Today’s guest is highly skilled in corporate law and real estate. He joins the show to share his unique journey through #hospitality. Stephen Wendell is the CEO of Mountain Shore Properties. Stephen joins the host Dan Ryan to talk about what hospitality means to him and his passion for the industry.

Takeaways: 

• Hospitality is one of the hardest asset classes within commercial real estate. You have to deal with a lot of local politics and there is more to navigate.
• When opening up a boutique hotel or restaurant, you want to make something that the locals really care about and tourists will love and appreciate.
• There are more money-conscious decisions that you can make to save money when looking at making a hotel. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on high-speed internet when you can get it for $150.
• Hospitality is made of small moments that add up to be something meaningful for the guests. Whether it’s coffee or a well-placed reading nook, it’s a welcoming feeling.
• When designing a space, you should consider if what you are going for benefits the guest and the community you are in as a whole. 
• You don’t have to always agree with someone you are working on a project with. A healthy discussion can lead to a better product.
• When it comes to running a restaurant or a hotel, it’s important to praise the employees working through the pandemic and keeping those places open.

Quote of the Show:

17:47 “It really is the small moments which then makes developing these hotels so difficult because what really translates to the guests and gets them excited is a very, very small moment.”

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-wendell-5417291a/
• Website: https://mountainshoreproperties.com/

Shout Outs:

0:37 Kate Rohrer

0:38 ROHE CREATIVE

1:13 Horst Schulze

1:14 Ritz Carlton

1:59 Hampton Inn

2:19 Clarence Kerr

2:22 American Motor Inns

2:29 Sheraton

2:30 Holiday Inn

3:09 REIT

3:28 Proskauer Rose in New York

3:30 Philadelphia Eagles

4:09 Marriott

4:10 Hilton

6:51 Miranda Mancuso

6:57 Andres Belos

7:26 Bunkhouse

9:12 Andrew Benioff

9:14 Independent Lodging Congress

13:20 A League of Their Own

20:57 Ramshackle

Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Podbean: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/bTEWgtZEsAI

Defining Hospitality is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/