Episode 31: Building Brand Ethos and Boutique Hotel Revival with Revival Hotels CEO, Saxton Sharad

We’re joined by Saxton Sharad, CEO and founder of Revival Hotels, to explore the art of building brand ethos and the revival of boutique hotels in today's hospitality landscape. Saxton takes us on a journey through his early influences in the industry, from writing pretend restaurant menus as a child to working with his parents at Hilton Hotels, shaping his unique approach to hospitality.

Saxton introduces us to the mission behind Revival Hotels, a brand breaking away from traditional third-party management models that prioritize revenue over genuine profit. Revival focuses on aligning management goals with the success of hotels and their guests, with an emphasis on creating frictionless and authentic experiences—what Saxton calls "invisible hospitality." This seamless experience ensures that technology and hospitality services work behind the scenes, allowing guests to immerse themselves in local culture and experience something more than just a place to stay.

We dive into the concept of the "experience seeker," a new type of traveler who values authentic local experiences over amenities. Saxton shares how Revival Hotels embraces this by creating environments that encourage exploration, making the hotel a gateway to the local market rather than the destination itself.

If you're passionate about hospitality, curious about the future of boutique hotels, or just looking for insights into creating meaningful guest experiences, this episode is for you. Tune in to hear Saxton’s vision for boutique hotel revival and how Revival Hotels is setting a new standard in the industry.

Podcast Timestamps:

[00:00:16] Experience seekers in hospitality.
[00:04:22] Hospitality industry integration challenges.
[00:07:45] Unique hotel experiences in college towns.
[00:10:49] Third-party management solutions.
[00:13:37] Management focus on small hotels.
[00:18:40] Experience seekers in hospitality.
[00:19:39] Invisible hospitality and guest experience.
[00:25:34] Frictionless hotel experiences.
[00:26:15] Hotel experience versus short-term rentals.
[00:32:23] Unapologetically unique guest experiences.
[00:33:05] Hotel industry innovation and fear.
[00:38:00] Fear as a motivator.
[00:39:49] The gift of taking breaks.
[00:45:38] Hidden gems in small towns.
[00:47:11] Unique experiences in hospitality

Quotes:

00:04:09 - "In my fifth grade yearbook, all my classmates, doctor, lawyer, football player, police officer, my fifth grade yearbook says I wanna own and operate my own hotel someday."
00:06:41 - "The guest, who is the most important person in the whole piece of everything, doesn't care about the silo."
00:10:32 - "It's that level of detail to me that made Graduate extremely special and what makes our business special."
00:12:45 - "As long as the manager gets paid on revenue and the owner gets paid on profit, there will always be a misalignment."
00:15:02 - "The best crops grow in the gardener's shade."
00:17:56 - "It is a blessing and a curse."
00:19:15 - "We search for a specific guest that we have coined the experience seeker, that person who wants the authentic feel, that person who wants to eat from the local restaurant, that person who wants to hear the local music, that person who wants to feel what it's like to be in these markets."
00:22:08 - "One of the biggest things we found is guests want a frictionless experience."
00:25:30 - "If you say, hey, I want to go hit the slopes. I want to hit the beach. I want to go to the nightclub. I don't want to come back till two, three in the morning after I've really had that experience, had that adventure I'm looking for."
00:27:40 - "But if the coffee when you wake up is not good, that is heartbreaking."
00:28:36 - "You might tell me, hey, Saxton, you know, or I might say, hey, Rob, go to our hotel in Groton, and it's a beautiful hotel. You could have a great stay. When you and your wife want to go someplace next, you're not going back to Groton. It's another roll of the dice."
00:32:15 - "You could be the same person, right? Some nights I want to be the rock star. Well, other nights, I wanna be the father."
00:34:41 - "I'm excited for people to see that hotels don't have to be what they think of when they think of hotels."
00:36:09 - "1% better every day is a massive improvement."
00:42:14 - "What we do is so special because we give people the opportunity to take a break."
00:46:27 - "Get in your car. Get in. Explore. See something new. See something different. And that's really what travel is about."