Back in Topeka: Surf & Sand Cottages

innfreehotels on March 24, 2016

By Mike Nixon (with commentary by Jason Nicholson)

In this chapter of Innisfree history, we add pest control to our lengthy resume.

Long before we were president and vice president of this company, you could find Jason and I dressed in yellow rubber gloves, masks and goggles, wielding barbecue tongs in the middle of the night – so guests couldn’t see us in this comical and frenzied state.

These were the rat raids.

In the 1950s, the Surf & Sand Cottages were an iconic piece of Pensacola Beach, the first rental units available to the public. There were 54 cinderblock cottages, each with one to three bedrooms. They were very cool in the 1950s. By the 1990s, however, they were in a state of varied disrepair. When Julian bought them, I personally thought he was crazy. They were still popular as monthly rentals for locals, but they were worn out, and some needed to be torn down.

But Julian had a vision.

Someday, he wanted to build a hotel on the south side of the road where the Surf & Sand Cottages stood. So we took them over, and I was in charge of fixing them up for as little money as possible, then renting them out for as much money as possible – until Innisfree was ready to build the Hilton.

When the cottages were razed, the rats moved next door to the old Beachside Resort & Conference Center, where the Holiday Inn Resort stands today.

By the time Jason visited the hotel to check in with me, then his Regional Director, our new ‘residents’ had become a problem. So we set upon evicting them, wielding our tongs and a healthy dose of humor.

Speaking from more experience than we’d like to admit, here is our list of how to properly handle rodent infestations:

  • Always bait for rodents BEFORE you tear down a building. (That way, they won’t move in next door.)
  • Stock up on yellow dishwashing gloves, masks, goggles and BBQ tongs – the standard uniform for pest removal.
  • Not air fresheners nor fresh flowers can cover the stench of long-deceased rodents. They simply make the place smell like dead rodents and fresh flowers.

So when you book your room at the beautiful Hilton or Holiday Inn Resort on Pensacola Beach, just remember … it took a lot of hard work (and air fresheners) to get where we are today.

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ABOUT ‘BACK IN TOPEKA’
In order to have a great future, we must celebrate and learn from our incredible past. The Innisfree Hotels story began in Topeka, Kansas. So when the folks who were around back then start a story with ‘Back in Topeka,’ we know it’s time to listen. These are tales of the challenges, of the laughter and tears that come with building a company like ours. That’s the sentiment behind this blog series, a chronicle of days gone by at Innisfree Hotels – and a map to get us where we’re going.

Innisfree Announces $100 Million Investment in Panama City Beach

innfreehotels on March 22, 2016

Innisfree Hotels is proud to announce two new beachfront developments coming to Panama City Beach, Fla. – one of the state’s most popular vacation destinations. The Hampton Inn & Suites is set to open in Spring 2017 and the Springhill Suites by Marriott is scheduled to open the following Spring of 2018.

Director of Development Rich Chism says Innisfree’s investment in the beachside community will top $100 million, bringing as many as 300 construction jobs over the next two years. Once the hotels open, Innisfree plans to add 100 permanent jobs to the Panama City Beach market – a good sign both for the industry and the local workforce.

The Hampton Inn & Suites and Springhill Suites by Marriott are widely recognized as quality hotels by vacation and business travelers. To attract new visitors to Panama City Beach, Innisfree worked diligently with both brands to create design schemes and amenities unlike any currently offered in the market.

“After opening the new Holiday Inn Resort in Fort Walton Beach two years ago, we realized that there were remarkable similarities in the Panama City Beach market, where there have not been any new major branded hotels constructed directly on the beach in approximately 20 years,” Chism states. “The Marriott and Hampton brands will each provide thousands of reservations for the two new beachfront hotels. With beachfront hotels having never been offered before in either worldwide reservation system, former vacationers of Destin and Fort Walton may come to Panama City Beach for the first time.”

The 182-room Gulf front Hampton Inn & Suites will be located within walking distance of Pier Park, a 900,000 sq. ft. shopping, dining and entertainment complex that is home to major retailers such as Dillard’s, Sunglass Hut and Ron Jon Surf Shop, as well as favorite restaurants and bars including The Back Porch and Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville.

Amenities will include a beachfront pool and hot tub, fitness center, bar and hospitality room, dune walkover to beach, Gulf front breakfast seating, and a boardroom.

Innisfree Hotels owns two other Gulf front Hampton Inns – one in Pensacola Beach, Fla. and the other in Orange Beach, Ala. The company currently manages the Beachside Resort in Panama City Beach, a newly renovated beachfront hotel.

The Springhill Suites marks Innisfree’s first Marriott franchise. Located only three miles from the Hampton Inn & Suites site, the 200-room hotel will offer a lazy river pool, indoor and outdoor bars, garage parking, Gulf front balconies and a dune walkover with direct beach access.

Both hotels are designed by Philip Partington, SMP Architecture while Larry Adams, Bullock Tice Associates, is the architect of record producing construction documents. Interior design is provided by Debbie Adrian. The pool deck and amenities are designed by Chad Watkins, WAS Design with civil engineering by Mark Siner, Choctaw Engineering.  The same design team recently won an award for their design of Innisfree’s Holiday Inn Resort in Fort Walton Beach.

“Innisfree has longed for an opportunity to bring such fine products as the Hampton Inn & Suites and Springhill Suites by Marriott to the Panama City Beach market,” says Julian MacQueen, founder and CEO of Innisfree Hotels. “We are thrilled the day has arrived, allowing us to spread our culture and guest services even further across the panhandle.”

 

Innisfree Hotels Celebrates First Marriott Franchise

innfreehotels on February 16, 2016

Innisfree Hotels has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with many of the world’s most recognized hotel brands – including Hyatt Hotels, Hilton Worldwide Brands, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Choice Hotels, Best Western Hotels, and Wyndham. Yet it has never had the opportunity to own or manage a Marriott hotel.

Until now.

In November 2015, Innisfree was approved for its first Marriott franchise for a 200-room Springhill Suites the company is developing in Panama City Beach, Fla.

Marriott is one of the world’s premier franchise companies, a global leading lodging company with more than 4,200 properties in 79 countries and territories. Marriott International, Inc. reported revenues of nearly $14 billion in the fiscal year 2014. Founded by J. Willard and Alice Marriott and guided by family leadership for nearly 90 years, the company is headquartered in Bethesda, Md.

“The process started with an evaluation of the site and a look at the other hotels that are in the market or under development,” says Rich Chism, director of development for Innisfree. “We quickly pinpointed Springhill Suites as one of a few potential brands that would be economical to build and operate, but that would provide an amazing guest experience.”

Chism says he and his team worked for almost 18 months to get the Panama City Beach property under contract.

“We needed a brand that was in the select service segment and that would provide us the flexibility to design a beachfront hotel and modify their prototypical room requirements accordingly,” Chism continues. “Marriott was very accommodating and flexible through months of design consultation.”

After basic business terms were agreed upon, Innisfree CEO and Founder, Julian MacQueen traveled to Marriott headquarters, along with Chism and Chief Marketing Officer Jill Thomas. Here, the trio learned more about Marriott and met the team who would provide franchise support to Innisfree’s development and operations team.

Just one week later, Innisfree Hotels learned that Marriott had officially approved its franchise agreement request.

The 200-room Springhill Suites will offer a lazy river pool, indoor and outdoor bars, garage parking, Gulf front balconies and a dune walkover with direct beach access.

Innisfree hopes this first franchise will herald future growth for the company.

As Chism reports, “Once Innisfree Hotels becomes an ‘approved Marriott operator,’ it opens up many opportunities for us to manage other owners’ Marriott properties as third-party managers.”

 

Meet Our Rising Star: Jillian Glenn

innfreehotels on February 9, 2016

“There’s a vastness here and I believe that the people who are born here breathe that vastness into their soul. They dream big dreams and think big thoughts, because there is nothing to hem them in.”        

– Hilton Hotels Founder Conrad Hilton, on Texas

 

Jillian Glenn was born in Texas. She dreams big dreams and she thinks big thoughts, and we’re so glad she moved to Florida and joined the Innisfree Hotels family.

At just 25 years old, Jillian has worked for Innisfree since 2013. She’s been promoted three times during her short tenure, and was recognized by the independent news outlet InWeekly as a Rising Star in 2016.

After moving to Pensacola in her senior year of high school, Jillian earned her associate’s degree by the time she graduated. When she transferred to the University of West Florida, she felt pressure to declare a major, but had no idea what she wanted to do for a career.

She chose a degree in communications with a specialization in public relations and a minor in marketing applications. Working two to three jobs throughout college, she also took on internships with DeLuna Fest and the UWF Communications Department, as well as for a radio station and mobile app. But she still didn’t know which direction to take.

Fate intervened when Jillian’s best friend applied for a job as community manager with Innisfree Hotels.

“After the interview, she called me and said she couldn’t accept the job because it was made for me,” Jillian says. “And she was right.”

Jillian started at the intern level and has adeptly switched job roles as needed. When Chief Marketing Officer Jill Thomas recognized her talent and ambition, she shifted her focus to become Director of Social and Content Strategy.

Before she knew it, Jillian was managing a small team of community managers – the very job she was hired to do.

One of her first projects was pre-opening marketing for the Holiday Inn Resort in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., which broke records both at Innisfree and Holiday Inn for pre-opening bookings.

Jillian says her job is fun because she learns something new every day, but perhaps her biggest lesson is in leadership. “I’ve advanced so quickly I didn’t realize I was thrust into a leadership role,” she tells us. “I’m still learning how to direct people my own age and how to balance our work life and friendships.”

Both Thomas and Senior Digital Strategist Melissa Wheeler have been phenomenal mentors, wanting the best for Jillian and putting her in positions of growth. She says her strong opinions are always heard at Innisfree.

Jillian loves her job not only because it’s a fun work environment, but also because the company does a lot of good.

“I feel like many people don’t know about Innisfree Hotels, and we do wonders in the marketing of this community, especially the beach,” she says. “I’m glad to be recognized as a Rising Star to bring awareness of what Innisfree does for this community.”

She enjoys being part of corporate social responsibility program The Hive projects, like Dixon School of the Arts and From the Ground Up community garden.

But most of all, she is happy to change lives … one vacation at a time.

“When I started at UWF, I was very unsure of what I wanted to do when I grew up. In my first PR class, our final project was to write an essay about where we saw ourselves in the industry,” Jillian recalls. “I wrote that I wanted to be a travel agent, to make vacations happen for families. And sure enough, that’s exactly what I do today.”

Jillian says one of the best things about Innisfree is the company culture – the feeling of family.

“It’s cool knowing everyone is there for you and cares for you,” she says. “No matter what position you are, everybody knows your name.”

Get used to people knowing your name, Rising Star.

– Ashley Kahn Salley
Lead Storyteller, Innisfree Hotels

‘The Redmont Story’

innfreehotels on January 18, 2016

By Julian MacQueen, Founder and CEO, Innisfree Hotels

In 1992, I bought a hotel I knew I shouldn’t have. In fact, I tried really hard not to buy it. This is that story.

In the early 1990s, basketball stars Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Ralph Sampson purchased and gutted the Redmont hotel, the oldest hotel in Alabama. They received grant money and spent around $20 million to restore it to all its original glory. (It took them six months to go bankrupt.)

So now it was a beautiful, 14-story Downtown Birmingham classic 1930s vintage hotel – marble lobby, grand two-story entrance, columns, big chandelier … the works. All this, just one block from the financial center of Alabama.

I am from Birmingham. I have a strong connection to the place. I also happen to love old hotels and the idea of owning one. But at the time, we were still building Innisfree from a really small company.

I knew there were a lot of emotional hooks, and so did the broker:

“Birmingham is being revitalized,” he said. “You can be part of it.”

“I’d love to come back and be part of this,” I said. “But I’m not in a position to do that.”

Innisfree had only five hotels at the time. We couldn’t take the risk. So I gave him terms I figured would run him off.

I said:

  1. I’ll pay $1 million for it.
  2. I want it 100 percent financed.
  3. I want the City to kick in.
  4. I want non-recourse.
  5. I want a 15-year tax abatement.

And he came back with every single term negotiated.

I walked in to close at a huge long table, the entire surface covered with closing documents. I remember walking into the room, signing all the documents … and walking out completely depressed.

I knew it was a mistake.

It was also during a time we were looking deeply into opening a hotel in a town called Meaux, right outside of Paris, where Euro Disney was built. (That’s another story for another time.)

Back to Birmingham.

The Redmont looked like a scene from the Twilight Zone. As if they put the hotel on ice. It had been closed for three years, yet there was still a cigarette in an ashtray. The kitchen had the highest level of equipment. All the beds were made. It was ready to open the next day.

We closed, I brought in two partners, and we opened the hotel.

We created this very cool bistro called Julian’s, that had the best hamburger in the world – the first sidewalk restaurant in Birmingham. It was also home to the first rooftop jazz venue, which we called ‘Rooftop at the Redmont’. We opened with Leon Redbone, an iconic blues guy. We had a piano that played itself. The place had a very cool vibe, I was super proud of it.

Redbone sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to me. My mom was there. I told her I bought the Redmont, and she started crying. “But you were doing so well … ”

You see, Birmingham had gone down so far. It was the only place in America where McDonalds closed down on the weekends. That’s how empty the downtown was. And we had bought a hotel smack dab in the middle of it.

Several months in, the first day we made money was a football weekend. The Assistant General Manager was counting it. A bellman took the deposit envelope, slid the deposit into a newspaper and threw the newspaper away. He took the garbage out, and he stole it.

Operation New Birmingham was leading the revitalization of downtown.  So we were part of the revitalization, but it wasn’t there yet. The first year, we lost $3,500 a day. The next year, $1,700 a day. The next, we only lost $875. We kept improving by 50 percent.

Five years in, I’m eating at Julian’s bistro, having the best hamburger on the planet.

Trying to make light of it, I said to Harlan Butler: “At least we have a great burger.”

He said: “Just remember, that burger cost you $35,000 this month.”

End of story – we sold the hotel after seven years for three-and-a-half times what we bought it for, and we still lost money.

The moral? Check your emotions at the door. Never fall in love with real estate. That’s the big neon sign. My first instinct was right.

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ABOUT ‘BACK IN TOPEKA’
In order to have a great future, we must celebrate and learn from our incredible past. The Innisfree Hotels story began in Topeka, Kansas. So when the folks who were around back then start a story with ‘Back in Topeka,’ we know it’s time to listen. These are tales of the challenges, of the laughter and tears that come with building a company like ours. That’s the sentiment behind this blog series, a chronicle of days gone by at Innisfree Hotels – and a map to get us where we’re going.

Innisfree Hotels Hits Construction Milestone in Orange Beach

innfreehotels on January 8, 2016

Best Western Premier, Tides Hotel Orange Beach Coming Summer 2016

On Jan. 8, 2016, Innisfree Hotels hosted a ‘topping out’ event for its newest property in Orange Beach, Ala. The Best Western Premier, Tides Hotel Orange Beach is set to open in Summer 2016.

Topping out is a traditional celebration of the completion of the concrete structure and the official start of interior construction. A team of 230 skilled workers, suppliers and consultants have used more than 3,600 cubic yards of concrete and 360 tons of reinforcing steel to ‘top out’ the new hotel. Innisfree built the first hotel in Orange Beach, the Days Inn, in 1986 on the same site.

“We are very excited with the progress of this new hotel to our lodging offerings in Orange Beach,” said Herb Malone, president and CEO of Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism. “Innisfree has a strong track record of operating quality properties in this area, and the addition of this Best Western Premier is especially welcomed. Of the 17,000 room inventory in our destination, only about 2,100 of those are hotel rooms, so this property is greatly needed for our guests who prefer a hotel experience for their vacation at the beach.”

The Best Western Premier, Tides Hotel joins Innisfree’s three existing Orange Beach-based properties, including the Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton Garden Inn and Holiday Inn Express – for a total of 496 Gulf front rooms, representing all Gulf front hotels in Orange Beach.

With this latest addition, the company seeks to bring a new, locally authentic experience to the coastal town.

“As the interior framing goes in, we can start to see many of the distinctive features of this boutique hotel transition from concept to reality,” said Julian MacQueen, founder and CEO of Innisfree Hotels. “We look forward to providing a unique place for vacationers to immerse themselves in the natural beauty and Southern hospitality of the Gulf Coast.”

Located in the heart of Orange Beach, the 7-story Best Western Premier, Tides Hotel will feature:

  • 86 stylish and comfortable guest rooms
  • Gulf front balconies
  • Free, premium hot breakfast
  • Fast, free Wi-Fi
  • 24/7 healthy grab-and-go food
  • Coffee and tea bar
  • Oversized beach towels
  • Water refill stations
  • Organized activities such as beach yoga and surf lessons
  • Community gas grills

HNL Construction, LLC, a wholly owned construction company of Innisfree Hotels, is General Contractor, Ard Contracting of Birmingham, Ala., serves as structural contractor for the project, and SMP Architecture is architect, with interior design by Adrian Caradine Contract Design of Memphis, Tenn. Financing for the project was provided by Trustmark National Bank.

 

‘From the Ground Up’ Garden Grows Opportunity for Persons with Disabilities

innfreehotels on January 8, 2016

Jeff’s Corner Garden, Pensacola FL

When Innisfree Hotels planted the seed for its ‘From the Ground Up’ garden, the company never could have dreamed of the types of opportunities it could grow. Just two seasons into harvesting sustainable crops, the garden carved out a corner for a new partner – Jeff Shell and family – to house Jeff’s Corner Garden.

The Shell family is no stranger to Innisfree Hotels, having begun working in the garden through the non-profit organization Upward Intuition, a project Jeff’s brother Jon created to inspire area youth. His skate team has volunteered in the garden since the beginning. (In fact, the Shells have been working with the City of Pensacola to gain access to a piece of land adjacent to the garden to create a multi-use facility and the City’s first skate park through the non-profit.)

So when Jeff received a grant from RESPECT of Florida to fund a business concept based on growing organic vegetables and selling them to local restaurants, Innisfree’s ‘From the Ground Up’ garden was a natural fit.

“At the end of the day, Jeff’s self-employment is what matters most, and we have a sustainable model that allows him to be successful and continue to grow and work as he enjoys,” Jon says.

Jon feels it an honor and privilege to work with the people at Innisfree and the Hive, the company’s corporate social responsibility program. Closely aligned missions give way to tremendous potential not only for growth, but for improving the quality of life and health for those in the community.

“This is just the beginning, and we are excited to see how this next year unfolds,” Jon says.

His brother, Jeff, concurs. We spoke to Jeff from the PSC Campus of the PALS Program of ARC Gateway. Since beginning Jeff’s Corner Garden in late 2015, he has already secured an additional garden location. Having planted more than 2,000 seeds so far, Jeff says it’s really fun to watch a seed grow from a tiny little thing into a big plant.

In January 2016, interns from the PALS Program – adults with learning disabilities – will see what it’s like to run a garden, under the mentorship of Jeff.

Job Coach Melody Hinson of the PALS Program shares: “This gives our students an opportunity to learn new things and experience things they may or may not have done before, and it also gives them an opportunity to put those skill sets to use, helping us help them find a job at the end of the program. By actually working at the garden, they will be able to find out if they like or love doing this. And Jeff may want to hire them. That is an awesome thing.”

“I’m really excited about that … I wanted to work with students with disabilities for a long time,” Jeff says. “I’m gonna help out as much as I can.”

He has already helped so much.

Transforming a Hotel Lobby into an Art Gallery

innfreehotels on December 17, 2015

Innisfree’s Modern Contemporary Children’s Art Gallery

The stylish, social lobby of the Hilton Pensacola Beach has always been beautiful – with bright whites and cool blues like harbingers of the water and sand just beyond its back door. In 2015, it became even more beautiful when the Hilton created a children’s art gallery in Pensacola Beach, Fla., displaying work by students from Dixon School of the Arts.

Visiting artists-in-residence to Dixon from Atlanta, Ga., Lisa Puzon and Shaughnessy Johnson had been sponsored by Innisfree Hotels to attend a workshop on arts integration with the Florida Alliance for Arts Education. While there, Puzon says, they were particularly inspired by one museum featuring children’s work from summer art camps.

Realizing there were no children’s galleries in Pensacola, the two suggested to Hilton General Manager Gina Dudley that the hotel lobby would be a wonderful venue for displaying such work.

And the walls went up.

The first exhibit features four projects from the 2015-2016 Dixon school year: Photography, Ink & Paper, Wire Art and Nail Art.

“The students have been studying the elements and principles of art,” Puzon says. “These projects were designed to provide ways in which they can express them through different art forms.”

The Hilton has provided an important place for Dixon students to showcase their incredible work. As the hotel installed the exhibit, guests were inquisitive – watching and asking questions, and even taking photographs of their own.

“Everyone was amazed that 4th through 8th graders created the work,” Puzon shares. “The Innisfree Gallery for Children has made a great impact by connecting hotel guests with a school from an underserved community and creating a bridge through the arts.”

All proceeds from the sale of artwork benefit Innisfree Hotels’ ongoing fundraising efforts for Dixon School of the Arts, a project of significance to Innisfree’s Corporate Social Responsibility Program, The Hive.

“Innisfree has sponsored us as resident artists to teach at Dixon School of the Arts for the past four years,” Johnson explains. “Each year we witnessed the students showing increased confidence and higher self-esteem, alongside growing aptitudes and advancing skill levels.”

View Innisfree’s Modern Contemporary Art Gallery in the lobby of the Hilton Pensacola Beach. Learn more about our work with Dixon School of the Arts here.

Innisfree Hotels Breaks Ground on Embassy Suites by Hilton

innfreehotels on December 16, 2015

180 All-Suite Hotel Marks New Flag and Market for Florida-Based Hotel Management Company

On Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015, Innisfree Hotels joined real estate developer Jim Bridges of JEBCO Ventures, Inc., to break ground on the Embassy Suites by Hilton in Sarasota, Fla.

“The Embassy Suites is an upscale hotel located in a very sophisticated city,” said Julian MacQueen, founder and CEO of Innisfree Hotels. “The Hilton reservation system should provide an excellent platform to compete in the market.”

 With a location within walking distance of Main Street, one of Sarasota’s most vibrant areas, the 19-floor, all-suites hotel will feature the following amenities:

  • 180 suites
  • Complimentary cook-to-order full breakfast
  • Complimentary Evening Manager’s Reception
  • Outdoor pool and whirlpool located on an 8th floor atrium with an unobstructed view of the city
  • 8th floor, pool-level bar
  • Sauna
  • Fitness Center
  • 24-Hour PC and Mac Business Center
  • Gift/Sundry Shop
  • A 200-seat full service restaurant
  • 10,000 sq. ft. of 9th-floor meeting space

“This hotel introduces Innisfree into another market in which the peak travel seasons are opposite our Northern Gulf Coast based hotels,” MacQueen stated. “Innisfree is very familiar with other Hilton hotel brands, and we are looking forward to operating this Embassy Suites.”

Jim Bridges is the developer and owner of the Embassy Suites by Hilton project. A successful developer of real estate for more than 40 years, his experience ranges a variety of project types including high-rise residential, mixed-use development, freestanding retail, neighborhood retail centers, luxury residences and apartment buildings.

JEBCO’s first hotel development, the Embassy Suites by Hilton will be designed and engineered by Parker Walker Group Inc. and built by Kellogg & Kimsey, Inc.

An Inspection Story

innfreehotels on December 15, 2015

By Harlan Butler, Past President, Innisfree Hotels

Back in Topeka, before Innisfree was established, we had a hotel near Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana. Running that hotel was one of the finest General Managers we could ever have hired. He was young and energetic and made all his percentages – cut costs, understood his margins, was excellent in every way … presented himself perfectly, nice suit, he did it all.

But when it came to franchise inspections, even though this was a beautiful hotel in great condition, he always made bad scores. I would go and look around and think, “This is a winning hotel, why is this happening?”

At that time, the inspectors used to just walk in without notice, and the next morning was your inspection. I vowed the next time I was going to be there. Sure enough the inspector came and I was called. I drove from wherever I was, waaaay into the night to get there.

I arrived before the inspection, and I accompanied the General Manager.

The inspector would go around the room and see things and mark them down.

He’d say:

“This tile was cracked, you need to fix this.”

And our fine GM would say:

“If you think that’s bad, let me show you THIS!” (And he’d lead him to something entirely worse.)

Then he would lose two points instead of one. He just couldn’t understand what he was doing. Somehow, he thought by showing the inspector something worse, it would overshadow the minor flaw.

From then on, we could never let him go on inspections.

We simply had to look at all his positive attributes, and this was one thing he just couldn’t learn.

MORAL OF THE STORY? Focus on the good.

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ABOUT ‘BACK IN TOPEKA’
In order to have a great future, we must celebrate and learn from our incredible past. The Innisfree Hotels story began in Topeka, Kansas. So when the folks who were around back then start a story with ‘Back in Topeka,’ we know it’s time to listen. These are tales of the challenges, of the laughter and tears that come with building a company like ours. That’s the sentiment behind this blog series, a chronicle of days gone by at Innisfree Hotels – and a map to get us where we’re going.