Author: innfreehotels

NEW ORLEANS, LA. – On September 20, 2017, Innisfree Hotels, a hotel company based in Gulf Breeze, Fla., entered its first major urban market, bringing The Lofts at Embassy Suites New Orleans into its growing portfolio.

During the first six months of operation, Innisfree plans a complete rebrand of the hotel – located in the up-and-coming Arts & Warehouse District on the site of a historical sugar refinery. With a fascinating story and a striking industrial design, The Lofts will undergo a renovation to reinvent itself as The Mercantile Hotel New Orleans – offering a boutique experience centered upon local arts and culture, cuisine and history.

When the rebranding is complete, the all-suites Mercantile Hotel New Orleans will feature the following amenities …

• Breakfast service featuring local artisan baked goods and french press coffee
• Full-service bar and lounge serving signature cocktails, a light menu at happy hour and coffee
• Lobby gathering spaces, where sounds of the Big Easy fill the air
• Luxury bedding for a solid night’s sleep
• Full-time ‘Local Guides’ who share the best secrets of the Crescent City

According to Director of Development Rich Chism, the design will embrace the history of the building as a sugar refinery by implementing brick and steel, local art and artifacts, industrial lighting and furniture. The team will install an eye-catching neon sign on the exterior corner of the building, adding games and a bar to the lobby lounge to create a space THAT BOTH guests and locals will love.

“Innisfree Hotels is thrilled to enter the vibrant market of New Orleans,” says founder and CEO Julian MacQueen. “This is a city with so much heart and soul, which we intend to bring to our guests through every aspect of their stay.”

Check us on online:

https://themercantilehotelneworleans.com/

Innisfree’s mission is to ‘create fun, memorable experiences.’ With this latest venture, the company seeks to provide an outstanding guest experience in a popular Gulf Coast tourist destination, outside of its beachfront niche. This also marks the company’s second foray into the world of independent hotels, where a unique guest experience is paramount. Innisfree recently opened the Killington Mountain Lodge in Vermont.

With Julian MacQueen, Founder and CEO, Innisfree Hotels

There’s an idea that has always resonated with me. Entrepreneurs are not necessarily the smartest people in the room, but they learn quickly from their mistakes. It’s a ‘Ready, Shoot, Aim’ approach to life. There’s a sense of trusting in the universe that I think is part of that.

It’s the idea of being able to manage chaos and thrive in it … sometimes seek it out and almost create it. I think it can be done to a fault, and I’ve known some people who love creating chaos just for the sake of it, but it’s not productive unless you do something with it.

The notion of ‘being a disrupter’ is really popular these days, but disrupting for disruption’s sake is really a waste of time. It has to be purposeful. What I’m finding as I age is a lot of these things I intuited along my journey are becoming modern-day strategies. People make them into lists. “The Top 6 Things You Should Know Before You Become an Entrepreneur” or “20 Secrets to Success”.

Something that came to me early on was this idea that it’s not the rank-and-file people who make things happen. There is something, there’s an ‘X’ factor that really makes an entrepreneur. I call it the ‘it’. Either you have it, or you don’t.

I know it when I see it. I’m using ‘it’ as a noun. It’s a thing, it’s a title … it’s an attribute you can see. Somebody who can take in the whole picture of an opportunity and see their way through to the other end, not necessarily in a linear way, but with the view that this is leading somewhere.

There’s a great book called “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. The wage earner father puts his son into situations with the business owner father down the street, because business owners think differently than employees. There’s the person who’s willing to go take the risk, and the one who is happy earning a salary.

I see something and think, “Where’s the opportunity? How do I monetize it?”

Someone else might take it at face value and say, “That’s an interesting idea … I would work for someone who had that business.”

This whole idea of being an entrepreneur is almost like a gene. When I think about what influenced me to think that way, I think about my cousin who grew up with me every single day. We were so close.

From Kindergarten through Junior High, we were in lockstep. I remember spending every day with him. We took two different directions after we got out of college. He got a job making a salary, and I was envious. A title and a job and enough money that you could buy your own house! Imagine that?!

I thought that would be GREAT. And I finally got to a point where I drew a salary and had a career path … but I was always trying to figure out how to augment that with some kind of side business.

The Early Days

I think that comes from my early training with my Dad pushing me to go out and do stuff that was entrepreneurial. My Dad set me up early in business at 9 or 10 years old.

There were these MERLITE light bulbs, ‘guaranteed for life’. They had three posts and two filaments and cost 95 cents a piece. The year was 1960. You could buy a box, and if you sold those 50 bulbs, you could net $25.88. This was the starter kit.

I would get my lightbulbs and hop on my bike with my dog, Topper, and we would pedal around the neighborhood and I would sell light bulbs door-to-door that were guaranteed for life.

Dad told me, “If you sell the light bulbs and you get enough money to buy a boat, I will supply the motor.”

I still have my savings account book. I would put money in the bank and buy the next supply and work toward the boat. I finally got a couple hundred bucks and found this old wooden boat that needed a lot of work, and I had a boat. I was 12 years old and I had a boat, and a motor!

We would take it up to the Black Warrior River outside of Birmingham and my brother would haul it around and we would go camping. It was fantastic. We took it to Destin and skied behind it. It was my boat, and I got it by selling those light bulbs.

That’s probably where it started, eh?

Dad was a salesman. He was very charming, but he couldn’t quite find where he needed to land. Stocks, insurance … what I remember him doing the most was selling coin-operated laundromats for Maytag.

I remember him drawing up the plans for the laundromat. I still have some of them. Then he bought a few of the laundromats back from his clients and we would ’rob’ the machines every week for the quarters. I thought we were fabulously rich! We would have all these quarters on the table and we’d roll them. I started collecting coins because I had such a great choice of quarters.

Maybe that’s where it all started. The idea that you would go to these places and they would have money waiting for you. You would take these quarters and go home and you were suddenly fabulously rich. He also opened a coin-operated car wash. I worked there, too.

These were big deals for me, knowing that you could leverage your time to make money. It was an investment. You didn’t have to be there to earn it.

Funny Business

My brother and I were both pilots, and we wanted to figure out how to own an airplane. So we contacted Shoney’s, who had a chain of lobster restaurants at the time called Fisherman’s Wharf.

My brother lived in Boston, so he knew Maine and how to get the lobsters. We had this business plan where we would buy a Cessna 206 or Cherokee or some cheap single engine airplane that could haul a lot of weight. We were going to configure it to haul live lobsters from Maine.

To prove the concept, we had to deliver consistently to three restaurants in Knoxville. Kim and I had no money, so Delta would fly them in and we’d pick them up and deliver them to the restaurants, and we guaranteed them to be alive.

That’s what Kim and I would eat – dead lobsters – for like a year. We didn’t have a big pot, so we had to boil them one half at a time. She’d stick them in head first and they would scream and the tail would flop around, and Kim would scream and run away until the deed was done. (Consequently, we now hate lobster.)

Later, with a love for aviation that I couldn’t satisfy, I started a hot air balloon business. I thought it would be a way for me to earn money on the side. I was a Sales Manager at The Hyatt regency in Knoxville, a real corporate job. My brother was the chief aeronaut. He did all the flights, and I did all the sales.

We would contact a radio station, and they would sell our package to a business and the DJ would get in the hot air balloon with my brother, and we’d do “The Great Balloon Chase.”

People would be in the parking lot of the mall and he would take off, and the first person to reach him would get a bottle of champagne or a T-shirt. I learned I could create revenue, and I didn’t have to spend time on it.

Every time you land a hot air balloon, it’s a party. The eight-story balloon attracted people. We’d carry champagne and share it with whoever’s yard we landed in. So we met a lot of people.

I started another business with this one guy who was a young college student with the gift of gab and that promoter personality, and we started talking about things we could do to make money.

He had a contact who could buy Chinese yo-yos … you know, the paper wrapped around a stick that you could stretch out, very colorful. We decided to buy them and sell them at University of Tennessee football games. We’d buy them for a nickel a piece and sell them for a dollar. We hired beautiful co-eds with short pants.

It was just like coining money. 100,000 people go to these games. So if we sold to just five percent, that’d be $5,000 a day.

We bought 10,000 yo-yos and sold about seven. Nobody wanted a damn Chinese yo-yo.

Behind all this is this is the idea that you can have your own business and other people will help you leverage your time so you’re not ‘working for the man’ every day … you are ‘the man’.

We went through failure, and we learned quickly and we didn’t do it again.

(By the way, I don’t know where the yo-yos are today. That was my partner’s problem.)

– As told to Ashley Kahn Salley
Lead Storyteller, Innisfree Hotels

 

By Alyssa Townsend, Director of Social Media

“A former colleague of mine posted about how he was going to use up all his sick leave then quit. He posted it at 9 a.m., and was told he didn’t have a job at 11 a.m.”
– 20 Tales of Employees Who Were Fired Because of Social Media Posts

In today’s day and age, we like to share. I don’t mean benevolence or generosity or what we learned in elementary school. But I’m talking about sharing what happens in our lives … every day. Not only what we see, feel, and do, but what OTHERS see, feel and do as well.

For those who don’t know, my name is Alyssa Townsend. I’m the Director of Social Media with Innisfree’s in-house digital marketing agency. Translation: I oversee all of our properties’ social media presences (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google +, LinkedIn).

One of my favorite parts of this job is the memories our guests share with us — from the little tidbits (like enjoying a rum bucket at the Holiday Inn Resort Pensacola Beach) to the major milestones (which, for some, is enjoying a rum bucket at the Holiday Inn Resort Pensacola Beach). It’s also one of the most hilarious and sometimes traumatizing parts (Valentine’s Day was really sweet, and also really sour).

Our guests aren’t the only ones we hear from on social media. We get plenty of posts and comments from employees, too. And that’s why I’m here today.

As new platforms come out and settings and features are updated, security and privacy have become hot topics. People have private profiles, and you can send private messages and your entire social presence can be private. Or so you think. This idea of “privacy” is an illusion. Think about it. How many times have you taken a screenshot of a post? Or shown one to someone on your phone? The six degrees of separation in the world shrinks on social media.

Practicing safety and posting smartly is key — especially when at work. Every day, I read or see someone who got caught up in screenshots or thought something they posted was private and it became public. There’s a saying, “Don’t do or write anything that you wouldn’t want to see on the front page of The New York Times.” The same applies for social media. I recommend not tweeting, posting or snapping anything on or about the job that you wouldn’t want to see on the front page of your company Intranet.

On the other hand, it can be incredibly beneficial for the things you would love to see on the front page of The New York Times or the Intranet. Social media is integral to building brands — both business and personal. Share all the fun you have on the job or with your team members, but be sure it’s appropriate and represents you, others and the company in a positive light.

When it comes to social media, there are no do-overs, takebacks or undo buttons. It lives forever. So for those with commitment issues, I’m sorry to say there’s one mate that you have to hold, for now and forever more. Sure, you can break up or even see other people, but you and your social presence are forever tied in holy online matrimony.

So if you’re in it for the long haul, make the journey enjoyable. Live your crazy times in the moment instead of on Snapchat, vent to your diary instead of on Facebook, and resolve issues in private rather than on Twitter.

Above all … stay classy, y’all.

With Jason Nicholson, Vice President of Hotel Operations

What does it mean to be ‘on stage’ when you’re on the job?

Being on stage is analogous to being an actor. When we’re at work, we project a certain message with our tone and character.

What that means for us in the hotel business is we have to act the way our guests want us to act. Even if we’re having a bad day (or week … or year).

In other words, you can’t take off your face paint.

When we’re on stage, we may have something going on in our periphery that the guest really shouldn’t know about. It’s not that they don’t care, but they don’t need to care. Our job is to convey an image of fun and engagement with lots of smiles – to create fun, memorable experiences for our guests.

Our guests don’t need to know that the night auditor forgot to change the paper in the copier or that the plumbing backed up in Room 202 and we have to call a plumber RIGHT NOW THIS SECOND! Being on stage means keeping our acting face on, such that our guests see nothing they don’t want to see.

We are on stage anytime we have the likelihood we might make contact with a guest or potential guest. That means we’re on stage from the moment we put on the uniform to the moment we take it off.

Pumping gas? You’re on stage. Online? Still on stage. At the grocery store, dropping your kids off at school … when you’re wearing the uniform, you’re representing your hotel and Innisfree.

When we travel for the benefit of the company, we’re on stage the entire time.

There are times when Mike Nixon or I may want to travel in a T-shirt and shorts and sandals because it’s more comfortable, but we still put on that button-down because we know the minute we step off the aircraft, we’re likely to meet someone important.

It also includes being in an empty hallway. If you’re on the phone speaking loudly or yelling down the hallway to someone on the other end, you just never know when a guest is going to step out of their room.

Bottom line: Being on stage takes integrity. It’s doing the right thing even when no one is looking; always assume someone is.

– As told to Ashley Kahn Salley
Lead Storyteller, Innisfree Hotels

Gwen Vickers was one of Innisfree Hotels’ first employees. In 2017, we celebrated her retirement after 28 years with the company.

Of Gwen’s tenure, our founder and CEO Julian MacQueen remarks:

“Gwen represents a time at Innisfree that goes to our very beginnings. She has proven herself as a cornerstone of who we are and our very humble start. Gwen was there when we developed our 10 commandments, as well as for the first Genesis meeting. She has mentored and trained countless managers and always did whatever it took to get the job done. Gwen has always been the model professional, with killer instincts on what needs to happen to bring a hotel into a tightly controlled operation, where every dime is accounted for. She is loyal, tireless, uncompromising, and always ready for the next challenge. She will be missed as someone who always put Innisfree first and treated Innisfree’s money as it was her own.”

Gwen recently sat down with Lead Storyteller Ashley Kahn Salley to talk about her beginnings in the industry, fun times with Innisfree … and life on the farm.

What was your first job in hospitality?
I was a desk clerk in an RV park-marina-motel combination in South Padre Island, Texas. I learned not to make a mistake on an old-fashioned NCR4200 when my boss said he would cut off my fingers if I did it again. (Mistakes on that machine were not easy to correct.)

I learned about people, about guest satisfaction … how to maneuver people around, from docking boats to putting guests in their RV spaces.

I learned how to make sure you didn’t have any open rooms when you had an opportunity to be busy. Back then, we didn’t have a computer to do it all, so we had what we called ‘The Board’. You’d pull and put reservations to make sure they were back-to-back and identify any dead space.

How did you find your way to Innisfree?
It was a long journey. I did a lot of things between my first indoctrination to hospitality and Innisfree. I had worked at other hotel companies, and I was looking to get into Innisfree’s Manager Training Program.

So I started as a desk clerk at the Days Inn Orange Beach, where the Tides is located now. My desk clerk days didn’t last maybe two weeks before I was promoted out of that position.

Within a month of joining the company, I was called into my first Genesis session – an introduction to our fledgling culture, which was not called Genesis at the time. I was told to pack a suitcase and meet my boss and her boss in Loxley, Alabama. We went to Lake Martin for a three-day retreat. That was the first time I met Jack G and many other people in the company.

What did you think of that experience? Did you feel like you landed in the right spot?
I think it made me think, “What the hell did I get myself into?!” When you know nothing about it, you don’t know where you’re going, and you’re thrown into a situation with a bunch of strangers, it makes you wonder, “What did I just do?”

Overwhelming is a good word. Confused is another one.

It made me reevaluate what I was doing, but I stayed. 28 years I stayed.

Share some funny memories from along the way.
My first Genesis would be one of them! I wasn’t even there more than a month when that happened.

Also driving a truck for Innisfree. I had to go rent a huge box truck with air brakes and air seats and everything, and head north of Atlanta and pick up a big commercial water heater. I didn’t even have any tie-downs, so a UPS guy let me have a couple straps. Then I had to drive through Downtown Atlanta at rush hour with five minutes of training in this truck, pick up another hot water heater and take them to Montgomery. That was the first time I ever had to go through the Weigh Station. Harlan’s calling me wanting to talk. I’m telling him I’ve got to get off the phone, I’m gonna run over someone. I don’t even know what I’m doing in this truck.

One time, I got sent to Camp Verde, Arizona with no instruction other than to fly into Phoenix, rent a car, drive to Camp Verde and be on property. Easier said than done. I thought, “I’m up for this.” So I get my ticket, fly in, rent a car … it’s getting dark. I’m driving North. They don’t tell me what exit. I’m wandering around trying to find the hotel, finally find it, and it’s dark. So I get there and I check in, but I can’t get the key out of the ignition. I’m still trying to figure out how to get the key out to lock it up. I call the rental company … they’re useless. I don’t even know how I stumbled on it. I happened to turn the wheel, cranked it and backed up and the key came out. I guess the tires had to be in a certain position. This is like four hours later. It’s really late by this time.

Innisfree once owned The Redmont in Downtown Birmingham, and it was time to sell the hotel. The only way the sale would take place was if we passed the QA inspection. And that hotel needed to go! So I was among numerous people sent in to help pass the inspection. Two things I remember well: One was of major concern about torn drapes. Housekeeping had a sewing machine, but no one knew how to sew, so I said, “Give me the machine and some space and I’ll sew them as you bring them.” The second was the condition of the guest room carpet, which needed to be replaced. Of course we did not want to spend that money so we worked some Innisfree magic! I had seen a carpet rack advertised somewhere, and I went on a hunt to find them locally. I did find them, drove about 20 miles to pick them up, and after each room was completely cleaned, we would rack ourselves out the door and dare anyone to go back in! We passed the QA, and the sale went through.

Of what are you most proud?
Watching Innisfree grow through the years, and the friends and the feeling of family. I’m proud of all the people I’ve worked with.

Why have you stayed loyal to Innisfree all these years?
Julian and Kim MacQueen. Their vision and their feeling of family. That’s an easy one.

What is your hope for the future of Innisfree?
I know there’s a lot of growth, and I hope that Innisfree stays true to Julian and Kim’s vision, that feeling of family, not losing the culture and Genesis. It can be easy to lose your way.

How do you feel you have contributed to the growth of our company?
I was there through the thick and thin. No, the other way. Through the thin and the thick. I did a lot with our forms and paperwork and our foundation. I worked with other people, most of whom are not with Innisfree anymore, in naming the culture and Genesis. I’ve worked on that for 28 years. These are things we use to this day. I feel like I’ve hopefully grown numerous people in management and touched people along the way.

How does it feel to be retired?!
I get to sleep late! I like that. It still feels like I’m on vacation, and I have to go back to work. I’m enjoying spending more time on our 64-acre farm outside of Madison, Georgia with my husband and our animals. We have 6 horses, 32 goats, a bunch of chickens, 2 dogs and 6 cats. It’s a good life.

– As told to Ashley Kahn Salley
Lead Storyteller, Innisfree Hotels

Behind the Scenes, Account Manager

In this new blog series, get to know Innisfree team members who keep our company running behind the scenes. It’s an inside look at the tireless employees who help keep our hotel doors open … from accounting to engineering and beyond.

What’s a typical day in the life of an Account Manager?
I get to work, and the first thing I do is get that coffee brewing. I can’t do the rest of the day without that coffee.

Normally, after that we fire up the computers and we start working on cash flows for the hotels. That’s what we use to project whether the hotel can survive the winter,  to see if there’s enough money to buy another property … things like that. That takes a few hours. We’re really fine-tuning those debits and credits.

Then we deal with hotel issues. If vendors are calling, if they’ve made a mistake in their accounting software. I’m also helping coworkers because we have 8 people in our department who have been there a year or less.

(Note: Rose has been with Innisfree 14 years, the second longest in her department.)

So we’re putting out fires. Helping the newbies. Answering questions. Working on bank racks, processing vendor payments, things that keep the doors open and the jobs going and the company growing.

Depending on the date (the 1st through the 10th are the busiest) we eat at the desk. We do a lot of working lunch, working late, working at home … whatever we have to do to get it done.

Right now, we are learning a new process called Cash Management Reconciliation. It’s quite the challenge, teaching old dogs new tricks. So the 1st through the 10th is sometimes the 1st through the 15th.

Next, lodging taxes for all hotels are due by the 20th. Once we are through with the books, we start working on lodging taxes, and so it goes …

It never stops.

I go home and take care of my pets – two pitbulls and a cat – and generally a lot of times will work at night. WIth so many interruptions during the day, I find it a lot easier to sit there and concentrate on issues I couldn’t deal with.

(The dogs can’t talk, and they can’t call you.)

Tell us why you love your job at Innisfree.
The culture, the laid-back atmosphere, and some amazing coworkers.

What keeps you going?
Challenges. I love challenges.

It isn’t the same thing every day. Accounting is NOT boring. Every day brings something new to us, and I love learning new things.

What are your passions outside of work?
Animal rescue is my main focus. I volunteer with several local rescue groups doing fundraisers and volunteering at events.

If you could swap roles with anyone at the company for one day, who would you choose?I don’t know if I would want to swap, but I’d love to be able to spend a day with these three people:

Nilla Worley, because she’s so fun. I worked the audit one night with her, and I got to see her special way with the guests and it was like, “That’s what hospitality is all about.”

Lori Gordon, because I love her personality. I’m sure she’s the same way.

Anthony Eman, because I’ve watched him grow. He was F&B and now he’s a GM. (Plus, I love his sleeve tattoo.)

These are people providing service to the guests, who stay in our hotels and give us our jobs.

What is something that most of our teammates would not know about the Accounting Department?
Because we are growing so fast, our department no longer has the ability to get in the car and show the new folks our properties. We used to try to get together and do things, but we’re stretched because of the growth. We can hardly meet together as a department we’re so big. With growth comes growing pains. I hope we can get back to that.

Our department is full of FUNNY people. Sometimes people deal with us in stressful situations, so that humor helps. We laugh a lot, sing and dance a lot.

– As told to Ashley Kahn Salley
Lead Storyteller, Innisfree Hotels

5 IHG Awards for Holiday Inn Resort

The Holiday Inn Resort Pensacola Beach has won its fifth consecutive Quality Excellence Award from InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) – winning every year from 2012 to 2016. IHG has 5,000 hotels over 12 brands in nearly 100 territories and countries. 

Innisfree is no stranger to recognition from IHG. In 2011, the hotel company won Developer of the Year from IHG for the Holiday Inn Resort Pensacola Beach. In 2015 came the Newcomer Award for the Holiday Inn Resort Fort Walton Beach. Now, we celebrate five years of Quality Excellence for the resort on Pensacola Beach.

The Quality Excellence Award recognizes hotels with exceptionally high standards in product quality, hotel service delivery and guest satisfaction. Lead Storyteller Ashley Kahn Salley recently spoke with GM Ron Wilson to talk about what this award means to his property – and Innisfree Hotels.

This is your fifth consecutive year to win a Quality Excellence Award from IHG. To what do you attribute your property’s success?
Keeping a highly motivated team that understands we must provide our best with every guest with every stay. We have a terrific entertainment package that draws the family. Kids are are heroes, and tell mom and dad where to go.

What does this particular award mean to your team?
Winning this award means you are part of the very best in hospitality. To achieve this award means your property is in the top 3% of all hotels competing for it. It also looks very good on one’s resume.

How do you and your teammates set the Holiday Inn Resort apart from other hotels?
Back to our overall entertainment … with Mermaids, Pirates, kids’ activities, a fantastic Tiki bar and best view on the beach, two hot tubs, a beautiful lazy river pool with water falls and fountains, two fire pits on both sides of the pool deck, plenty of seating and lounges for the guests, and we keep it very upbeat with high energy music played over Bose speakers. We also have live family entertainment on Saturdays.

Share some of the ways you are setting a new standard for Holiday Inns.
Last year, Holiday Inn used us for their summer promotion with country music stars “Big and Rich” on stage on our pool deck. It was a huge promotion. And this year, we are launching another promotion for IHG with the Miles of Smiles campaign. We have chocolate milk happy hours once per week with milk and cookies for the kiddos. Also Clifford the Big Red Dog is coming for a meet-and-greet for a Scholastic event. We have children’s books at the front desk for the young kids to check out and read as well. IHG loves our property.  

How does Innisfree Hotels give you the support you need to create fun, memorable experiences in your hotel?
I believe Innisfree is the trend maker even for the resort brand. We see this each time we attend the annual IHG conference, which we just returned from. They allow us to be as creative as we want to be … no holding us back. In fact, creating fun memorable experiences is expected. So we take it further by raising the entertainment bar, if you will, to new levels. If you read our reviews, you will find that our guest experiences here are almost custom experiences. Our staff ‘gets’ it! This is our home, and we welcome you into it and make sure you are beyond happy during your entire stay. There is always something fun going on at the resort. There’s no limit to what Innisfree will allow us to do. As long as it’s legal, of course! (Laughs).

– As told to Ashley Kahn Salley
Lead Storyteller, Innisfree Hotels