're going to get at this other hotel and want to create something special. Um, yeah, that's where I think I, uh, see the industry going and that's where I know that I'm really trying to push. Our team is AI in the back, analog in the front.

Speaker A: Well said. Thank you so much for taking the time.

Speaker C: Time.

Speaker A: I think that this will be a really great episode. People will get a lot out of and uh, it's always just fun to talk, shop and, and hear from you and so I appreciate you taking the time to be with us.

Speaker B: Absolutely. My pleasure. And thank you. Thank you both for thinking of me. This was definitely, uh, super fun and look forward to having these conversations in, in real life next time.

Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. Rob, how can people find out about Arbus?

Speaker B: So as of right now, now can. We're still kind of building out our online presence, but you can definitely check out the hotels specifically such as the Ozarker, Anvil Hotel, Cash House, Alpine House, Turpin Meadow Ranch, the Parker Hotel. Um, and soon to come, in a couple months we'll officially launch our website and kind of online presence.

Speaker C: And in the meantime I'm sure people can reach out via LinkedIn to you

Speaker B: and if they DM me, I'm pretty active on there. Um, and love to just chat and meet new people. So please.

Speaker C: Um, awesome. Well, thanks Rob for being on the podcast conversation.

Speaker B: Yeah, thank y' all appreciate it a lot. Thank guys.