Masters of Moments #3: How to Build an Enduring Hospitality Brand with Bashar Wali - Founder of Practice Hospitality & This Assembly
Bashar is the Founder of Practice Hospitality and This Assembly. Practice Hospitality creates the experiences travelers seek out by building an environment that balances emotional intelligence, tradition, ritual, and creativity. This Assembly builds, markets, and manages amazing hotels.
On this episode, we discuss:
- How Bashar got started in the Hospitality space
- Building hotels
- Focusing on design and the human touch
- Making the magic!
- Biggest pet peeves
- How to build an enduring hospitality brand
Links:
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Topics:
(1:59) - Bashar’s background and career
(5:01) - Does ‘cool’ come naturally?
(8:30) - Did you ever fall victim to the shift away from hospitality in favor of shock & awe?
(11:30) - How do you train someone to be hospitable?
(14:32) - What was your role when joining provenance?
(16:45) - How do you think about programmatic ventures today?
(25:39) - Is there a minimum or maximum size when you’re looking for hotels to acquire or develop?
(26:50) - How do you underwrite an independent hotel vs. a branded one?
(30:50) - How do you think about trends?
(32:51) - Do you see people getting tired of hotel brands and caring more about belonging?
(36:36) - A discussion on Design
(52:21) - How did you end up with a 25-room hotel in Palm Desert?
(53:47) - What’s your strategy with your Bentonville, AR hotel and what do you see for the future of these smaller markets?
(58:36) - What do you predict tent and RV hotel companies looking like in the near future?
(1:00:00) - Do you handle the F&B side of your assets?
(1:03:01) - Do you need to get into 3rd party in order to scale a management business?
(1:07:00) - What do people most often miss in the hotels you’ve stayed in?
(1:10:15) - Thoughts on exclusivity and scarcity
(1:11:40) - When you’re coming up with a new hotel, what are some must-have elements?
(1:14:55) - Are there any recent companies in the industry you find interesting?
(1:18:30) - What is your favorite hotel?