The Boutique Hotel Playbook: Secrets & Strategies Revealed

About The Boutique Hotel Playbook: Secrets & Strategies Revealed

The Boutique Hotel Playbook is Actionable Insights for Boutique Hotels! Your boutique hotel is more than rooms — it’s a brand, a story, an experience. On the Boutique Hotel Playbook , Yanique DaCosta shares strategies to boost direct bookings, attract high-value guests, and turn stays into stories guests rave about. Learn how to build loyalty, design unforgettable guest journeys, and position your property as a lifestyle destination that stays booked solid.

Publisher

Yanique DaCosta

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

4 Sept 2025

Latest episode

22 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

44 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   22 Oct 2026

   44. How to Get a Bank to Fund Your Hotel Marketing | Boutique Hotel Finance

   If you’re serious about building a hotel brand that guests remember, rave about, and return to, it starts with an honest look at your current positioning. 👉 Click here to complete a short questionnaire and see if you qualify for a Deep Dive Call: https://hotels.theykmd.com/work-with-me-4289 (https://hotels.theykmd.com/work-with-me-4289) Three rooms a day. That’s the number standing between you and paying back your entire marketing budget. This week I sit down with Manish Gupta, a chartered accountant who walked into a five-star hotel to do a fraud audit and never left. He went on to run finance at Shangri-La Bangkok, one of the biggest hotels in Asia, and helped take a money-losing property in Chiang Mai to $5 million in gross operating profit. So yes, he’s my finance guy now. We get into the stuff most boutique hotel owners are quietly guessing at. What your OTA bookings actually cost you. Why the bold move that turned that Chiang Mai hotel around had nothing to do with operations. The exact math to bring to your bank when you need money for branding and marketing. And how to build a hotel budget when you have zero history to go on. In this episode: The real cost of Booking.com and travel agents (and why it’s more than the commission) Why you shouldn’t ditch the OTAs completely, and what to use them for instead The direct booking break-even formula that makes lenders say yes The #1 mistake owners make when presenting their numbers Net retained economics: why a $100 room isn’t always $100 How to forecast occupancy for a brand new property The one money habit every new owner needs Why your property needs a refresh every 7 to 10 years, whether you feel like it or not If you’ve ever walked into a lender meeting and felt like you were winging it, this one’s for you. Connect with Manish: LinkedIn: Manish Gupta, Hospitality Coach Books, guides and tools: book.ehotelmanagementschool.com Free hotel budgeting app (free for the first year): app.ehotelmanagementschool.com Email: camanish.gupta@outlook.com (mailto:camanish.gupta@outlook.com) If this episode helped, subscribe, leave a comment, and send it to the owner in your life who still thinks occupancy is the only number that matters. Hosted by Yanique DaCosta | The Boutique Hotel Playbook #BoutiqueHotel #HotelMarketing #DirectBookings #HotelFinance #HotelOwner #RevenueManagement #IndependentHotels #HospitalityBusiness #OTA #RevPAR

2. 

   14 Oct 2026

   43. She Runs Zero Ads. Her Boutique Hotel Still Gets Booked

   If you’re serious about building a hotel brand that guests remember, rave about, and return to, it starts with an honest look at your current positioning. 👉 Click here to complete a short questionnaire and see if you qualify for a Deep Dive Call: https://hotels.theykmd.com/work-with-me-4289 (https://hotels.theykmd.com/work-with-me-4289) No ads. No influencer campaigns. Barely a marketing plan. So how does Serendipity Holistic Resort and Spa in Negril, Jamaica keep guests coming back? This week on The Boutique Hotel Playbook, I sit down with Sheryl, the owner, right on the property. She built Serendipity as a private retreat for herself and her friends. It was never meant to be a business, until one Instagram post brought strangers to the gate. What she figured out next is what most boutique hotel owners spend thousands trying to buy: a brand guests feel the minute they walk in. In this episode: How a single social post accidentally turned a private home into a boutique resort Why she has never run a paid ad, and where her bookings come from instead The guest experience details she refuses to outsource, starting with the sheets Why saying “this place is not for everyone” builds more loyalty than trying to please everyone What she thinks of influencers, and the one thing she asks of every guest who posts How staff who live on property shape the guest experience The real story of buying land and building in Jamaica: paying cash, an 18-month build, and what the river did to the property The mindset shift from “let’s do business” to “let’s heal,” and why it changed her brand Working on your business instead of in it, and why your business is meant to feed you, not the other way around If you own, operate or are developing an independent property and want more direct bookings, repeat guests and a reputation that markets itself, this one’s for you. Keywords: boutique hotel marketing, direct bookings, guest loyalty, hotel branding, boutique hotel owner, wellness resort, Negril Jamaica, Caribbean hospitality, word of mouth marketing, user generated content for hotels, independent hotel, micro resort Mentioned in this episode: Serendipity Holistic Resort and Spa, Negril, Jamaica (on Google, booking.com and social media) Want help positioning your property? Book your Deep Dive Call: https://hotels.theykmd.com/work-with-me-4289 (https://hotels.theykmd.com/work-with-me-4289) Like, subscribe and share this episode with someone dreaming about building their own place.

3. 

   30 Sept 2026

   42. How to Spot and Scale an Undervalued Boutique Hotel

   If you’re serious about building a hotel brand that guests remember, rave about, and return to, it starts with an honest look at your current positioning. 👉 Click here to complete a short questionnaire and see if you qualify for a Deep Dive Call: https://hotels.theykmd.com/work-with-me-4289 (https://hotels.theykmd.com/work-with-me-4289) Explore our work and brand development practice at: https://hotels.theykmd.com (https://hotels.theykmd.com) You don’t need a $30M budget or a full ground-up build to create a sold-out boutique hotel. In fact, some of the most profitable independent micro-resorts in the world started as tired, under-marketed properties bought from burnt-out owners. In this episode of The Boutique Hotel Playbook, recorded on-site at The Shelbourne in Miami, we sit down with social media marketer, creator, and eco-resort strategist Adlei Jene. We pull back the curtain on the "lipstick flip," explain why viral vanity views are killing boutique hotel marketing, and break down how independent 10 to 100-room properties can drive high-margin direct bookings from day one. • The Burnt-Out Owner Play: Why the best hotel investment opportunities come from tired or retiring owners—and the exact tech, branding, and operational fixes that instantly unlock value. • The "Lipstick Flip" Strategy: How a focused visual overhaul and storytelling pivot can 2x your room rates without closing for an expensive 18-month renovation. • Resonance vs. Virality: Why 3,000 targeted followers who book rooms will always beat 70,000 passive views on a viral trend (and how to picture your audience in a room). • High-Converting Visuals: The counterintuitive reason fast-cut edits hurt luxury perception, and why slow pans, morning coffee ASMR, and "calm content" win on Instagram and TikTok. • The Trial Reel Secret: How to test social content risk-free and repurpose top-performing assets to reach ideal first-time guests. • Owner-Marketer Dynamics: The operational shift hotel owners must make to let their marketing team actually drive revenue. • Instagram: • Regenerative Real Estate: [Find Siivana] YKMD is a full-service brand development and design practice for independent, 10 to 100-room boutique hotels and micro-resorts. We handle everything from brand positioning, visual identity, and website design to on-site signage, marketing, and launch strategy. • Website: https://hotels.theykmd.com (https://hotels.theykmd.com) • Apply for a Deep Dive Call: https://hotels.theykmd.com/work-with-me-4289 (https://hotels.theykmd.com/work-with-me-4289) Episode OverviewInside the Boutique Hotel Playbook:Connect with Adleigh Jene:Work with YKMD:

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Spotify

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