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Ofland Escalante: A Vegas Local Getaway | 335 · Hey BigHead: The Vegas Local Podcast

0:04
SPEAKER_02: Welcome back, boys and girls.
0:07
SPEAKER_02: Brand new episode of the Hey Big Head Joe coming at you.
0:11
SPEAKER_02: Julie is here.
0:13
SPEAKER_02: She's off camera today.
0:14
SPEAKER_02: She's back there running the board.
0:16
SPEAKER_02: We do, we will miss you.
0:17
SPEAKER_02: But we do have a guest on today, and I'm pretty excited about it.
0:20
SPEAKER_02: But before I introduce him, I want to kind of build up, you know.
0:24
SPEAKER_02: So anybody that knows me, they know that I'm not an outdoorsy person at all.
0:28
SPEAKER_02: I am a city, city guy through and through.
0:31
SPEAKER_02: Give me the high rise, give me all the amenities that come with it.
0:35
SPEAKER_02: But I did have a weekend stay at Oveland Escalante in southern Utah.
0:40
SPEAKER_02: It's like an outdoor boutique camping hotel.
0:43
SPEAKER_02: And let me tell you something, it was probably one of the best, it was the best outdoor trip I've ever had.
0:49
SPEAKER_02: And it was absolutely a top five trip for me, just in the entirety of my life.
0:54
SPEAKER_02: It was such a good trip that I invited the CEO of Oveland Hotels to come on our show and talk more about it.
0:59
SPEAKER_02: So Noah Ellis, CEO of Oveland Hotels, welcome to the show, brother.
1:03
SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me.
1:04
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
1:05
SPEAKER_02: So again, Noah, I'm I'm I'm gonna re-emphasize this.
1:08
SPEAKER_02: If I mispronounce Oveland, please correct me because I want it to be correct, not a shot.
1:14
SPEAKER_00: You're not gonna 0% chance that happens.
1:17
SPEAKER_02: After everything you and I have been through, I thought we were like this.
1:19
SPEAKER_02: That's okay.
1:20
SPEAKER_02: Now I want to make sure that I touch on all the points here because I don't want to miss anything.
1:23
SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna read off this.
1:24
SPEAKER_02: If I'm incorrect anywhere, feel free to correct me.
1:27
SPEAKER_02: Ovaland Escalante in Southern Utah, it's an outdoor boutique hotel.
1:31
SPEAKER_02: You have cabins, you got airstreams, you have campsites, you got a drive-in theater, you got food trucks, you got pools, you got hot tubs, you have fire pits.
1:39
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you really have everything you need that attracts the outdoorsy types, but also the amenities that maybe the people who aren't outdoorsy would want to have when they're staying on their vacation.
1:51
SPEAKER_00: Uh basically, you know, if you're trying to get out into nature to some degree, get out of town and see, you know, a part of Utah that is really undervisited and and truly stunning, you know, and you don't want to stay necessarily like in a tent, be it your own or some other sort of lamping option, um, and you don't want to stay in either a mom and pop motel, a best western, some big box thing with no personality, sure.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: That's kind of where we fit in, like the same way that, you know, I mean, now, but you know, if you think about 25, 30 years ago, if you wanted to stay in a really, you know, cool part in New York or any major city, you just go find a boutique hotel and it it has the character of like the place you're staying, not the city at a whole, not like nature as a whole for us, but like that micro neighborhood.
2:35
SPEAKER_00: And so that's kind of how we look at it.
2:37
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it's not an Airbnb, like there's a front desk, there's housekeeping, there's service, there's kind of all the things you need.
2:44
SPEAKER_00: It's like very much a hotel.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: It's safe, it's secure, the doors lock.
2:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, but just instead of being one big building, just each of our rooms has its own structure, airstream cabin, kind of what have you.
2:55
SPEAKER_02: You sold me.
2:56
SPEAKER_00: You sold me.
2:56
SPEAKER_02: I already went there and I'm already sold again.
2:58
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's how good I am.
2:59
SPEAKER_02: That's how good you are.
3:00
SPEAKER_02: How long have you been uh at that location?
3:03
SPEAKER_00: Uh so we I joined uh with my partner Charles, who is the founder.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: So I joined right as it was opening in 2021.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: It opened sort of March 2021, kind of uh, you know, towards the tail end of development.
3:17
SPEAKER_00: And then we were kind of finishing it up and we've been improving it, adding some of like the deluxe cabins and have their own private outdoor showers and you know, tweaking.
3:25
SPEAKER_00: We added a food truck after the first year, I think.
3:28
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, sort of constant refinement, I think.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: At the about May of 2025 is when sort of it hit its kind of period of stasis.
3:38
SPEAKER_00: We're like, we're not adding more rooms, we're not messing around, we just try to make it better.
3:42
SPEAKER_00: How many, how many rooms are locations?
3:43
SPEAKER_00: There's 52 rooms.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: So there's 50 uh 52 rooms and five campsites.
3:48
SPEAKER_02: So what did I stayed in like the Deluxe cabin.
3:52
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: So that's uh it's the there's these tiny cabins that are really architecturally beautiful and vintage airstreams that we've gutted.
4:02
SPEAKER_00: Um those are both they have shared bathrooms.
4:06
SPEAKER_00: So there's these spa quality outdoor and indoor shared bathhouses that have you know private showers with heaters, whether you're indoor or outdoor, really beautiful, you know, dice and hairdryers, things like that.
4:17
SPEAKER_00: The unit you stayed in, those were the two the new rooms that we added.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: So we added 20 of those over between 2024 and 2024 and 2025, 2023 and 2024, sorry.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: Um and those have private ensuite bathrooms with a connected outdoor shower.
4:34
SPEAKER_00: The only showers outdoors, but it's you know, rain, rainfall, shower head, heater, the whole nine.
4:39
SPEAKER_02: So let me just say for anybody out there listening, if you've never showered outdoors, it's a phenomenal feeling.
4:44
SPEAKER_02: It's unbelievable.
4:45
SPEAKER_02: It's fantastic.
4:46
SPEAKER_00: We we like it.
4:46
SPEAKER_00: It's like a little bit of um depending on when you go, right?
4:50
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there are times where like I'll stay before we open and I'll be like, this has got to be the worst fucking I get ever.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: Why do why why did I do this?
4:59
SPEAKER_00: But we really believe in it because like, you know, even when it's cold, you sort of like open the door to the outdoor shower, you crank on the heater, you get the hot water running, you go back inside, a couple minutes later, you come out, and you know, it's this steamy shower, you got the stars overhead.
5:13
SPEAKER_00: It's absolutely beautiful.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: And I think there's like it's nice to have, especially when you're doing outdoor stuff, a little bit of tension that then gets relieved, right?
5:22
SPEAKER_00: So you're like a little bit worried, you know, you're there, you eventually have to take a shower.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like, am I gonna like this or not?
5:28
SPEAKER_00: And then you don't have a choice, right?
5:30
SPEAKER_00: We don't, if we gave indoor showers, nobody would use the outdoor showers.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: Right.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, you get under it and you're just like, this is amazing.
5:36
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't want to leave.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: Like we get a lot of a lot of converts that way.
5:40
SPEAKER_02: The only downfall of me currently living in an apartment complex is that there's no outdoor shower that's private.
5:46
SPEAKER_02: Right, yes.
5:47
SPEAKER_02: There they're outdoor showers, but not unless you want to register on somewhere.
5:50
SPEAKER_02: I don't want to be on another list, that's a whole other thing.
5:53
SPEAKER_02: But um, I want to learn a little bit more about you before we get more into uh everything that Escalante has to offer.
5:59
SPEAKER_02: So you've been in the hospitality industry your whole life, basically, right?
6:03
SPEAKER_02: From what, 13, 14.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: When I was 13, yeah, I got a job um washing dishes on uh in this small community in central western New York.
6:12
SPEAKER_00: I grew up in Buffalo.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then ended up cooking and then cooked through college and then moved out to Vegas, uh, cooked at Caesars for a moment, um, and then uh worked for the light group in Las Vegas and then Michael Mina based here, and I moved to LA in 2010.
6:28
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
6:29
SPEAKER_00: And then I moved back to Las Vegas in about 2022.
6:31
SPEAKER_02: Do you think everybody should work in the hospitality industry at least once in their life?
6:35
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, hospitality.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: I think like certainly sort of retail, right?
6:38
SPEAKER_00: Something that is like guest-facing, or if you work in the back of the house, something that's, you know, manufacturing or down and dirty, right?
6:47
SPEAKER_00: Whether it's like housekeeping, washing dishes, building something.
6:50
SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, I and I think it's great to take care of people and understand how they can be at their best and how they can be at their worst.
6:57
SPEAKER_00: And you know, you don't you see them for such a like such a glimmer in time that like you know, it's it's you I I learn a lot dealing with guests, right?
7:07
SPEAKER_00: And I always have, where you know, something that's so small to you could have a profound impact on them, you know, someone's anniversary, a special occasion, who knows what it is.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: You know, and if you're a server, like it's just another table, but like that's a big deal.
7:19
SPEAKER_00: And then likewise, you know, for them, you're just another meal, but like they could do something really shitty and they could totally wreck someone on your team's day, you know, and week and month, like whatever it is.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: And I I think it just gives you really good perspective.
7:33
SPEAKER_02: It's so funny.
7:34
SPEAKER_02: I worked in the hospital, I worked in the hospital like the uh I was a server and manager for a long time.
7:39
SPEAKER_02: And I there are just a handful of guests that gave me such a bad experience that I still remember to this day, 20 years later, it's still stick in my mind.
7:47
SPEAKER_02: But then I also remember the good ones too.
7:49
SPEAKER_02: It it's funny how you something so minuscule and something that's just another day in the life for one of the parties, it turns out to be a story that you tell for decades and decades.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you never know the impact in either direction that you know, like something so small that you do or don't do can have on people.
8:05
SPEAKER_02: So, for somebody that has been in the industry for however for almost your entire life, um, what's something that you take away or like uh something that you live by and the reason you are where you are today?
8:16
SPEAKER_02: You're obviously very successful.
8:19
SPEAKER_02: A lot of people are gonna tune in and want to learn about how do I get to where he is.
8:24
SPEAKER_02: So, what's just one piece of information that you would give if somebody's like, hey, they're just getting started in the industry and they want to be.
8:29
SPEAKER_00: In hospitality in particular?
8:30
SPEAKER_02: In hospitality, yeah.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: It took me a long time to learn this.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: You know, I think I was always very product focused, uh whether I was on the front or back of house.
8:37
SPEAKER_00: So I was thinking about like what we do in terms of like the concept and the physical kind of product that we give to people, which you know includes the room, the environment, all that.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: Um, but like you're you're taking care of people.
8:51
SPEAKER_00: So the the something that really turned it around for me, and you know, more recently than I'd like to admit, is realizing probably like eight years ago, which is way too late, is just like just make people happy.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: Like that's all you gotta do.
9:07
SPEAKER_00: There at the tip of the spear, there are restaurants and hotels and experiences that are about the artist and you know, a former partner of mine who's a phenomenally talented chef.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, he lives at the tip of that spear.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: And people will come seek you because they want your vision for the rest, the other 99.99% of us, like you're there to make people happy.
9:29
SPEAKER_00: You know, there's like the hierarchy of needs, and you know, like we are feeding or giving people shelter or water, whatever that is, but really like it's our job to just make people happy.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: So, like, zoom out and say, like, if I do this, both grand strategy and in the moment, like, does this make this guest happy?
9:46
SPEAKER_00: Like, it's kind of that easy.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: And I think if you can frame it that way, like you'll do well because we're in the hospitality business.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: And so, like, if we make people happy, everything works, you know, like revenue goes up, that makes it easier to be profitable.
9:59
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's way better to work on a team on any level where the guests are happy, right?
10:04
SPEAKER_00: I mean, like, I don't think anyone wants to not anyone, but I I don't think, especially, you know, pre-COVID where you couldn't get refunds, like nobody wanted to work in customer service at an area.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: Sure, you know, answering the phone.
10:15
SPEAKER_00: Like, we're everyone's just pissed at you.
10:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
10:17
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, make make people happy.
10:19
SPEAKER_02: Love that.
10:20
SPEAKER_02: Before Oveland, you worked for a company called Arrive, is that correct?
10:23
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Arrive Hotels.
10:24
SPEAKER_02: What uh and from the notes that we have, you grew it from one location to five.
10:28
SPEAKER_02: How integral were you in that?
10:30
SPEAKER_02: Oh, not at all.
10:30
SPEAKER_02: Oh, come on.
10:31
SPEAKER_02: Don't be so I did I did I did nothing useful.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: No, uh, we we so I joined um and we had one hotel in Palm Springs.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: Okay, and it was just it's sort of like as with a lot of it was a big project.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: So it, I mean, only 32 rooms, but it was basically a block in North Palm Springs.
10:47
SPEAKER_00: So it was this 32-room hotel with a big outdoor pool, with a big pool, um, an outdoor restaurant, an event space next door, and then another restaurant that was sort of totally separate.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: And so the other restaurant had just opened, and you know, I came in and we sort of like stabilized and figured out Palm the Palm Springs property.
11:07
SPEAKER_00: That one had been doing a lot of revenue and a lot of business, but like I think they just opened and been overwhelmed, and you know, you gotta kind of figure it out.
11:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, then uh Austin was just under construction, and then in the meantime, we uh did a property in Wilmington, um, a hotel in Memphis, and then a hotel in Austin, and then we opened up uh Phoenix right after, like in mid-2020, and then we sold.
11:32
SPEAKER_02: So is your specialty boutiques, boutique hotels?
11:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't know.
11:36
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I was a restaurant guy first.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: The reason I at Arrive, you know, for five hotels, we had a total, and small, I mean, Austin had 83 rooms, Phoenix had I think 78, Wilmington, North Carolina had like low 40s, um, Memphis had I think like 60 something.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: And for so five of those properties had between them, I think 11 or 12 FB venues.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: Like we were more than half food and beverage revenue in the beginning.
12:05
SPEAKER_00: So I I think you know, I I've worked at the Bellaggio, you know, I worked with Michael Mina, so we were in sort of very top-tier high-end non-boutique hospitality hotels and hospitality properties.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, I certainly do better in boutique hotels.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like I spent a lot of time not having, you know, going from suit and tie to suit no tie to jeans and you know, jeans and a jacket to jeans, no jacket, to jeans and a t-shirt to like shorts and flip-flops.
12:31
SPEAKER_02: Is it easier to work in a boutique hotel?
12:33
SPEAKER_00: Like less, I guess, decision makers or less No, I I look it up I I think it really depends.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, if you think about like a boutique hotel, if if you've come from upscale like luxury, it's really then it becomes easier because you kind of understand what the high-end wants, and then you get to like let your hair down figuratively in my case.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, although I used to have hair back then.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: Um, but you get to like let your hair down and you can dress and be more casual, sure, but you understand what five-star looks like.
13:06
SPEAKER_02: You still have that standard that you set for yourself.
13:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, maybe I'm not gonna be as totally polished, maybe you're not calling people sir, you're not wearing a suit.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: You know, in a restaurant, you don't necessarily need to like you know, drop from the left and clear from the right.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: You can, you know, but you're anticipating needs, you know how to really wow people.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: If someone asks for you know something or makes a reference to some place they've been, you like you speak that language, you're fluent in that luxury.
13:32
SPEAKER_00: Yes, and I think that's really helpful for boutique properties, like to have, you know, with Michael Mina, I mean, I was really lucky.
13:40
SPEAKER_00: I mean, one, it was an amazing company, yeah.
13:42
SPEAKER_00: Um, but we opened these gorgeous restaurants and we got to live in the hotels, like so you check into a fair amount to four seasons, you know, for three months.
13:53
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
13:53
SPEAKER_00: So you really like one, you meet you meet the staff, you sort of understand it, but like you get to experience the luxury, and so you just very quickly understand, kind of like, oh, this person is maybe not saying this, but this is kind of like what they want.
14:06
SPEAKER_02: What was it like?
14:07
SPEAKER_02: Because you're the maybe the second, maybe third guest that we've had on that's worked under Michael.
14:11
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, James, right?
14:12
SPEAKER_02: James and was there somebody else, Julie?
14:14
SPEAKER_02: Off the top of my head, I can't think of it, but definitely James.
14:16
SPEAKER_02: James and I work together.
14:16
SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's fantastic.
14:17
SPEAKER_02: Love him.
14:18
SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's great.
14:18
SPEAKER_02: So he's such a great guy.
14:20
SPEAKER_02: He really is.
14:20
SPEAKER_02: Even not even just the the chef thing, just him as a person.
14:23
SPEAKER_02: He's just such a genuine guy.
14:25
SPEAKER_02: Uh he has so many one-liners from that episode that I we we still use today, I think.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: He's just such a funny James Tree story.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: Let's hear it please.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: So my first restaurant that I owned with my partner Jordan in LA was called Red Medicine.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: And James came by like five nights a week and would sit at the bar, um, which amazing guy, because at that point, you know, like every dollar mattered, and he insisted on paying full price for everything.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and he wasn't, I don't know if he wasn't drinking at all or wasn't drinking a lot or whatever it was.
14:56
SPEAKER_00: And so he would drink iced teas.
14:58
SPEAKER_00: And we had like we were trying to be this like for the people restaurant in the beginning.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: And so I, you know, we this like iced tea was two dollars and it was unlimited refills.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: It turned out I'd selected this unbelievable iced tea from Intelligentsia, where like my cost on a single glass was like a buck 40.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: It's like, and for being a be, like I was the former beverage director of Michael Mina, like corporate.
15:19
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't know how I didn't bother costing this out.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: It's like it's iced tea, like what could it do?
15:23
SPEAKER_00: And James would drink like three quarts of this stuff, and it turned out like that was one thing where like it showed up on the PL and it took me like eight months to figure it out.
15:32
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, holy shit, like this guy through his iced tea, nightly iced tea consumption could really bang us up, and like we still laugh about it.
15:41
SPEAKER_00: He's like, he's like, Can't believe you didn't figure that out sooner.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: But it was like the greatest iron goddess of mercy from intelligentsia, phenomenalized, really.
15:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I loved him, and you know, so we were friends before we'd worked together, but we became really close.
15:52
SPEAKER_02: That's incredible.
15:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, James is a great guy.
15:54
SPEAKER_00: That's so funny sorry to derail it.
15:55
SPEAKER_02: No, I I love that story when I think anytime I can get a Chef James Tree story, I will gladly go.
16:00
SPEAKER_02: I have a lot, but we're gonna complete both.
16:01
SPEAKER_02: We'll save that for the members only episodes.
16:03
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, but what uh under Michael Mina, what was it like?
16:07
SPEAKER_02: Or at least what's something that you took away from working with him?
16:09
SPEAKER_00: Because everybody that has worked with him or under him um says nothing but incredible things about his vision, his leadership, and yeah, and James and I, I mean, you know, there there have been a lot of sort of like generations, which are probably like three to five year spans with him, you know, and those also follow, I think, like economic times, right?
16:26
SPEAKER_00: So I came, James and I were both there at the beginning of this explosion, where I think in three years we opened 12 restaurants.
16:33
SPEAKER_00: Wow, like it was intense, you know, and then 08-09 hit, so we sort of tailed that off, and I think there was a bit of time with nothing.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
16:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, but we were from the same generation, and he, you know, so the company was really led by Michael and then Patrick Hummel, who was uh, I think at the time the vice president of ops or the president, but basically Michael's number two did all things front of house.
16:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then Ari Castrati was the director of operations, and I a few things.
16:58
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Michael is just brilliant, like that guy sees around corner, like the there's just so many like lessons in business and strategy and taking care of people that like I picked up from him explicitly, and then other things that like years later I realized, like, oh my god, that's like that that's a Mike Minez.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, like just phenomenal vision, brilliant guy, great chef.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, and Patrick was such a good, charismatic, like leader in the front of the house.
17:22
SPEAKER_00: I mean, like you would run through walls for that guy, yeah.
17:24
SPEAKER_00: And then Ari was phenomenal, like just such service talent and really kept the trains running on time.
17:31
SPEAKER_00: It was it was an incredible place to work.
17:32
SPEAKER_00: I was like just a young punk, and somehow they tolerated me.
17:37
SPEAKER_00: Like so many friends I had, so many of my best friends now are guys and guys and girls I worked with then, like, which was what like almost 20 years ago at this point.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: Do you have a Michael Mina situation where you're the Michael Mina to somebody else?
17:50
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if I could ever live up to that.
17:52
SPEAKER_00: I mean, like those are serious shoes.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't think he, you know, he didn't personally mentor me.
17:56
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he was much closer with the chefs.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
17:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, Patrick and Ari were definitely mentors.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I like I'd I'd love to be at that point where like I can inspire someone or they could learn like that from me, but it was just like non, it was it was a gold mine, and like I totally didn't appreciate.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I appreciated it, but only now do I realize just how good of an environment it was.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: Well said.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
18:16
SPEAKER_02: Listen, I'm I'm feeling inspired right now.
18:18
SPEAKER_02: I feel like there's a Michael Mina mentor mentee relationship going on here.
18:21
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's a lack of talent on this side of the table.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: I can't speak for the aptitude there, right?
18:26
SPEAKER_00: Like, we'll figure that out.
18:27
SPEAKER_02: We'll work out that.
18:28
SPEAKER_00: You're less of a punk than I was, I'm sure.
18:31
SPEAKER_02: I was such an asshole.
18:32
SPEAKER_02: Why are we an asshole?
18:33
SPEAKER_02: What's the most asshole thing you did that you want to share on camera?
18:36
SPEAKER_02: Give me just a little sample size of what kind of asshole Noah was.
18:40
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's been so much, but like I don't even want to like bring this up again, but I'm going to.
18:47
SPEAKER_00: So you might not, you probably don't.
18:50
SPEAKER_00: Most people don't know this, so I really don't want to bring attention to it.
18:53
SPEAKER_00: But so let's hope you have zero listeners.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: Um, except for the sponsors, the huge audience, guys.
18:59
SPEAKER_02: The only time we don't want any listeners is right now.
19:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so um, I got a little bit of a reputation in LA at my first restaurant, Red Medicine, for one of the things nobody should have given me a Twitter account back then.
19:11
SPEAKER_00: Let's just say that.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: So um we kicked out the food critic of the LA Times of whom there was no published picture.
19:17
SPEAKER_00: And before I did, I took a picture of her and published it online.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: That was fucking dumb.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: How did you know it was her?
19:24
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you kind of like knew, like talking to each other, you knew, like, hey, these are things with the reservation, the phone number might show up like this.
19:31
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this is who her husband is, this is what he looks like.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: You just you knew, like I'd seen her working at another restaurant.
19:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there was just no photo.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, so that was a real difficult movie.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then I had pl plenty of others that like you know, you you become the news cycle.
19:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's like a real, it's like being like, I I imagine it's like flying in a hurricane.
19:51
SPEAKER_00: That's hilarious.
19:52
SPEAKER_00: Did you ever see that Bradley Cooper movie?
19:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
19:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
19:55
SPEAKER_02: And you like you don't know what they look like, but you kind of they have certain things that they do.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: And in most cities, I mean, you know, this is 2010.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: In most cities, right?
20:05
SPEAKER_00: So like I like I was still using a Blackberry, maybe like iPhone 3 was out.
20:09
SPEAKER_00: Like there weren't like great cameras everywhere.
20:12
SPEAKER_00: Right.
20:12
SPEAKER_00: Um in most cities, there was a picture of most of the good food critics.
20:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sure.
20:19
SPEAKER_00: That was like circulated underground, but somehow she'd avoided it.
20:24
SPEAKER_00: And this was just like, yeah.
20:26
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I mean, like, I spoke my mind on Twitter a lot, and um I'm seeing a lot of similarities.
20:31
SPEAKER_02: James has changed.
20:32
SPEAKER_02: Chef, Chef tree.
20:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, James has changed too.
20:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we both changed.
20:35
SPEAKER_02: But I'm seeing a lot of similarities between the two of you right here.
20:37
SPEAKER_00: That's why we were friends.
20:38
SPEAKER_00: That's we we James and I have worked together like two or three times now.
20:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think we got along because of that dumb, dumb, dumb attitude.
20:48
SPEAKER_02: We love that.
20:49
SPEAKER_02: It it it brings for great stuff.
20:51
SPEAKER_00: He's talented though, so like he gets away with it.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: It works out great.
20:55
SPEAKER_02: Uh, so everything you've you've taken from working alongside Chef to working under Michael to all the the people that have been a part of of your upbringing when it comes to your career.
21:06
SPEAKER_02: What are you taking from that over to Ovland?
21:10
SPEAKER_00: Um, I mean, there's so much, right?
21:12
SPEAKER_00: You learn a ton of little details, like there's a lot of like, you know, sort of like tips and tricks and little like hack type stuff that just like how to be good, I think technically you learn to see around corners, both from uh like the guest is kind of indicating this, or you know, verbally, non-verbally, whatever, but this is actually what they mean and what they want.
21:32
SPEAKER_00: Here's how we surprise and delight.
21:34
SPEAKER_00: Um, you learn a lot of leadership things, you think about growth.
21:37
SPEAKER_02: Um I like the surprise and delight thing.
21:39
SPEAKER_02: I like that.
21:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think I stole that from Kimpton uh when I worked there.
21:42
SPEAKER_00: But like that was a big thing, and they were amazing at it.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: Um you know, one of the coolest things about uh my career that's total luck is I there aren't very many.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: I I mean I haven't had a ton of like jobs, but at most of them I haven't taken over anything that's really been existing.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: So I've opened like between, you know, you got to count within hotels and things, and like between opening and changing concepts of existing things, like 40 something restaurants, and I think I've opened like 10 or 11 hotels.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: Really?
22:12
SPEAKER_00: Maybe more now.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's just luck, right?
22:15
SPEAKER_00: Some people just like take jobs at established places and they're like turnaround experts, or they keep the ship afloat or whatever.
22:21
SPEAKER_00: And just randomly, like, you know, my first like we opened Fix at the Bellagio, which was my first job out of college.
22:27
SPEAKER_00: We opened Stack, then I got hired by Michael to open strip steak.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: I opened Revolution.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: I went back to Michael.
22:32
SPEAKER_00: I worked in San Francisco.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: We opened 12 more restaurants.
22:35
SPEAKER_00: I opened my own.
22:36
SPEAKER_00: I had a bunch of consulting clients who needed openings.
22:38
SPEAKER_00: I opened two more in LA.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: I opened a bunch with Kimpton.
22:42
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like you just fall into it.
22:43
SPEAKER_00: And the neat thing about that is you get to hire a lot of people.
22:47
SPEAKER_00: So you do a ton of interviews and you get to sort of see how they work very, very quickly.
22:51
SPEAKER_00: So you, you know, you get this like really quick feedback loop, which to me is awesome.
22:55
SPEAKER_00: Um, you get to try a lot of concepts, you get to see how guests respond to things.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes how, you know, different guests in different cities respond to the exact same product, which is really interesting.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: Like it just challenges, you know, you like if you work at one place for 10 years, you learn a lot.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: And there's a ton to that, right?
23:10
SPEAKER_00: It's like being able to grind and just know that there's no light at the end of the tunnel.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: Like when you're on an opening team, it's like sometimes things are really rough, and you're just like, okay, I have a plane ticket home on this date.
23:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they're gonna take it over and figure it out.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: And like when it's yours or when you're just working there and it like you're in charge, like there's no plane ticket out.
23:33
SPEAKER_00: Like you have to make it work.
23:34
SPEAKER_00: So I don't mean there's like no light at the end of the tunnel, but it's like there's no escape.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: Like, if you want it to be good, you got to make it good.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, so they're really different skill sets.
23:42
SPEAKER_00: Um, but you know, being able to do those openings, you just get so many iterations and you get to evolve through things, and you you can just you pick up patterns, like you you have patterns fed to you faster than anyone else.
23:55
SPEAKER_00: And I think that was like a huge lever for me.
23:57
SPEAKER_02: What do you look for when you're because you've you've opened tremendous amount, you've been through X amount of scenarios, you've worked with a handful of people.
24:04
SPEAKER_02: When you're building your team around you, and with all the experience you have, what's a quality or two that you look for when you're talking to them, interviewing with them?
24:12
SPEAKER_00: Um, at like high-level team, yeah.
24:14
SPEAKER_00: You so talk about like line level staff, the people who do the work every day, like those are the hard jobs, right?
24:21
SPEAKER_00: And they deal with guests.
24:22
SPEAKER_00: The biggest thing is like they just have to be great people and nice, like no RBF, right?
24:27
SPEAKER_00: Like, there's no in what we do in our product today, there's no skill that is so technical that you can have a shitty look on your face at any point, right?
24:36
SPEAKER_00: Like you need to be friendly all the time, smiling, bubbly, warm, effusive, fill in the adjective.
24:42
SPEAKER_00: Is that that's more important than experience?
24:44
SPEAKER_00: 100%.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: Like, we will build systems of for training around people with aptitude and a per an amazing personality.
24:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's like, what?
24:54
SPEAKER_00: So you're slightly better at checking someone into a room on a computer?
24:57
SPEAKER_00: Like it's not that hard.
24:58
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, especially for us.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: You know, I mean, like, okay, you work, you're a front desk agent at like MGM Grand, there's a million room types, you're using the system from you know, like the Cold War, nothing works.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: There's groups and billing, like for us, it's like, look, just like they're tired.
25:12
SPEAKER_00: They drove five hours, you've done it.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: Like, you want to just get to your room.
25:15
SPEAKER_00: Like, don't you don't need to explain a lot, you don't need to tell them about like the hours and operate, like, give them a key, get them to their room, get them taken care of.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: We can figure out all the computer shit on the back end.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, there's very few, you know, it's not that our jobs don't take skill, but like again, we're making people happy.
25:31
SPEAKER_00: And then at a high level, it's like you want people who can kind of think strategically, you know, it's it's about second, third, fourth, fifth order effects.
25:41
SPEAKER_00: I make this decision, what are the next eight dominoes that are gonna fall?
25:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, so you want people who kind of can think like that or are capable of thinking like that.
25:48
SPEAKER_00: They also can hire and lead and motivate, and you know, you try to look at them as like they're just levers for me, right?
25:55
SPEAKER_00: Like they're gonna be better at their individual disciplines and they make it so like I don't have to do it and it's done better than if I did it myself.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: That's like kind of what you're looking for.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: That's great.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, jeez.
26:04
SPEAKER_00: But they also need those, you know, same qualities.
26:06
SPEAKER_00: Like you got to be able to take care of humans.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
26:09
SPEAKER_02: Well said.
26:10
SPEAKER_02: When I when we first started, even before we started recording, I asked you the correct pronunciation because I didn't want to get it wrong.
26:16
SPEAKER_02: You said of the land.
26:18
SPEAKER_02: Is that what where the name came from?
26:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so it's of land, like of the land, correct.
26:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
26:24
SPEAKER_02: What is what's the purpose behind that?
26:26
SPEAKER_00: Um, so you know, when you're building these hotels, you've got a lot of choices in terms of I guess and in the city too, right?
26:35
SPEAKER_00: But you have a lot of choices in terms of like the architecture of the building.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: And then for us, you know, an outdoor hotel, since there's so many structures, like how it sits and how it interacts with the land, and you can kind of be like very much on of the land, or you can be, you know, very much of the land.
26:49
SPEAKER_00: So we try for the latter.
26:51
SPEAKER_00: So we have a couple new properties, uh, hotels that are under development, and it's really important to us like that the architecture and the design and the way the whole hotel and its grounds lay out are really of the land.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: You know, we're not dropping like a giant box into these different cities or towns or area, you know, beautiful natural surroundings.
27:11
SPEAKER_00: What are some of the other locations that are coming up?
27:13
SPEAKER_00: So we've got uh Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains, so that'll be next.
27:17
SPEAKER_00: We should be breaking ground on that um in September.
27:21
SPEAKER_00: And then we are entitled in a property in Zion and sort of working on that development, but on the east side.
27:27
SPEAKER_02: Are they all the same type of like type of vibe as exactly type of vibe, yeah.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: So uh there's only one sort of like one or two room types, you know, so there won't be like airstreams or things like that.
27:39
SPEAKER_00: We sort of you know prototype through different things, different cabins, I guess you could say.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, but they're the designs are totally different.
27:48
SPEAKER_00: So the the hotel and the room, the property feels um will feel like you're in the place that you are, but to your point, the vibe, they have drive-in theaters, the giant hot tub, you know, all those different, you know, the DIY meal kits, sort of if not a food truck, a concession stand.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like you like a great boutique hotel of, you know, where there's a few of them, like you go from one to the other, it shouldn't be the same, but you should be like, oh, I've there's something about this that definitely reminds me of the other.
28:17
SPEAKER_00: There's a through line and aesthetic that really works.
28:19
SPEAKER_02: One of the coolest things about the that that that I found was you have a drive-in theater, and you brought that up just brief, just you just mentioned that.
28:26
SPEAKER_02: Where'd that where'd that idea come from?
28:28
SPEAKER_00: So originally that hotel or property, I mean, it was like an RV park, um, like had the drive-in theater, and that was the drive-in theater for the town of Escalante.
28:37
SPEAKER_00: No way, yeah.
28:38
SPEAKER_02: That's so cool.
28:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and so we added a few more vintage cars, we moved some things around, but like that screen is original.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
28:45
SPEAKER_00: I I forgot, is it uh the classic movies that you play, right?
28:48
SPEAKER_00: Or are they more yeah, I mean, nothing, certainly no new releases.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, we rotate through like we have a bunch of different genres, and then we rotate through different movies in each genre.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: So there's some you know, kids and family stuff, there's some classics.
29:00
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you could see original Top Gun, but not Top Gun Maverick, you know, the Rockies, you know, Vegas Vacation, yeah, you know, any of you know, I mean, uh cars, right?
29:11
SPEAKER_00: Like dozen, all the different things.
29:13
SPEAKER_02: Are there any other elements of the RV park that you did keep outside of the driving theater?
29:17
SPEAKER_02: The air those airstreams were at that RV park.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: Oh no shit.
29:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
29:20
SPEAKER_00: That's pretty cool.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: And what's so we got we gutted them, they were themed.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: Like, so you know, airstreams typically have bathrooms, those were very themed.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: We gutted them and then sort of re-clad the inside a little bit, but we pulled the bathrooms because we'd built the bathhouses and like they're very airy, there's a ton of natural light, you know, takes um yeah, because once you have all the structures inside an airstream, you know, a bathroom, the kitchen, like you lose each, it becomes a bit more claustrophobic.
29:44
SPEAKER_02: Would you say a majority of the people that go there are like me, they're not outdoorsy and they go there to be outdoorsy, or would you say they are outdoorsy and they go there to continue to be?
29:54
SPEAKER_00: We get everyone.
29:55
SPEAKER_00: You know, I mean you get people who are camping and they want a campsite or a room or a shower or whatever, and but they've been camping for two weeks.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, you get people like you and like me, where it's like I love to hike, but I don't want to sleep in a tent, I want air conditioning, I want a shower.
30:11
SPEAKER_02: I want a roof over my head, some sort of yeah, yeah, yeah.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: You know, I want comfortable, a comfortable bed, I want ships.
30:17
SPEAKER_00: Um so it you totally run the gamut, you know, same thing like age, right?
30:21
SPEAKER_00: You get these like multi-generational trips where you've got you know, kids, sort of parent or grandkids, I guess, parents, and then grandparents, and you know, we're pretty good from like nine to ninety-nine, you know, across like every gamut, as long as you're want to be outdoors, and I guess you've you have a sense of adventure, or at least a moderate sense of adventure.
30:44
SPEAKER_02: How do you feel about the term glamping?
30:46
SPEAKER_00: I'm good with it.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: Like we don't use it ourselves outbound.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: I would never correct anyone who does.
30:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think with glamping, people really think about like a tent, a yurt, uh tree house.
30:59
SPEAKER_00: Like they're thinking about like just the structure.
31:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, I also think like a lot of those places don't have front desk, you know, they're not, they don't run the same way as a hotel.
31:09
SPEAKER_00: Right.
31:10
SPEAKER_00: Um, I don't want to coin it, you know.
31:12
SPEAKER_00: We messed around with trying to like coin a term, and you know, you're just fighting uphill.
31:16
SPEAKER_00: What was the term?
31:16
SPEAKER_00: Uh we never uh got there at some point.
31:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was like, this is a fool's error, you know.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: Like we're gonna work so hard, we're probably gonna get a bunch of overpaid consultants, and it's gonna be this whole thing, and then nobody's gonna use it but us.
31:27
SPEAKER_00: And then every time someone writes about in the media, we're gonna get really annoyed and ask for a correction, and they're not gonna do it.
31:32
SPEAKER_00: And like, what are we doing here?
31:34
SPEAKER_00: Like, we're we're again like this is one of those, like you asked like the good lesson, like we're taking care of guests, right?
31:39
SPEAKER_00: Like, we're just making people happy.
31:41
SPEAKER_00: Like, who cares?
31:42
SPEAKER_00: Like, cost whatever you want, like if you enjoy yourself, exactly.
31:46
SPEAKER_02: Right?
31:46
SPEAKER_02: I mean, like that's all that matters.
31:47
SPEAKER_02: That's all that matters.
31:48
SPEAKER_02: You had a good time, you have good stories to tell.
31:49
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, a lot of our listeners, 90% plus of our demographic is Vegas locals.
31:55
SPEAKER_02: The drive is how long?
31:57
SPEAKER_00: Four and a half to five hours.
31:58
SPEAKER_00: Four and a five hours, yeah.
32:00
SPEAKER_00: Not that bad.
32:00
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's no, it's not nothing, but it's like it's the thing is it's a pretty good you know.
32:05
SPEAKER_00: I lived in LA for a while, and then I've commuted between the two for consulting in both directions.
32:10
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
32:11
SPEAKER_00: And I mean, like LA is a parts of LA are a five-hour drive.
32:15
SPEAKER_00: And like when it's five hours, it's a miserable five.
32:18
SPEAKER_00: Like Utah's like it's a good five.
32:19
SPEAKER_00: Like this is a great five.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: It's there's not a ton of traffic, it's absolutely stunning, great views, unique byways.
32:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like I mean, you know, it's like yes, you can get to the beach in five hours, but that's a three-hour drive packed into five hours.
32:33
SPEAKER_02: What's the typical stay that you would recommend somebody?
32:35
SPEAKER_02: I think I mean I I'd say party of party of four or like a family of four or a party of four.
32:42
SPEAKER_00: Family of four is great.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: A couple you know, you can do it as a couple, you could do a couples trip.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: There, it's hard to limit that, right?
32:48
SPEAKER_00: Like, I think like I'm not just selling to everyone, but it really works for everybody.
32:52
SPEAKER_00: The big thing for me is we're a great base camp.
32:55
SPEAKER_00: Like you can get to Bryce in 45 minutes from us, which you know, when you're in these national parks, like that's nothing.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, there's Capital Reef National Park.
33:03
SPEAKER_00: We're literally like, I don't know, 300 yards from Petrified Forest State Park.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: There's a ton to do.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: I I think like grab a couple people who kind of have the same appetite as you in terms of do you want to go for beautiful drives?
33:15
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to go for hikes that are long?
33:17
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to, you know, find people with like your threshold for adventure?
33:21
SPEAKER_00: And then I think three nights is kind of perfect, right?
33:23
SPEAKER_00: Like you drive up and then you get two full days there and then you drive back, and like it's it's kind of perfect.
33:29
SPEAKER_02: So when I went, I didn't have any complaints about the location.
33:32
SPEAKER_02: Location was fantastic, staff was great.
33:34
SPEAKER_02: We went uh horseback riding.
33:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
33:37
SPEAKER_02: And we went you horseback ride and you go along like the cliffs and everything like that.
33:40
SPEAKER_02: Through price.
33:41
SPEAKER_02: The only complaint that I have is because apparently I was overweight, they gave me a donkey instead of a horse.
33:47
SPEAKER_02: Is this real?
33:48
SPEAKER_02: It's a true story.
33:48
SPEAKER_02: So everybody else had a horse.
33:50
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if I should be angry at our team or just embarrassed for you.
33:53
SPEAKER_00: But like I'm way fatter than you, so like I'm not Did you have you done the horse riding thing?
33:57
SPEAKER_00: No, because I don't want to sit on a donkey.
33:59
SPEAKER_02: You because you'd be on a donkey.
34:02
SPEAKER_00: I didn't even realize that donkeys had like less capability to haul weight than a horse.
34:06
SPEAKER_02: You know, I was the only one in the pack that had unless it was the joke was on me, unless there was the inside joke that I whoever did that to you, if that was a joke, it's diabolical.
34:15
SPEAKER_02: It's absolutely diabolical.
34:16
SPEAKER_02: Again, it's something so minuscule to them, but I still think about it X amount of years later.
34:21
SPEAKER_00: You never know the impact that the small things you do are gonna have on people.
34:26
SPEAKER_02: So Ovalnd is definitely uh it's well established, you get a great reputation, you get great reviews, you've you've had influencers go there from Vegas that have had amazing times and say nothing but great things about it.
34:37
SPEAKER_02: But more importantly, you've won a handful of awards, right?
34:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we've been in the um we've been in Travel and Leisure's best hotels in Utah in the top 10 or now it's I think five, uh two or three times.
34:51
SPEAKER_00: We didn't enter one year because that was the year we used to be called Yonder.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: Um so we changed our name.
34:55
SPEAKER_00: So that was the one year where we didn't enter.
34:58
SPEAKER_00: Do you think you would have won if you did?
35:00
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like it's chosen by your guests, so it's hard to know.
35:06
SPEAKER_00: I would hope we did a good enough job that year to have been considered.
35:10
SPEAKER_00: But you know, I mean, the the really cool thing, and it's really a testament to our team there, is the other hotels that win this.
35:17
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's like Amongiri, which is three thousand dollars a night.
35:20
SPEAKER_00: It's all of the you know, Park City hotels, which are you know, montage, I mean, stunning.
35:26
SPEAKER_00: Most of the hotels that are winning this stuff are a thousand plus a night, you know, four digits, maybe maybe three high three digits.
35:33
SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, we're sitting there in like the 200s for a deluxe cabin and one hundreds for an airstream or tiny cabin that we can put out a an exp give people an experience that resonates with them enough for them to take the time to vote is like really meaningful.
35:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, uh we I think we're blessed to have an amazing team and amazing guests who really love what we do.
35:58
SPEAKER_02: Now that you've won a handful of awards, is it something that you strive for each year, or is it just a happy bonus at the end of the year?
36:07
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'll be honest, like I, you know, it's it's important, it's important to us to get them.
36:12
SPEAKER_00: I it helps with growth for the hotel, right?
36:15
SPEAKER_00: Like it's easier to raise money for new projects, and one of the things we do for our team is you try to give them, if they want, a career path and growth trajectory.
36:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so like that stuff definitely makes life easy.
36:26
SPEAKER_00: You know, if you look at my office, you're not gonna see any of these things hanging.
36:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, I I don't want to say it doesn't matter to me, but like again, I want sort of happy people, both who work for us and who stay with us.
36:38
SPEAKER_00: Um that's a great question.
36:40
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, I think we always like to be in the running and like to be considered, and I know it's really important for the team and the people who actually do the work there.
36:48
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't do that much day-to-day.
36:50
SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm not like if I got hit by a bus, I think everything would be fine, you know.
36:55
SPEAKER_00: But there's a lot of there's a lot of a lot of folks who like are absolutely integral to the experience, and I think it's important to them.
37:02
SPEAKER_02: Well said.
37:02
SPEAKER_02: Let me tell you something.
37:03
SPEAKER_02: If you get hit by a bus, this episode would skyrocket in views, by the way.
37:06
SPEAKER_02: Shit.
37:08
SPEAKER_02: It's a VR.
37:10
SPEAKER_00: Like hit and run on camera or straight through the wall.
37:19
SPEAKER_00: Straight through the wall.
37:20
SPEAKER_00: Okay, what a way to go.
37:21
SPEAKER_02: He died doing what he loved.
37:24
SPEAKER_02: So you're obviously you you work at it.
37:27
SPEAKER_02: And also, by the way, I I completely agree with you in terms of making doing it for the staff.
37:32
SPEAKER_02: Like the the the staff feeling like they're they're working for something that is working, like they're working for something that has meaning.
37:38
SPEAKER_02: It's impacting other people's lives too.
37:40
SPEAKER_02: It's good to win.
37:41
SPEAKER_02: It really, it really is.
37:42
SPEAKER_02: Like with me and my team, we have I have a very small team, but every time we get a compliment from a guest that's been on, or you know, a good review or something like that, I I love showing it to them because I want to show them that yes, you're you know, obviously you're making money, you're having fun, we're having a good time, but also we are doing something that you know is is making an impact that other people are seeing too.
38:02
SPEAKER_02: So I completely understand that.
38:03
SPEAKER_02: And that's such a great way of looking at when it comes to awards and stuff like that.
38:07
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it matters.
38:08
SPEAKER_02: It does.
38:09
SPEAKER_02: You're based out of, but you personally, you're not based out of Utah.
38:11
SPEAKER_02: You I live here.
38:12
SPEAKER_02: You live in Vegas.
38:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, our team, our corporate team is mostly here.
38:15
SPEAKER_02: How often do you go to the location?
38:16
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I'm going tomorrow.
38:18
SPEAKER_00: I try to get up there at least every I try to get up there every few weeks.
38:21
SPEAKER_00: In the beginning, I was there five days a week for the entire season, and then it was like four days, and then three, and then every other week for a couple days.
38:29
SPEAKER_00: Like it's it runs better when I'm not there.
38:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
38:32
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's it's like well, you gotta get in the way.
38:33
SPEAKER_00: You gotta give people, yeah, or you got like gotta give people space to do it.
38:36
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'll you know, you come in, you see a few things which are not because I'm better, it's because I'm detached, you know, I'm not my I'm not in it.
38:42
SPEAKER_00: So like I notice this stuff, and it's like, okay, let's talk about whether or not this should get fixed.
38:46
SPEAKER_00: And then they get to go do it on their priority list on a time frame.
38:49
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I see stuff I'm like, hey, this is like really integral to the brand, or this is, you know, you're on this much of the chessboard, you know, but we're trying to raise money or do these things to grow and grow you.
39:00
SPEAKER_00: So like heads up, I kind of need these things which might not be high in your list, like bump them in priority.
39:05
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
39:05
SPEAKER_00: Like you got to give the team space.
39:07
SPEAKER_00: And you know, I I mean you were a manager, right?
39:09
SPEAKER_00: You worked in restaurants.
39:10
SPEAKER_00: Like, it was great when your boss wouldn't be there, and like you'd get to run the place and do your thing the way you wanted to.
39:15
SPEAKER_00: And you know, if you're young and ambitious, like you want the space to operate, like you don't want someone breathing down your neck.
39:21
SPEAKER_02: So let's say five years from now, all the other locations are open.
39:24
SPEAKER_02: To you, what does success look like when it comes to having these multiple locations opening?
39:30
SPEAKER_00: What's what's success to you in in the I mean I think if you know these locations and hotels are making, you know, if they're performing with guests the way the current one is and making people that happy and they're making uh money as in like enough to be able to be on offense, not defense, right?
39:51
SPEAKER_00: Right, because like there's you know, we it nobody goes into the hotel business to get into hospitality period to get wealthy, right?
39:59
SPEAKER_00: Like that's just that's not a thing.
40:00
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
40:01
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter what people think, you know.
40:03
SPEAKER_00: It is like these are and this bit and hotels, which did make a lot more money than restaurants, you know, like they've really been ground down in a lot of ways.
40:12
SPEAKER_00: And it's not a sob story, it's not what I'm here for.
40:14
SPEAKER_00: But um, you know, it's great to have a business, any business, no matter what you're in, where you make enough money to be able to be on offense and not defense.
40:23
SPEAKER_00: Like it really sucks.
40:24
SPEAKER_00: It's hard on your team to not be busy, it's hard on your team to have to cut costs that they shouldn't have to, right?
40:32
SPEAKER_00: Like where you're you're sort of like you've cut through fat and muscle, now like you're into bone.
40:36
SPEAKER_00: Like that's a thing that happens.
40:38
SPEAKER_00: It's terrible.
40:38
SPEAKER_00: So like you just want to be at a place where you know it's self-sustaining, the investors are happy, the bank is happy.
40:44
SPEAKER_00: We're you know, like we've taken care of our stakeholders and we're able to take care of our team and our guests, and like again, go on offense.
40:51
SPEAKER_00: What cool stuff can we do to drive revenue, to make people happier, yeah, to give a better experience?
40:55
SPEAKER_00: Like, that's really the goal.
40:56
SPEAKER_02: That's that's so true.
40:57
SPEAKER_02: Going on offense is is so spot on because I feel like when you're able to focus on doing more, offering more, giving more, as opposed to just like you said, being on defense and worrying about it.
41:10
SPEAKER_00: And like I've had a I've had too many of those businesses where it's just like Is is that the new norm now, though, with with hospitality?
41:16
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
41:16
SPEAKER_00: I I mean clearly, I mean, like, you know, James kills it, right?
41:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think you can certainly do well.
41:23
SPEAKER_00: Like you just you need to be busy, like you need a product and a an experience that resonates with people.
41:29
SPEAKER_00: And if you're busy, it's easy to stay not easy to stay busy, it's much easier to be good and stay busy and do a great job.
41:36
SPEAKER_00: And if you're not busy, you have to make some really hard decisions, which is like, am I gonna be penny wise and pound foolish, long game, short game, all those euphemisms.
41:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
41:44
SPEAKER_02: Why did or what was the re reaction like when you guys did decide to move to Escalante or plant down there?
41:51
SPEAKER_00: Was it over positive?
41:53
SPEAKER_00: Were there some pushes?
41:54
SPEAKER_00: The town has been pretty great and supportive.
41:56
SPEAKER_00: Really?
41:56
SPEAKER_00: Um, that area is really interesting because it's been you know burgeoning.
42:00
SPEAKER_00: Uh opening at 21 was a great time, right?
42:03
SPEAKER_00: Everyone sort of was had cabin fever from COVID, you know, like they were like people just wanted to get out.
42:09
SPEAKER_00: Utah was doing great, it opened up a little earlier.
42:11
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I remember I lived in Houston at the time, my partner's there, and so I would get on a like 5 a.m.
42:19
SPEAKER_00: flight from Houston and fly to Salt Lake and then rent a car and drive.
42:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I remember the car rental prices in Salt Lake were like astronomical, sure.
42:26
SPEAKER_00: And randomly, for some reason, I decided to fly into Vegas instead.
42:30
SPEAKER_00: And you know, I mean, I'd lived here for six, seven years, and I didn't even think about it, I just rented a car and went.
42:36
SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh my god, like the car rental in Salt Lake was$400 a day if you could get one, and the car rental in Vegas was like$25.
42:45
SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, I started coming through here more because like we, you know, we'd have to land and you'd go to Home Depot and a pool supply, like you'd just sort of run errands in a big city, right?
42:53
SPEAKER_00: And then I'd bring it up and come back.
42:55
SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, I'd friends here and I started coming through here, but um, Utah especially that was a really stupid rabbit hole.
43:02
SPEAKER_00: Utah especially was like blowing up, you know, and what happened is there was so much demand at the big national parks that then people started looking at the slightly smaller national parks and state parks, and like we're in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, which is like a million plus acres.
43:17
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it is so unexplored, and the generally like the hikes are so dead, you know.
43:25
SPEAKER_00: Like you can go on these beautiful places that are largely untouched versus like the narrows of Zion, where you need, you know, like it's a lottery system, right?
43:33
SPEAKER_00: I mean, like it's so different, and there's just been more attention brought to it.
43:38
SPEAKER_00: So I think in general, like these towns have just been getting busier, period.
43:43
SPEAKER_00: Um, and people I mean, it seems to be resonating, you know.
43:47
SPEAKER_00: People are happy.
43:48
SPEAKER_00: We try to be wherever we're opening, we try to be great neighbors.
43:52
SPEAKER_00: That's great.
43:52
SPEAKER_00: You know, I I mean I think that's important.
43:54
SPEAKER_00: You know, that's a lesson I've learned from restaurants too.
43:56
SPEAKER_00: Like, you want to be a good neighbor.
43:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I like that.
43:58
SPEAKER_02: I'll tell you what, all things Considered, I've learned a lot business wise from this conversation.
44:03
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm not sure I would file any of it away.
44:05
SPEAKER_02: Well, too late.
44:05
SPEAKER_02: I already filed off.
44:07
SPEAKER_02: Any chance of any other uveland locations maybe moving a little closer to Vegas, or is Utah as close as we're gonna get?
44:13
SPEAKER_00: I mean, well, I mean, Zion's a bit closer, right?
44:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, we tried to look like we were looking sort of like you know, Red Rock, Mount Charleston.
44:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's hard to find a nice piece there.
44:25
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we looked in Joshua Tree, which is about as far as Zion, maybe a little closer.
44:30
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we actually just pulled out of that one.
44:31
SPEAKER_00: How many hoops do you have to jump through if you find a spot?
44:34
SPEAKER_00: Depends on where you are.
44:34
SPEAKER_00: Like East Zion was great because you know, we went there.
44:38
SPEAKER_00: I think um I'm probably gonna tell this story wrong, but you know, I had a development went in front of the county to county or city, like planning to get approved.
44:49
SPEAKER_00: And I think there's five people on the committee, and like three or four of them had stayed with us in Escalante.
44:54
SPEAKER_00: So they're like, great, we we love this, we know you are, it's a small world.
44:57
SPEAKER_00: You go to Tennessee, and you know, then we're further, nobody knows, nobody stayed with us, right?
45:02
SPEAKER_00: So they're sort of like looking at the website and looking at reviews, um, and then you know, picking California, it's really difficult, you know, and it but it it really depends on like the microcosm you're in.
45:13
SPEAKER_00: So like what's the city or town, what's the county, what state you're in, how all those, you know, how the how the various entitlement laws work and what type of piece of land you buy, how it's zoned.
45:24
SPEAKER_00: I mean it's it's it's a whole thing.
45:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I don't deal with it too much.
45:27
SPEAKER_00: It's highly, highly complex, and like you are jumping at minimum, you're jumping through I'd say a lot of hoops.
45:33
SPEAKER_00: And at most, like, you know, we we did get entitled in uh 29 polymers, which was you know near Joshua Tree National Park.
45:40
SPEAKER_00: And that took years, you know, and and was really difficult, and the project the city got sued because of it.
45:47
SPEAKER_00: Um and you know, in the meantime, like that market's just been a little tough from a demand perspective.
45:52
SPEAKER_02: So it it's all over the place.
45:54
SPEAKER_02: That's interesting.
45:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there's no one size fits all.
45:56
SPEAKER_02: This is why you hire people that know what they're doing, and you you you work with people that are much more experienced and much more well-versed at situations such as that.
46:03
SPEAKER_02: Totally.
46:04
SPEAKER_02: I would be lost.
46:06
SPEAKER_02: I'm good at a lot of things, but I surround myself with people that are much better at specific things, and that just makes life so much easier.
46:12
SPEAKER_02: So much better.
46:13
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
46:14
SPEAKER_02: Well, no, this was awesome, man.
46:15
SPEAKER_02: I again, I'm not an outdoorsy person at all, but I would absolutely 1000% go back and stay with you guys for another three, four days, however long.
46:23
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we'd love to have you.
46:24
SPEAKER_02: And this time I'll have I'm riding a fucking horse.
46:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we'll see.
46:27
SPEAKER_00: You know, at this point, like the joke is better if actually like I could get you up every year, promise you a horse, and only get you a donkey or like different animals.
46:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like that would be like the ultimate troll if I could do that to you.
46:38
SPEAKER_00: And it's pretty tempting for me to like really put some effort into it.
46:41
SPEAKER_02: You know what?
46:42
SPEAKER_02: I I respect the effort for for somebody to go that far or joke, I respect the hell out of it.
46:46
SPEAKER_00: Any anything worth doing with doing well, right?
46:50
SPEAKER_02: Well, Noah, this is awesome.
46:51
SPEAKER_02: Make sure I'm just stuck with a donkey for the next day.
46:56
SPEAKER_02: For the rest of your life.
46:58
SPEAKER_02: So you don't know this, but you're going outside and like your car's been replaced.
47:00
SPEAKER_02: Your car's gone, it's just donkeys.
47:02
SPEAKER_02: Ovalndescalante, uvelin.com, Oveland Hotels on Instagram and all the social platforms.
47:07
SPEAKER_02: Man, Noah, this was awesome.
47:08
SPEAKER_02: I I really do appreciate you coming in and sharing.
47:10
SPEAKER_02: Not only just the wisdom and and and what you've learned and your experiences and definitely the Chef James Tree stories, but also just sharing more about the locations that you have and that are upcoming.
47:19
SPEAKER_02: Uh, it's it's it's such a great time.
47:21
SPEAKER_02: For anybody listening, then you want a a weekend getaway or just uh a romantic getaway, even just getaway with your friends.
47:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's such a great experience.
47:30
SPEAKER_02: Thanks so much.
47:30
SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me.
47:31
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
47:32
SPEAKER_02: Julie, got any last words before we get out of here?
47:34
unknown: No, but I already do.
47:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, bring your husband.
47:37
unknown: I know I need to see.
47:38
unknown: I'm allergic to horses.
47:40
unknown: I'm allergic to donkeys.
47:41
SPEAKER_02: You're allergic to horses, so only donkeys.
47:43
SPEAKER_02: Only donkeys for Julie.
47:45
SPEAKER_02: See, that's gonna ruin the joke.
47:46
SPEAKER_02: I know.
47:46
SPEAKER_02: The whole big head team gets donkeys, it's a whole thing.
47:50
SPEAKER_02: We'll catch new episodes each week on heybighead.com.
47:53
SPEAKER_02: This was fun, Noah.
47:55
SPEAKER_02: I appreciate it, man.
47:56
SPEAKER_02: We'll see you then.
48:01
SPEAKER_02: That was good, that was fun.