Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Mark Reichle on Craft Lodging, Quality Standards, and What Makes a Boutique Stays Unforgettable

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Mark Reichle on Craft Lodging, Quality Standards, and What Makes a Boutique Stays Unforgettable · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:03
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:08
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:11
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:14
adversity. As you listen today, let one
0:17
idea shape what you do next. My name is Anthony Kotaspoti and
0:21
today's guest is Mark Reichley. He is the Chief Executive
0:25
Officer of Select Registry, a curated collection of boutique
0:29
Inns and bed and breakfast known for setting the standard and
0:32
authentic lodging experiences. For over 50 years, Select
0:37
Registry has connected travelers with exceptional hospitality,
0:41
rigorous quality assurance, and the promise of a memorable stay.
0:45
Mark joined the company after two decades as an innkeeper
0:49
himself. After serving on Select
0:51
Registry's Board of directors, he took on the Director of
0:54
Operations role and eventually worked his way up to CEO.
0:58
During the pandemic, Mark LED initiatives such as the Select
1:02
Safe program, which helped keep guests and staff secure.
1:06
He regularly appears on hospitality podcasts supporting
1:09
independent property owners through education, networking,
1:13
and high standards of guest experience.
1:15
Today, the organization features hundreds of independent
1:19
properties across North America, all united by a rigorous
1:23
inspection process and a passion for excellence.
1:26
Now, before we get into all that good stuff, today's episode is
1:30
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2:16
All right, back to our guest today, the CEO of Select
2:19
Registry, Mark Reichley. Thanks for making the time to
2:22
Share your story today. Thank you so much for inviting
2:25
me, Anthony. I really appreciate it.
2:27
So Mark, you began your career at Ford Motor Company before
2:32
spending over 2 decades as an innkeeper.
2:36
How did you find your way from Ford Motor Company into becoming
2:39
an innkeeper? Yeah, so it was it was an
2:42
interesting journey. You know, my wife and I both
2:46
worked for Ford Motor Company. We did the same thing, but we
2:51
never saw each other because we had we had rigorous careers.
2:57
And so we started thinking about things that we might want to do
3:02
differently that we could do together that would give us more
3:06
time together. And, and we both sort of created
3:09
this list and oddly enough, with the typical stuff, you know, the
3:15
HR consulting compensation, HR compensation business.
3:19
But both of us oddly enough had own a bed and breakfast on this
3:23
list. And at first we laughed at it
3:26
like it was a, a ridiculous thing to, to consider.
3:29
And then it sort of stuck and became our passion.
3:34
So we took some classes. We started looking for places
3:41
that were suitable for us. You know, we had a fairly robust
3:46
list of things that were important in terms of location,
3:51
size of the business, what the business catered to.
3:56
And our intent was really to kind of understand what we
4:00
needed to save to do it down the road.
4:05
And during that process, we stumbled onto a property in
4:10
Kansas City that kind of met everything that we were looking
4:14
for, maybe not at the right time, but everything that we
4:19
were looking for. And you know, we decided to to
4:22
leave forward and and buy this business.
4:27
Now it was a challenge because, you know, you know, there was
4:32
always a carrot at Ford and, you know, we were leaving benefits
4:38
and a secure salary and what we felt would be secure careers.
4:45
So it wasn't an easy decision, but ended up being the right one
4:48
for us. So where were you physically
4:50
located when you were working for Ford?
4:52
So prior to owning the end, we were both in Cincinnati.
4:56
Ford had a couple of transmission plants and my wife
4:59
and I were each at one of the transmission plants.
5:03
I happen to travel all around with Ford.
5:05
I lived, I'm in Ohio for a while, in both Cincinnati, as I
5:11
mentioned, and in a little town called Sandusky, which is
5:13
outside of Cleveland. I was in Arizona at their
5:17
proving ground and then the rest of the time in the metropolitan
5:22
Detroit area. And you mentioned you both had
5:25
this idea on your wish list of owning a bed and breakfast.
5:28
What do you think was the attraction for each of you?
5:31
I I. Think part of it is that it was
5:36
something completely different from what we were doing.
5:41
It was truly owning our our own business.
5:46
You know, we were interested in sort of catering to business
5:53
market and we felt like we could kind of meld the interest and
5:59
owning an in with catering to business travelers.
6:02
So that kind of worked well for us.
6:07
You mentioned that you took classes.
6:09
What kind of classes were you taking to learn about the
6:11
industry? Yeah.
6:13
So, so there were a couple of folks that sort of did like
6:17
this. So you want to be an innkeeper
6:18
class And, you know, it was a a weekend thing.
6:21
And it was actually we were we were kind of expressing this
6:27
interest to my wife's sister and she gave it to us as a gift.
6:32
And it happened to be occurring in Cincinnati around the time
6:36
that she gave it to us. And, you know, was a man who had
6:43
run and in successfully for years and started to consult
6:50
with folks who wanted to do the same thing.
6:53
And so he told us everything We talked about financials, things
6:57
you should do, things you shouldn't do.
7:00
It wasn't anything like, you know, like you'll be excited to
7:08
make cookies and you'll be having wine with guests.
7:12
It was a very real look at what in keeping life is.
7:16
You know, a lot of folks get into this business thinking that
7:20
it's going to be a sort of this host and Hostess experience.
7:26
And if guests are going to come in and be happy and, you know,
7:30
they talk to you about the fact that you're going to be plunging
7:33
toilets and that sometimes guests aren't going to be happy.
7:37
And that you have to kind of go beyond just offering a bed and
7:41
think about what kind of experience and what kind of
7:43
heart you want to put into the place.
7:45
So it was, I think, intended to be more discouraging than
7:50
encouraging. But the discouragement didn't
7:54
work for us. We had, we had kind of expected
7:56
that, you know, we went into it with our eyes wide open.
7:59
We weren't, you know, we weren't necessarily going into it
8:04
thinking that it would be a cakewalk.
8:07
So you're in Cincinnati. You take this class, how did you
8:11
find this opportunity in Kansas City and say more about maybe
8:16
the timing wasn't quite right? Yeah.
8:19
So the the timing wasn't quite right, was all around, was all
8:24
around financials. So we stumbled on to this place
8:31
because there was a, a magazine at the time, you know, there was
8:34
no, there was no Internet. So there was a magazine.
8:38
We got this magazine every month we looked in the back or ends
8:41
for sale. And it just so happened that we
8:44
looked in the back for an end for sale and this place in
8:48
Kansas City popped up. But the only reason it was there
8:52
that month was because in the prior month it was misplaced in
8:56
Mississippi. So there was some, there was
8:59
some miscommunication about what the abbreviation for Missouri
9:05
was. And I think that it was Ms. was
9:08
put in instead of MO. And so they as a courtesy let
9:13
the ad run in the right place the next month, which is when we
9:16
happened to, which is when we happened to see it.
9:19
And I think from a. So the prior owners, the folks
9:24
that we bought this business from had a profile of their
9:29
ideal guest. And I think that we met, you
9:34
know, we met the ideal portion for a number of things, but for
9:40
the, you know, having a, a substantial resource to put use
9:46
for a down payment. And luckily they worked with us.
9:50
They were, they were really supportive.
9:53
They knew that, you know, the, the bent, the business had 13
9:58
rooms. It was a busy operation and said
10:03
set in an urban environment, lots of turnover.
10:07
And they knew that the folks that they had spoken with prior
10:10
to us who were sort of retiring and looking to own a bed and
10:16
breakfast as a retirement gig wouldn't cut it because the
10:19
business and, and we, we kind of tested that the business was
10:25
busy and active and exhausting. So we met there, we met their
10:32
profile for, for, you know, for being hospitable.
10:38
We met their profile sort of as a, the energy demographic, if
10:44
you will. But we did have some challenges
10:47
because our plan was to save money for about 10 years and buy
10:51
it at that time. And we didn't have, we hadn't
10:55
done that yet. So one of the things that was
10:57
interesting about our, about our purchase is that my wife found
11:05
in some research she'd like, she was on a business trip for Ford
11:09
and she stopped at a bookstore and was looking at, you know,
11:13
various books about buying a business.
11:16
And she ran across a a last chapter in a book that talked
11:21
about rolling over your 401K into a business without losing
11:28
or without having to pay a tax penalty.
11:31
Now, currently that is a a fairly common practice.
11:36
At the time it was obscure. There was like one law firm in
11:40
Chicago that we that had done this successfully.
11:46
And so we called them, they started us walking through this
11:51
process and we were really, really skeptical.
11:54
Like we thought at any moment the shoe was going to drop or,
11:57
you know, all of a sudden we were going to buy this business
12:00
and, you know, the tax bill was going to come due.
12:02
But overtime, we were assured that that it was a legitimate
12:07
process. And they walked us through
12:10
everything and they made it happen for us.
12:13
So you were. Able to roll over the four O 1K
12:15
as a way to put that down payment down, purchase the
12:17
business and you guys started pretty quickly and you were off
12:22
to the races and everything was sunshine and rainbows, right?
12:27
Yeah, I mean, we, we left Ford on October 31st.
12:33
We drove from Cincinnati in a U-Haul and our car with our dog
12:39
and we started at the end on November 1st.
12:42
And one of the things that we had built into our sales
12:46
agreement with the prior owners because we had developed this
12:50
great relationship with them, we developed this overlap period.
12:55
So two months prior to closing, it was a little bit risky. 2
12:59
months prior to closing we left our jobs.
13:03
We came and worked for them and then two months after the
13:07
closing they continued to work for us and they taught us
13:12
everything about the business. We knew nothing.
13:15
We were willing sponges and the only the only stipulation was
13:22
that we had to just do what they asked of us.
13:27
That if they we didn't agree with the process, we could
13:30
change it when this four month period was over, but at least
13:34
learn the business and it was really, really beneficial.
13:40
And at the same time, they introduced us to Kansas City
13:43
because a big part of our a big part of our work was helping
13:48
guests kind of experience, experience Kansas City.
13:53
And then at the same time, they also introduced us to they're
13:58
very loyal guests and made that transition for the guests a
14:01
little bit easier. So while it was, it is very
14:04
unique, I have I, you see that very rarely occur, but for us it
14:10
was a really good transition. Now at the end of that four
14:14
month period, there still were some challenges, you know, we,
14:18
you know, there still were things that we had to learn, but
14:21
we had the basics under our belt.
14:23
So I do want to get into present day and talking about select
14:26
registry. But before we get there, in your
14:29
tenure as an innkeeper, can you share a challenging experience
14:33
that going through that really helped to shape the way that you
14:38
think about and approach hospitality?
14:42
Yes, so the the worst experience was a guest started a fire in
14:47
one of our guest rooms and it was, you know, it was terrible.
14:54
It was right around it was Valentine's Day weekend.
14:58
We were full. They were careless.
15:01
They had put some candles on a bed and the bed caught on fire,
15:04
which started the room on fire and everybody was fine, but it
15:12
but it was it was awful. Well, here's what was
15:19
interesting though, is the the folks who started the fire were
15:24
as big a jerks after the fire as they were before.
15:27
They were not really sorry and they took advantage of every
15:34
extension of hospitality that we offered them and the other
15:38
guests. But the other guests could not
15:41
have been nicer or more supportive.
15:44
So it just really gave us this insight into human nature and
15:51
the fact that, you know, really most folks are most folks are
15:57
genuine and supportive. And you can't let the bad eggs
16:06
kind of spoil what you do for the for the 99% of the folks
16:10
that are really there to enjoy yourself.
16:14
So remind me how long you and your wife had this in?
16:18
21 years. 21 years and then how did the so you, you know what
16:23
this life is about, right as you move into select Registry and
16:27
you know, you're this organization that you know,
16:30
collects these brands together, you understand what the
16:34
innkeeper, the bed and breakfast life is like.
16:36
How did the opportunity for you to join Select Registry come
16:39
about? So it, it was, it was kind of
16:42
interesting. I we, we decided that we were
16:45
gonna put our property on the market.
16:48
We had some concerns about where interest rates were gonna go and
16:52
we knew that as interest rates went up, you know, the, the,
16:57
the, that the cost of or the, the selling price would come
17:01
down and that, that concerned us.
17:03
So we also felt like it was going to take us about five
17:06
years to sell the property just because, you know, it's a, it's
17:11
generally a slow process and it's not always easy to find the
17:15
right person that wants to be in that location at that time.
17:19
So I started to worry about what I was going to do next.
17:24
So I felt like I had time, but I, I felt like, wow, I'm a 55
17:29
year old man and I'm not sure that, you know, my experience as
17:34
an innkeeper is going to translate into the working
17:37
world. So I better start looking for, I
17:39
better start looking for something now.
17:41
And it just so happened that Select Registry had just done
17:47
some restructuring and established some new positions
17:51
and I happen to be qualified. Now we had been Select Registry
17:57
members since we only in, we inherited it from membership
18:02
from the prior owners. And I was very involved in the
18:08
governance of the organization. So I was on the board for a
18:12
number of years. So I was not only familiar with,
18:16
I was not only familiar with in keeping and you know, the
18:20
struggles and the successes of that that world brings, but I
18:24
also was very familiar with the operation of, of select registry
18:30
and how it works. So that was helpful.
18:33
And so I started this Director of Operations job and it evolved
18:38
into my current role as CEO. OK, so tell us what it is that
18:43
you guys do. What are the services that you
18:45
provide? What is the benefit for in in a
18:49
small bed and breakfast to be a member of this?
18:53
Sure. So we essentially have two
18:57
customer groups. We have the traveller that we
19:00
that we offer up our product to and we have members who we offer
19:06
up membership too. So for the traveler, the
19:10
organization was essentially started to help the traveler
19:14
sort of navigate the independent lodging environment because
19:20
there was no regulation. And this organization was
19:24
established to sort of put some criteria in place that the
19:29
traveler could trust, that they could know that they could go to
19:32
a property and some of the very basic things would be would be
19:38
met. So what that means for our
19:41
members is in order to be a part of the organization, they have
19:46
to meet a certain set of standards.
19:48
So quality assurance is kind of the hallmark of our organization
19:52
against US, what we were founded on and what continues to drive
19:56
our what continues to drive our membership.
20:00
And then after a member is is vetted and they and we've we're
20:09
assured that they will that they have met our quality
20:12
requirements, then we kind of bring the two together.
20:16
So the traveler that's looking for sort of curated quality
20:20
assured properties. With the member who who meets
20:25
those standards and then and we do that, you know, through our
20:29
website, through marketing efforts.
20:34
And so we market our members basically through through
20:39
highlighting experiences that can be had in or around their
20:44
and or around their properties. So we also have an opportunity
20:50
for our members to network and learn from each other.
20:54
You know, one of the things that was really beneficial for my
20:58
wife and I when we moved into this world of in keeping is kind
21:04
of the knowledge of folks who were doing it.
21:07
So not only the people that we bought the business from, but
21:11
you know, Select Registry has a breadth of knowledge in terms of
21:17
innkeeper capacity, what they've done, how they have done things.
21:21
And it's a very generous community in terms of sharing,
21:27
in terms of sharing ideas. And then in addition to that,
21:32
finding things that we think will help our members run their
21:36
businesses a little bit better. In some instances, that might be
21:40
things that they are that they might not be able to afford on
21:44
their own. And we utilize the environment
21:48
to expose them to that and maybe give it to get get it to them in
21:54
a manner that is a little more affordable.
21:57
Give me an example of that last one there, Mark.
21:59
Yeah. So we have a a couple of things
22:03
that we recently introduced and one of them is a chat bot.
22:09
So we wanted to have a chat bot on our site to help with
22:15
travellers who were looking at midnight, but no one was there
22:19
to answer their question or to, you know, help with travellers
22:23
who really want that kind of interaction.
22:27
And so we found a company that that not only could put it on
22:32
our side, but also extended that benefit to our members as well.
22:38
So we have kind of packaged that in in as a part of our members
22:44
dues. We have it on ours and then they
22:49
have it on their side if they if they want to.
22:52
So everybody's independent. That means not only
22:56
independently home, but independently minded.
22:59
And so some folks don't want to have it, which is fine with us.
23:02
You know, I think our vision for the future is that that they
23:06
would be talking to each other down the road.
23:09
So our hope is that we will have we will have a certainly a broad
23:14
base of that. And then the other, the other
23:16
thing you know, we work with APR firm and we've been able to
23:22
extend APR benefit to our members to ensure that if they
23:30
want to broadcast either their property or an experience or
23:37
something that's special about them, they're able to do that.
23:42
And the, the folks at CIC have been really helpful and
23:47
extending that to our members. So it's good.
23:50
Give us the name of the PR firm again.
23:54
CIIC public relations So Mccarolyn Izzo is the is the
24:01
primary of the of the business, no.
24:04
I think that's who got us connected for this, absolutely.
24:06
Absolutely have to. Say thank you for that.
24:09
So you mentioned that there are standards to be members and
24:14
that's part of what the guests, you know, come to rely on.
24:18
Oh, if it's, you know, a select registry location that I know
24:22
that these criteria are going to be met.
24:25
What are those criteria? So it is an extensive list, but
24:32
it is kind of encompassed in a couple of different categories.
24:38
One of the one of the major pieces of it is the physical
24:43
condition of the property. So the exterior and the interior
24:47
not only well maintained but updated and contemporary so that
24:53
it meets the traveler's needs and expectations.
25:01
Cleanliness hospitality we have an entire section on
25:06
hospitality, food service and also their digital presence as
25:12
well. So the consumers experience in
25:15
migrating their way through the web, their website and
25:21
eventually finally booking the room in addition to how they
25:28
interact with guests while they're while they're at the
25:30
property. So we have a, a group of
25:34
evaluators, all of whom are required to be former select
25:38
registry members and they go out and assess the properties and
25:44
based upon these criteria. And maybe while I mentioned 5
25:49
different, 5 or 6 different categories, there are probably 2
25:56
or 300 line items that we apply points to not within each, but
26:02
in total. So you know, hospitality might
26:05
have 15 different areas that we are, we are looking at.
26:12
And what's helpful about the process is first of all, it's
26:15
not, it's not a surprise. So the innkeeper is aware that
26:19
that the evaluator is coming, which is different than how it
26:23
used to be. It used to be sort of this blind
26:27
secret shopper that sort of after they left sent you a
26:33
report on how on how you did. And now the process is that the
26:39
the property knows that the evaluator is there.
26:42
The evaluator stays overnight and experiences the place like a
26:47
like a traveler would. And then at the end of their
26:51
stay, they sit down and have a discussion with the innkeeper
26:55
about things that they did really well, things that could
26:59
use some improvement. And, and the value of that
27:02
conversation is that, you know, the, the detail is not lost.
27:08
So when you get a report, you know, they say you passed or
27:12
you're failed. And you know, our role is to
27:14
elevate the lodging experience of all of our properties.
27:20
And so that consultation is, is really important in helping the
27:26
member understand that this would be what the traveler is
27:30
experiencing and this is how you might want to make some
27:35
adjustments to meet their expectations a little bit
27:39
better. As you were talking there, Mark
27:41
I taking a peek at your website and I think one of the really
27:44
cool features of the site is kind of like a hotels.com, if
27:50
you will. You can book, you can find any
27:53
one of the member properties, you know, right here on the home
27:56
page, You know, just, you know, enter my location, the dates I
27:59
want to stay and it's like, oh, here's some locations near you.
28:02
So for folks that, you know, enjoy staying at like a small
28:06
and, you know, a little bed and breakfast, this is a way that
28:10
they can, you know, plan their trip and find something that's
28:14
in the location that they want to visit.
28:16
Yeah, it's it is set up a couple of different ways.
28:20
One is to identify a location. In some cases it might be that
28:25
they have a particular property in mind that they want, that
28:29
they've heard about, that they want to find out more about.
28:33
In some instances, it's an experience, you know, so if
28:37
you're looking for sort of a foodie getaway, you know, you
28:44
might want our experience this page to kind of direct you to
28:47
that. Or if historic significance is
28:52
important to you, that time you might be directed in a different
28:56
way to a different set of properties.
28:59
You know, travel, the travel journey in terms of finding the
29:06
right place is different from person to person.
29:10
So in some instances it's very specific in terms of I'm going
29:14
to, I'm going to Camden, me and I want to find which properties
29:20
are there. And in some instances it's I
29:23
want to go leaf peeping in Vermont.
29:25
What What are what properties do you have in Vermont?
29:29
Sorry, I'm smiling a little bit, I've never heard that term
29:31
before. Leaf peeping is that?
29:33
Right. Yeah.
29:34
That so I I'm limited under a rock apparently that that's a
29:39
common phrase OK leaf peeping that's fun now you stepped into
29:44
the CEO role at select registry during the pandemic.
29:48
I mean, you know, quite a time to be kind of, you know,
29:53
climbing the ladder there. Can can you walk us through, you
29:56
know, what COVID was like for the members and you know, if
29:59
there was something that you were able to do to help these
30:03
properties kind of navigate through those uncertain times?
30:06
Yeah. So, you know, it was
30:08
challenging. You know, places were closing
30:12
for a variety of reasons. In some instances, you know,
30:17
they might have been elderly innkeepers who didn't want to
30:21
have people coming into their place anymore, so they just shut
30:25
down many places sold as private residences.
30:30
And then members were challenged with the uncertainty of revenue
30:37
and how they were going to pay their mortgage and how they were
30:42
going to retain staff if that was important to them.
30:46
And so there were a lot of a lot of concerns.
30:51
And being that we're sort of a marketing organization, one of
30:55
the one of the first things that they might look at is a
31:01
marketing organization when you're not really marketing to a
31:05
customer and using kind of saving costs by by eliminating
31:14
that, eliminating that service. So we looked at it in a couple
31:19
of different ways. So, you know, we had to kind of
31:23
adjust how we communicated with the traveler too.
31:26
We didn't want to be tone deaf and you know, say, hey, here's a
31:30
great place to go when, you know, they couldn't get in the
31:33
door. And then we also had to kind of
31:37
modify our our financial model as well and offer a little bit
31:44
of offer a little bit of grace to the extent that we could.
31:49
The thing that probably was most effective that I think our
31:52
members found most useful through COVID was our Select
31:57
Safe program. So our Director of Quality
31:59
Assurance developed a set of criteria that the members could
32:06
take and apply to their business and feel assured that the
32:12
traveler could come and be in a safe environment.
32:15
And it was direction from the CDC, from the hotel and lodging
32:23
associations to the extent that we could, we took into
32:27
consideration kind of state and local differences to ensure that
32:33
to the ensure that our our properties were meeting the
32:39
criteria that they needed to meet.
32:42
Many of our members found that helpful because they were
32:45
floundering in terms of how they could and should operate and
32:50
this gave them a set of criteria to follow.
32:54
It was, it was self assessed so they would identify that they
33:00
met those criteria and then we sort of badge them as a select
33:05
safe property on our site. And it gave us an opportunity to
33:10
communicate that to the traveller who was and was kind
33:14
of a relevant way to maintain communication with them without
33:20
saying, you know, get on the road and travel.
33:22
So. What an undertaking for you,
33:25
though, I mean, to try to understand not just, you know,
33:28
CDC guidance, which was changing all the time, but different
33:32
states, you know, different municipalities had, you know,
33:36
their own advice as well that was regularly changing.
33:40
So for you guys to try to stay on top of all of that.
33:44
Yeah. So, so we we relied on our
33:48
members to to have some self direction in that regard.
33:53
And one of the things that we that we discovered certainly not
33:57
across the board, but in general, most areas were using
34:04
the same set of standards. So it was different from place
34:08
to place. But if you if you followed the
34:12
program from the broadest sense and generally would apply and if
34:16
a member had a question about how their their local situation
34:21
was different, we would be able to advise them on how they or we
34:26
were able to advise them on how they can handle that.
34:29
How was the select safe badge received from the customer side
34:34
of things? Do you think it drove more
34:37
visits, more for those people who weren't who who aren't on
34:41
the video version? Mark's eyebrows just shot
34:43
through the ceiling. He's like, Oh yeah, like,
34:46
absolutely. Yeah, 'cause.
34:48
You know, it was, it was interesting.
34:49
Many of our properties fared fairly well during COVID only
34:56
because maybe they had 6 cottages and you weren't
35:02
interacting with, you weren't interacting with anybody else.
35:07
You weren't going through the same communal door up the stairs
35:11
to a hallway with your individual room door.
35:15
You were outside going to a going to a cottage that was
35:22
somewhat secluded. You know, some of our members
35:27
closed some rooms down to allow that same sort of experience
35:31
with any kind of one single, one single structure.
35:36
But for the our members told us that the Select Safe program did
35:40
was it helped to ease the travelers mind as they were
35:45
considering coming to a property and it improved their, it
35:50
improved their business and their bottom line.
35:53
What are you seeing as a general trend right now?
35:56
We're recording in February of 2026.
35:58
Is the industry back to pre pandemic levels?
36:03
Is it still climbing to get there?
36:05
What are you saying? Yeah.
36:07
I think that's, that's really an interesting question because
36:12
after COVID, when travel started to open up, business was
36:19
booming. Business exceeded pre pandemic
36:23
levels, especially in terms of in terms of revenue, because
36:29
there was such high demand, you know, the pent up and you know,
36:34
folks were willing to pay a premium to to stay at and to
36:40
stay at a place and have a, a good experience.
36:43
What's interesting now is that that is starting to, that is
36:47
starting to settle down and I think that things are settling
36:51
back down to more of a normal pace.
36:55
You know, so either prices are adjusting or prices are
37:02
adjusting or occupancy is adjusting depending on how you
37:06
manipulate those two factors. The other thing that's really
37:10
interesting is that, you know, during the pandemic, the service
37:15
model changed because nobody wanted service.
37:19
Nobody wanted housekeeping to come in and, you know, touch up
37:24
your room during, during a, during your stay, nobody wanted
37:30
to sit in a dining room and have dinner.
37:33
You know, God forbid you had magazines in your room.
37:36
You know, nobody wanted to have a magazine in a room because
37:38
they were afraid to, they were afraid to touch it.
37:42
And so innkeepers implemented a number of policies that that the
37:48
traveler is starting to to pull away from.
37:52
So the traveler is now, while they were fine with limited
37:57
service during the pandemic and kind of the aftermath of the
38:02
pandemic, I think the expectation now is that those
38:06
services need to come back to, to be a part of the, a part of
38:11
the norm. So some things are staying in
38:13
place. You know, those properties that
38:15
implemented room service are finding that that's a benefit.
38:19
But certainly housekeeping is, is becoming, is becoming more,
38:25
more of a critical expectation. And I think, you know, just sort
38:30
of amenities and varied food services are starting to ease as
38:37
well. Did you find that it was
38:40
difficult for members to reintroduce those services that
38:43
they had before because they were out of practice?
38:45
They didn't. I don't have the staff in place
38:47
for it. Or was it like, no, we know what
38:49
we're doing, we just sort of plug it back in?
38:51
Yeah, plug it back in. But the staffing issue of course
38:56
was, you know, a problem on top of that, you know, many places
39:01
while they might have wished to have a more full service
39:07
operation, kind of stayed with sort of a self-service model
39:11
because they couldn't attract, they couldn't attract the
39:15
employees that they needed to needed to attract.
39:18
And I think that that certainly was a part of a part of the sort
39:24
of housekeeping issue as well, because folks really struggled
39:28
with finding, you know, housekeepers and food service
39:34
folks that could do the work at the standard they expected.
39:41
So in some instances, they were sort of forced to hold on to
39:44
something a little longer than they might normally have.
39:48
But in terms of plugging it back in, I think, you know, everybody
39:53
was so used to doing that and I think really felt good about
39:59
offering that level of service. And so returning to that was
40:03
kind of getting back to really what they wanted to provide.
40:06
Right. It's the hospitality industry.
40:07
People are in this because they love to provide that service.
40:10
And so it's probably a lot more fulfilling now that they can get
40:13
back to more of that core mission.
40:16
Absolutely, yeah. You know, you were talking
40:18
before about, you know, some of the properties, they have
40:20
historical significance. You know, you've talked in the
40:24
past about authentic craft lodging versus any of these
40:28
cookie cutter hotel stays. Can you share an example of an
40:33
inn within the Select Registry membership that embodies this
40:38
sense of craftsmanship? Yeah.
40:41
So what's interesting about craft lodging and for, you know,
40:46
for those who need a little education on what that is, you
40:51
know, it is authentic accommodations, unique
40:55
experiences and sort of this connection with sort of people
41:00
and plays. That's how we kind of define
41:04
craft lodging. And what's interesting about
41:06
craft lodging is that it's different from from property to
41:11
property. So what how one property might
41:14
embrace it is different than another.
41:16
So we have this property in Mendocino, California called the
41:22
Sea Rock Inn. It sits on, it sits on a Cove
41:29
that guests kind of overlook in their stay.
41:32
And they have incorporated kind of that into everything that
41:39
they do, how the rooms are set, the amenities that are provided
41:44
in the room, the experiences that they offer to their guests
41:49
are all intertwined with this sort of coastal experience.
41:55
And you, we, you can kind of juxtapose that to I was just at
42:00
this property a couple of weeks ago in rural Virginia.
42:04
So it's not a, a coastal place. It's more of a pastoral setting.
42:10
And they have really embraced the French heritage of one of
42:16
the owners. And everything about the place
42:19
is a nod to that. The rooms of the aesthetic of
42:23
the place is is decorated to kind of set that tone and then
42:31
the the food and the sort of genuine service really kind of
42:41
match their passion for for good food and an exceptional sort of
42:48
foodie experience. So they're very different
42:51
properties, but they both kind of embrace a passion about a
42:57
piece of their setting, whether it be sort of the coast or the
43:03
environment that they're creating that Harkins back to
43:07
childhood memories and and Pratt past experiences.
43:13
That's really cool. You know, I think it was in
43:16
Authority magazine, Mark, where you talked about creating
43:21
experiences that keep guests returning.
43:24
I wonder, you know, you shared a couple of great examples of some
43:27
members who are using that, you know, craftsmanship and sort of
43:30
the uniqueness of local charm and character, the inspiration
43:35
behind it. Can you think of an example of
43:38
one of your members that's implemented a really innovative
43:42
idea for guests that has really wowed them, really keeps them
43:47
coming back? Yeah, it it is really kind of
43:51
interesting the things that our members come up with.
43:54
But I have two examples that come to mind up front.
43:59
The 1st is the Homestead Madison in Madison, CT in a in a pre
44:10
arrival communication, ask the obscure question about your
44:16
music preference. What kind of music do you like?
44:19
And then the innkeeper takes you to your room and there is an old
44:24
record player sitting in your room and a collection of vintage
44:29
albums that are tailored to what you identified in your, in your
44:35
response to them that you can kind of sit and listen to.
44:40
And it's, I thought it's really fascinating.
44:42
And that's, you know, that's not that's not easy to pull off.
44:45
But they have a huge record collection and you can go out
44:48
into the can go out into their library and pull others of a
44:54
different genre if you if you want.
44:57
So I think that's just really kind of a unique.
45:00
I thought you. Were going to say they had
45:01
something sort of piped through, you know, Bluetooth or which
45:04
would also be cool, but to like have like vinyl there that you
45:09
can, you know, play an old record that's fascinating.
45:12
Yeah, it really is. The, the other thing that comes
45:15
to mind is we have a property in Brewster, MA called the Captain
45:20
Freeman Inn and they have a flower bar.
45:24
So as guests are being toured around, they're, they're
45:27
introduced to the flower bar. It's got vases and a variety of
45:32
different flowers. And they encourage the guests to
45:36
build their own bouquet that they can kind of enjoy in their
45:40
room and then take home with them when they're when they're
45:44
done. And you know, it is really that
45:48
that piece is really kind of the an interesting sort of social
45:53
media moment because, you know, guests are taking pictures of
45:57
their, you know, of their bouquets and sharing it on their
46:03
social media feeds. And you know it.
46:06
It promotes the end at the same time so that.
46:10
Instagrammable moment. Absolutely, Absolutely.
46:13
I love. It.
46:14
Let's shift gears now, Mark. You know, we've talked about
46:18
some ups and downs, but a lot of good stuff that's happened.
46:21
Let's talk about a particularly big challenge that you've
46:25
overcome in your life, whether it's personal or professional.
46:28
I'd like to hear what it was, how you got through it and what
46:33
do you think you learn coming through the other side.
46:36
Yeah. So, so professionally, you know,
46:43
I've, I've kind of uprooted myself a couple of times.
46:49
So prior to working at Ford Motor Company, I worked on a
46:54
cattle ranch and I left the agriculture industry and kind of
47:01
moved to Nashville side unseen to go to Graduate School, which
47:05
was my Segway into Ford Motor Company.
47:08
But that process was really challenging.
47:10
I left, you know, an industry that I had grown up in that I
47:14
was passionate about. I left my family and I'm the
47:18
youngest of of seven kids. All of my siblings and my mom
47:22
and dad were out there. And that was a big challenge for
47:25
me to to leave that. And I love California and it was
47:30
difficult to leave that. And so I also replicated that
47:35
when we left Ford and moved into the innkeeping world.
47:40
So kind of leaving a familiar environment and going into
47:46
something that you're completely unfamiliar with that you kind of
47:53
have the skills to do, but you have no experience to, you have
47:58
no experience to kind of rely on.
48:01
And there are a couple of things and this is probably more
48:05
related to my transition from Ford in keeping.
48:08
There are a couple of things that I think were helpful and I
48:13
I think that they just one of them kind of just happened
48:16
naturally and that was networking.
48:18
So what I mentioned earlier is, you know, building network of
48:24
folks that you can kind of talk to and rely on in the incuby
48:30
world, that's a little more difficult because you don't
48:32
necessarily have a colleague in the cubicle next to you, but
48:37
that community was was available in select registry.
48:43
And then the other, the other piece is was to kind of focus on
48:49
process and make sure that regardless, regardless of what
48:56
was going on that there were processes in place that could
49:00
ensure a smooth operation and ensure that things would would
49:06
run well. So professionally, those were, I
49:11
think those were my two biggest challenges.
49:14
So we talked a little bit about why you moved from Cincinnati
49:17
out to Kansas City, right. You guys wanted to own a bed and
49:20
breakfast and. And this was your opportunity
49:23
when you were younger. What was driving you to leave
49:27
the comfortable confines of your home in California to move out
49:31
to Tennessee sight unseen for this Graduate School?
49:34
Yeah. It was, it was a little bit of a
49:37
little bit of dumb luck. So I graduated from college.
49:41
I worked on this cattle ranch. I had work for these folks
49:46
throughout college, but I I knew that I wanted to pursue the next
49:54
level in education, but I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to
49:58
do. So my two options were an MBA
50:03
and to go into sort of the later relations world.
50:10
And then the other option was to pursue something in in the
50:15
animal health world, so either genetics or nutrition.
50:23
What I I grew up in a really small farming community in
50:27
southeastern California. And when I was in high school,
50:32
many of my friends who happened to be farmers, sons and
50:39
daughters, had to leave school because there were big labor
50:43
strikes by the United Farm Workers and they had to get the
50:48
stuff out of the field so they would miss school because
50:52
because of that. And that always stuck with me.
50:55
And so the the business side of the business side of my options
51:02
weighed more on my mind and my intent really was to live in
51:08
Tennessee for a couple of years and then eventually get back to
51:13
California and do some sort of Labor relations work in the
51:19
agricultural industry. But you know, life had life had
51:25
its own way of directing me. So I felt like, you know,
51:31
getting experience in Labor Relations with the United Auto
51:36
Workers is, you know, is, is a great experience and not often
51:43
something that you that will come your way.
51:46
So that's what took me then to to Detroit.
51:50
I mean, I grew up in the desert. I had no, I had no interest at
51:54
all in moving to what I referred to as the frozen Tundra.
51:59
But it was it was a great experience, not only not only
52:04
working for Ford, but I really fell in love with Michigan.
52:09
So, you know, some of the things that kind of helped you in these
52:12
moves is, you know, focusing on process.
52:15
I hear what you say, and focusing on networking.
52:18
And that reminds me, we kind of glossed over that advantage,
52:23
that benefit for select registry members of the networking, being
52:27
able to sort of learn from each other.
52:29
Can you say more about how that takes place?
52:32
Is there an annual event or people on a Facebook discussion
52:35
Group? A Slack channel?
52:37
Yeah. So we do have a a Facebook
52:40
discussion group where I find it working best is in our meeting
52:49
settings. So where the where the folks are
52:52
face to face. So we have two different we two
52:55
different meetings structures. We have a national meeting which
53:01
will host this year in November in Florida and then in opposite
53:08
years we do that every other year.
53:09
And in between that we would we have smaller district meetings.
53:15
So the national meeting gives our members exposure to a larger
53:21
group of innkeepers. In some cases they're in
53:25
completely different geographic areas and, you know, might be
53:31
doing things a little bit differently because of that.
53:33
And there's an opportunity to to learn and then in the smaller,
53:38
more regional settings, it's just a little more intimate.
53:41
And I think folks are a little more comfortable with with the
53:47
conversations that they want to have.
53:50
And we structure our meetings to encourage to encourage
53:55
interaction. So we might have a speaker, but
53:59
then we might break out and have our members talk about how that
54:03
applies to their businesses. They might do that at A, at a
54:10
small table discussion and then each of those tables will kind
54:14
of share their, share their highlights.
54:19
And then, you know, of course, the lunchtime, cocktail time,
54:24
dinner time discussions are great opportunities to do that.
54:29
I personally learned more as an innkeeper from, from those
54:34
discussions then from anything else.
54:38
You know, as I mentioned earlier, it's a really generous
54:41
group of folks in terms of sharing information.
54:44
And the thing that you know we belong to when we own the end,
54:47
we belong to a lot of different associations either at the state
54:54
or local level. And the thing that was different
54:56
really about the select registry members is that they were more
55:02
their their business strategies and how they run their business
55:07
was more aligned with how we were running ours sort of as a
55:11
as a profession and a business and not a hobby.
55:17
And so that piece of it was always assuring as well.
55:23
Mark, can you think back to your 20 plus years as an innkeeper,
55:27
as a member of Select Registry? Something specific that you
55:31
learn from one of these networking events that made an
55:35
impact on your business. I'm asking to dig into the
55:40
memory banks there. Now that was a dangerous a
55:45
dangerous ask, but. Maybe it was an unfair question.
55:54
You've been removed from that space for a little bit now, no?
55:56
I I think that I I'm just trying and there were a number of
56:01
instances. So here, here is here is one
56:11
example. At one point in time, we were
56:16
trying to determine whether it would be beneficial for us to
56:20
expand our business into the restaurant world.
56:24
So we were, you know, in Kansas City, we're in an urban
56:27
environment. We we had a number of
56:32
restaurants nearby us, but what we saw occurring is that many of
56:37
those restaurants weren't unique or local to our area.
56:40
They were on large chains and our guests were looking for
56:44
something, something different than that.
56:47
So I happened to be at a meeting and asked one of the folks I was
56:55
talking about who I knew had a restaurant who was in an urban
56:58
environment. What, what they thought about
57:03
that idea and they said, don't do it.
57:06
Whatever, whatever you're doing, run from, run from opening a
57:11
restaurant. So they then, you know, shared
57:15
with us that is, you know, you have to have the right chef.
57:19
And if that chef leaves, who's going to cover the transition to
57:24
the next chef? And you know, it's, it's not, it
57:28
is just it, it expands your day from 4:00 AM to 5:00 PM to 4:00
57:36
AM to midnight when you're, you know, getting through dinner
57:40
service and cleaning up from that.
57:43
So it was really good advice. We never, we never pursued it.
57:49
And I think we maintained our sanity because of that, right?
57:54
Yeah, it. Sounds like you steered clear of
57:55
a big landmine there, yeah. Mark.
57:58
What's your superpower? I would say empathy.
58:05
So how does how does that show up this morning as well?
58:09
And, and she said something different.
58:11
She said collaboration. And in the spirit of
58:15
collaboration, I dismissed her idea and went with my own son.
58:20
How do you think that empathy shows up in your daily work at
58:24
Select Registry? Well, I think that in select
58:28
registry it's easy because I understand what the members are
58:32
going through because of my experience and I can make
58:37
decisions about the direction of the business based upon, based
58:43
upon that understanding. Even though it's been 7 years
58:46
since I've actually been in the, in the thick of innkeeping, I
58:51
think that, you know, many of the same challenges and issues
58:55
are still confronting my members.
58:57
So it helps in a big way. What is the future of Select
59:02
Registry look like? Any internal initiatives or
59:05
projects, new features, benefits or you know, big growth plans.
59:10
Yeah, So it's, it's interesting. I think that, you know, I, I
59:16
love old movies. And the line that comes to mind
59:22
is buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride.
59:25
Not not because of because of the organization itself, but
59:31
because of the external factors. And the, you know, the big
59:35
elephant in the room is AI and how that's going to impact not
59:42
only how the traveller discovers your property, but how the, how
59:50
the traveller is able to interact once they, once they
59:54
found you. And so we are really working
59:57
hard to try to understand well, to understand how the traveller
1:00:03
is going to complete their journey, how they're going to
1:00:08
book and eventually get to a property.
1:00:14
And then the other piece is, how are we?
1:00:18
How are we exposed to the traveler in this new world?
1:00:22
You know it and I mean, we, we have relied on for many years
1:00:27
sort of search engine optimization in a very
1:00:32
traditional way and that's now that's now changing.
1:00:36
So our goal is to be visible and relevant in sort of an AI search
1:00:44
as well, you know, to be the voice of authority as it relates
1:00:49
to craft lodging and independent lodging and make sure that the
1:00:56
traveler is aware of us. And then the other piece, and we
1:01:00
touched on this earlier is, you know, once the traveler does
1:01:04
find us, what are we going to, how are we going to make meet
1:01:09
their expectations in terms of personalization and, and, and
1:01:18
crafting experiences that they are interested in?
1:01:24
And you know, our, our vision is that a traveler's AI agent will
1:01:34
be talking with the AI tools on our site and that
1:01:40
personalization will be, will be crafted through through that
1:01:46
discussion based upon the input that the traveler has has put in
1:01:51
and what we have available. So what you're foreseeing is
1:01:57
that a lot of people are going to start having their own AI
1:02:00
agents that go out and find and book a place for them to stay on
1:02:04
their trip. And you want your AI agent to
1:02:08
interact with my AI agent, learn that, you know, I like M and Ms.
1:02:13
at check in or you know, whatever personalization item
1:02:16
there is, and then communicate that to the select registry
1:02:20
property that they've booked. And it, you know, you know,
1:02:24
there are a lot of things that have to be in place.
1:02:27
You know, we're working right now on our data structure and
1:02:31
unifying our data structure so that that information is is
1:02:37
readily available when we're at the point where customization
1:02:43
and personalization is, is a little more automatic and
1:02:50
seamless. The interesting thing about AI
1:02:53
is that that vision could change tomorrow.
1:02:57
And that's both interesting and a huge challenge to try to
1:03:03
navigate the the pace at which things change and the pace at
1:03:11
which things become obsolete and the complete adjustment and and
1:03:19
maybe your operational strategy from where you were six months
1:03:25
prior. Well, and it strikes me that
1:03:28
this is an area where your members are really lucky to have
1:03:32
a forward thinking central organization like Select
1:03:35
Registry to help guide them through this process, right?
1:03:38
A, you know, 6 room bed and breakfast isn't going to be able
1:03:42
to wrap their arms around what's coming with AI and how to adjust
1:03:48
for it, right? They need, they need your
1:03:50
guidance in this area. Yeah.
1:03:52
And that and that's the other piece that's that's really
1:03:56
important to us. You know, we like to think that
1:04:00
we are embracing this technology and we think that there is
1:04:08
opportunity for us to help our members because your, your, your
1:04:11
comment is, is spot on. You know, smaller properties
1:04:16
don't have the resources, whether it's staffing or
1:04:21
financial resources to really look into these and implement
1:04:27
them. And if we can help them navigate
1:04:29
through that, you know, we'll be we'll be in a good position
1:04:34
moving forward. Mark, I've just got one more
1:04:38
question for you today. But before I ask it, I want to
1:04:40
do 3 quick things. First of all, anybody who wants
1:04:43
to get in touch with Mark Reichley or Select Registry,
1:04:47
their websites really simpleselectregistry.com.
1:04:50
Mark, we talked about some of the things that folks will find
1:04:53
on the site. Did we miss anything?
1:04:55
Anything else you want to highlight?
1:04:56
Yeah. You know, if you're if you're
1:04:59
looking for inspiration, you know, we have we have blogs that
1:05:04
are experience based that highlight our properties, you
1:05:10
know, romantic things to do and New England and the best beaches
1:05:14
in in North Carolina. And for those folks who are kind
1:05:18
of looking for inspiration, I think that those that are that
1:05:23
are blog library is really is really beneficial.
1:05:28
You know, as I mentioned, whether you're looking for
1:05:32
experiences specifically or a particular location, you know,
1:05:38
our site is designed to help you navigate either of those
1:05:42
approaches to end up with a recommendation of a property or
1:05:47
recommendations of properties that you can then that you can
1:05:52
then kind of choose from on your own.
1:05:54
The part that really caught my attention there, Mark, was
1:05:57
helping guys like me find something romantic to do with
1:06:01
their lovely wives. I need all the suggestions I can
1:06:04
get so I can find that in your blog.
1:06:07
Yeah, good. Crack on Valentine's Day is
1:06:09
around the corner. It's three days away.
1:06:12
I don't know, maybe I can plan for next year.
1:06:15
Also, for those listening, if you're enjoying the show, please
1:06:18
take a moment to subscribe wherever you're listening.
1:06:21
It helps send a signal for others to find our podcast too.
1:06:25
So thanks for taking a quick moment to do that right now.
1:06:28
And as a reminder, you can get your hospitality employees
1:06:30
access to therapists, doctors and prescription meds that, as
1:06:33
paradoxical as it seems, actually increases your
1:06:36
company's net profit. So you can reach out to
1:06:38
us@backbenefits.com. So last question for you, Mark.
1:06:42
A year from now, what is 1 very specific thing that you hope to
1:06:45
be celebrating? Does it?
1:06:50
Have to be business related does.
1:06:53
Not well. I.
1:06:54
Would well the I'll I'll provided few business things.
1:06:57
I would love to be celebrating a successful national meeting and
1:07:04
a successful renewal season of our members and doing that,
1:07:09
celebrating in a more balanced environment.
1:07:15
Like that anything on the personal side or is that what
1:07:18
you meant in a more balanced environment?
1:07:20
Is that sort of balanced? Environment is, is bigger
1:07:23
picture. I think personally, you know, I
1:07:25
would love to, I would love to be training for 1/2 marathon.
1:07:30
So I've run in a number of marathons and I've kind of
1:07:37
gotten out of that and I don't want to do a full one.
1:07:40
I'd love to be in the works for a smaller version of that.
1:07:45
So we'll see how that transpires.
1:07:49
Mark Reichley from Select Registry I want to be the first
1:07:52
to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us
1:07:55
today. I really appreciate you being
1:07:56
here. Folly.
1:07:57
Was a pleasure, thank you so much.
1:07:59
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
1:08:02
podcast. Thanks for learning with us.
1:08:04
And if one thing stood out, put that into action today.