In his latest Missive, Bashar Wali begins with an allegory. He’s charged up about the planet and the role we, as hospitality professionals, play in keeping it…well, hospitable.

I have a secret insider track on something. It’s a hotel that you have never heard of.

A hotel that is bigger than you could imagine. The biggest hotel in the universe, in fact, with enough keys to house billions of people (7.89 to be exact, and counting). The housekeeping department is massive. The front desk team is simply enormous. The cuisine spans through every region: tajine from Africa, cheesesteak from Philly, crepes from Paris, poutine from Montreal. You name it, this hotel has it all. World class water adventures. Swimming with sharks? Sure. How about diving through waterfalls? No problem. Year-round skiing. River rafting. Canal cruising. Spear fishing. Spelunking. High thread counts and strong cappuccinos. Impeccable service. Well, most of the time.

The ultra-chic hotel? Funny enough, it’s more accessible than you think. It’s the planet we live on, and I have more news for you: we are the operators, investors, owners, staff, and tenants.

I have been thinking a lot lately as we move through this endless pandemic hangover. There are many layers to recovery from something so jarring, I wonder if we’ve even scratched the surface. The wide-reaching effects that the last years have had on our society, and our industry, are like endless layers being peeled back from a Vidalia onion. Each layer’s impact revealing itself as time passes. We’re still learning from what happened. Still grieving, perhaps, too.

So, what do we do next? How do we make meaningful change with the ultimate investment? How do we keep our planet hospitable?

We’ve tried. Many concepts have done the obvious. A few from the past come to mind:

Grasping at straws, literally. Cost out metal ones. Did you know they make straws out of avocado? Corn? Chocolate? Well, anything but plastic will do—even at triple the cost. Buy them. And buy a lot of them. 

Make your procurement department crazy sourcing all-bamboo to-go containers and flatware. Spend your entire capital on making those hotel-wide changes. Surprise, they don’t stack. Sure, they’re triple the cost. The Chef’s sauce soaks right through that planet-safe container, but it’s okay. Better for the planet, better for our hotel. Buy them. And buy a lot of them. 

Spend more capital on the water stations around the property, get rid of plastic water bottles once and for all. Oh, the irony. Gather the design team to come up with a branded reusable water bottle. $40 at the front desk, free for elite guests. Buy them. And buy a lot of them. 

Enter a global pandemic and a core-shake to hospitality. Most of these initiatives went right out the proverbial solar-powered window when we started wiping down our groceries. We brought back the plastic water bottles and shut down our fountains. No one wanted loose coffee grounds that could have been from a previous guest. Plastic K Cups came back. Disposable masks for everyone, and everywhere, all the time (until earlier this week, what a move). Plastic sanitizer in every form, in every crevice, in every corner. Single use toiletries, wrapped in plastic, because what if the guest before you used the shampoo? And everything in the restaurant, to-go, assuming it remained open. The clamshells came back, soggy fries became acceptable once more. Eco-friendly? Too costly.

So, now, in honor of Earth Day, I’ll ask again. How do we keep our planet (and our hotels) hospitable?

I look at Virgin hotels, as I often do, for inspiration. They do the usual song and dance: reuse and recycle, promote walking tourism, bike rentals, and there are no straws in sight. But as a guest of the hotel, their carbon offset program piqued my interest. They’re calling it “guest sponsored” since, for a $0.75 fee per night, your pocket change goes towards The Carbon Accounting Company. You as the guest are assured that an equal quality of carbon will be removed from the atmosphere or reverted from happening elsewhere in the world. The hotel via the guest is effectively putting funds towards offsetting each guest’s carbon footprint.  

I hit snooze and sunk into my pillow. Is Richard Branson, underneath the wacky trips to space and his jealous-inducing (for me at least) flowing mane of silver hair, some kind of saving the planet genius, I wondered.

75 cents? That’s a no-brainer. It would take upwards of five nights for that to equate to what we spend on our daily coffee—and if you’re staying at a Virgin property, you’ll barely notice it on your hotel bill. Is this the wave of the future of protecting our biggest investment, the planet? 

It’s a great place to start. I checked out with some newfound resolve: let’s continue to push our mental envelopes beyond not leaving wet towels on the floor and turning the lights off. 

Flying from LAX back to PDX, I caught a glimpse of Oregon’s rugged coastline. I tried my damnedest to spot Gearhart. I have a property opening there, Drifthaven at Gearhart, blocks away from unspoiled beach. The work to open Drifthaven in the midst of Earth Month felt serendipitous. 

Gearhart might as well be raw nature in a box. Grassy fields, dunes, no traffic lights, wide streets for riding bicycles. I think I did my job here. At least I hope this falls under conscious capitalism. Since I’m one of the staff members for our planetary property, I want this to stand out. I want my name on the Employee of the Month cork board for doing well by doing good. This is how it plays out, in Practice.

How Do We Keep Our Planet Hospitable?

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We aren’t for everyone (and we like it that way).

Our anything-but-cookie-cutter approach unlocks the maximum value of your hotel — and ensures everyone’s tucked in.

Our approach is rooted in tradition, ritual and the instinct we are all born with: to connect with others, embrace them with kindness and offer shelter.

WE PRACTICE:

Hospitality is drowning in a sea of sameness... and we’re over it.

Anyone can manage a hotel. But we aren’t
your typical hotel managers. 

A century plus of experience. A singular vision for what could be.

It’s not rocket science. It just takes Practice.

Planning underway for renovation and reimagining of Coachella Valley hotel.

May 9, 2022 – PALM DESERT, CA – The 24-room Mojave Resort in the exclusive Coachella Valley enclave of Palm Desert has engaged Dallas-based Practice Hospitality to oversee hotel operations and spearhead upcoming renovation. 

“We could not be more delighted to take stewardship of this desert gem, lead it through much-needed improvements and guide the hotel into a brilliant new chapter,” said Bashar Wali, Founder and CEO of Practice Hospitality. “Infusing properties like the Mojave Resort with new life, handcrafting truly unique destination experiences and creating value in the real estate is a great example of the way we offer the hotels in our portfolio so much more than management.”

Tucked away just one block off the town’s dynamic main thoroughfare, El Paseo, the Mojave Resort was built in the 1940’s and most recently updated at the turn of the last century. Now, it is being readied for a new renovation to begin in summer 2022. When completed this winter, updates will breathe new life into the hotel’s guestrooms and dreamy private courtyard with improvements to the pool, spa, and seating areas as well as the addition of food and beverage offerings and amenities. 

The California property joins the much-anticipated Drifthaven at Gearhart, a bespoke beach getaway opening on the Oregon Coast this month; Hilton Dallas Park Cities; and Conde Nast Traveler “Best in the South” award-winning Hotel Colee, an Autograph Collection hotel in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, in the Practice Hospitality portfolio. 

Media Contact:
Kate Buska, 619-665-5283
kate.buska@practicehospitality.com

Mojave Resort in Palm Desert Joins Practice Hospitality Portfolio

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Practice Hospitality Takes Reins at Mojave Resort in Palm Desert

Our actions are unbound by convention, informed by intuition and attuned to individuality to deliver originality and authenticity. Focusing on emotional intelligence allows us to favor problem solving and innovation over rigid adherence to policy and procedure.

Integrity

Creativity

Tenacity

Responsibility

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2022 Management Company Spotlight

As a hard brand, the asset was one of three in the market operating under the same flag and under delivering despite a recent renovation. Our task was to transition the hotel from brand to franchise managed, transition the hotel from hard to soft brand, develop and launch a brand in line with soft brand standards, implement brand change PIP, develop, and roll out new hotel programming, and launch new brand in the height of the pandemic. 

Hotel Colee

As a brand managed property, the hotel was lacking dedicated focus and attention, especially when it came to cost control and revenue generating opportunities. By reducing the number of outside services and replacing those with the dedicated team on property, we delivered an immediate increase in visibility and production from channels not previously utilized by the brand (i.e., qualified discounts, promotions, and OTA) while decreasing expenses. 

Hilton Dallas Park Cities

Mojave Resort

There is so much more to what we do than just putting heads in beds. We operate hotels from an ownership mindset based on tried-and-true protocols and processes. It’s all about the marriage between optimization and inspiration. Building the right team and equipping them with the tools they need to deliver results.

Hotel Management

It’s a long road to opening day. When you need to figure out how to get from where you are to where you want to be, we can guide the way. We bring hard-won expertise and experience to bear on every project to ensure owners have proper plans in place, identify and avoid potential pitfalls and can pivot when necessary.

Technical Services

You are the company you keep. Aligning your project with the right brands can make or break it and restaurants and bars are the beating heart of any hotel. Leased, managed or JV, we know how to recruit the right partners and facilitate their success. Same goes for retail and short-term F&B concepts: we balance the buzz and bottom line.

Retail and Food & Beverage Curation

Sometimes, you need help bringing your vision into focus and vetting the art of the possible. We are as capable of cutting through the noise and distilling the data to inform decision making as we are of letting imagination soar and coming up with the next big thing. Because finding that balance between dream and reality is the first step.

CONTACT US

Anyone can manage a hotel. But we aren’t
your typical hotel managers.
We're here to Practice Hospitality.

Humanity
Integrity
Creativity
Tenacity
Responsibility

Missives

How Do We Keep Our Planet Hospitable?

Hype

Practice Hospitality Takes Reins at Mojave Resort in Palm Desert

Chatter

2022 Management Company Spotlight

CONTACT US

Anyone can manage a hotel. But we aren’tyour typical hotel managers. We're here to Practice Hospitality.

HumanityIntegrityCreativityTenacityResponsibility

Missives

How Do We Keep Our Planet Hospitable?

Hype

Practice Hospitality Takes Reins at Mojave Resort in Palm Desert

Chatter

2022 Management Company Spotlight

Anyone can manage a hotel. But we aren’t
your typical hotel managers.
We're here to Practice Hospitality.

Humanity
Integrity
Creativity
Tenacity
Responsibility