If you are tired of relying on OTAs, inconsistent marketing, or “hope and pray” referrals, this podcast walks you through the exact brand and guest experience systems that turn beautiful properties into profitable lifestyle destinations.
Each episode of The Boutique Hotel Playbook breaks down one strategic move you can make this week to strengthen your brand, elevate your guest experience, and increase direct bookings.
No fluff. No generic hospitality advice. Just practical brand strategy, revenue alignment, and positioning insights for boutique hotel owners who want to operate at a higher level.
Start with the episode that speaks to where you are right now. Branding, guest experience, direct booking growth, or repositioning your property.

The Boutique Hotel Playbook is Actionable Insights for Boutique Hotels!
Your boutique hotel is more than rooms — it’s a brand, a story, an experience. On the Boutique Hotel Playbook , Yanique DaCosta shares strategies to boost direct bookings, attract high-value guests, and turn stays into stories guests rave about. Learn how to build loyalty, design unforgettable guest journeys, and position your property as a lifestyle destination that stays booked solid.
If you’re serious about building a hotel brand that guests remember, rave about, and return to, it starts with an honest look at your current positioning.
👉 Click here to complete a short questionnaire and see if you qualify for a Deep Dive Call: https://hotels.theykmd.com/work-with-me-4289
Your boutique hotel art should be doing more than matching the furniture.
But for many hotel owners, art becomes one of the LAST decisions made during a new build, renovation, or hotel rebrand.
The rooms are designed.
The furniture is ordered.
The brand is developed.
The budget is disappearing.
Then someone notices the blank walls.
So how do you source original artwork for a boutique hotel without spending gallery-level prices?
And more importantly, how do you make sure that art actually contributes to your hotel brand, guest experience, and sense of place?
In this episode of The Boutique Hotel Playbook, I sit down with Chloë Ryan, CEO and co-founder of Acrylic, a company combining art, engineering, and technology to make real painted artwork more accessible at scale.
And as a formally trained fine artist myself, you KNOW I had questions.
We get into why so much hotel art feels generic, why art should enter the branding conversation much earlier, and how boutique hotels can use artwork to tell a destination-specific story without falling into the usual clichés.
We also explore a fascinating question:
What if guests loved the art in their hotel room so much that they could actually buy it and take that memory home?
Plus, we get into the increasingly complicated intersection of AI, technology, artists, and creativity, including where Chloë believes the line should be drawn when technology enters the creative process.
Because ultimately, this episode isn't just about art.
It's about intentional boutique hotel branding.
Your artwork, interiors, website, photography, messaging, marketing, and guest experience are not separate projects in the eyes of your guest.
They experience ONE hotel.
And when those pieces don't connect, even a beautiful property can become surprisingly forgettable.
• Why generic hotel art is a missed branding opportunity
• How to source original artwork without traditional gallery pricing
• When art should enter the hotel development and renovation process
• How boutique hotels can create an authentic sense of place
• Working with local artists without turning the destination into a cliché
• How artwork can become part of the guest experience
• Turning hotel artwork into something guests can purchase
• Using original art consistently across multiple hotel properties
• The role of AI and technology in art and hospitality
• Why Chloë believes artists need consent, credit, and compensation
• Why brand strategy should come BEFORE creative execution
• How intentional details help boutique hotels become more memorable
If you're developing, renovating, repositioning, or rebranding a boutique hotel, this conversation will probably make you look at those blank walls very differently.
And if you're realizing that the bigger issue isn't just your artwork, but figuring out how your branding, marketing, guest experience, and business goals should work together, let's talk.
👉 Complete the questionnaire and see if you qualify for a Deep Dive Call:
https://hotels.theykmd.com/work-with-me-4289
The Boutique Hotel Playbook with Yanique DaCosta
Boutique hotel branding | Hotel marketing | Hotel design | Guest experience | Hotel art | Boutique hotel development | Direct bookings | Hotel brand strategy | Hospitality marketing
IN THIS EPISODE:

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Are you a boutique hotel owner, hospitality operator, architect, marketer, hotel operations strategist, travel influencer or revenue expert with insights that could help independent properties grow?
This show highlights real strategies, real stories, and real lessons from operators building memorable properties around the world.
If you have experience worth sharing, we would love to hear from you.
“You deserve a brand that feels as elevated and intentional as the guest experience you’re creating.”
-Yanique DaCosta, MFA, LCAM
Yanique DaCosta is the Founder and Chief Creative Director of YKMD, a brand development and marketing agency specializing in luxury boutique hotels.
With over a decade of experience working with global brands and managing high-end properties, she understands both the emotional side of hospitality and the business mechanics behind direct bookings, positioning, and guest loyalty.
Hospitality runs in her blood. From growing up around her family’s hotel in Jamaica to managing luxury mixed-use properties in Florida, Yanique has seen firsthand how powerful brand clarity can be.
The Boutique Hotel Playbook exists to help owners shift from reactive operators to strategic brand leaders.
Boutique hotel owners and hospitality leaders are using these strategies to rethink branding, guest experience, and direct revenue.

August 26, 2026
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September 24, 2022
Every Friday, I send a short email breaking down what we are seeing in the boutique hotel space.
Brand mistakes that quietly cost bookings.
Guest experience gaps that impact reviews.
Direct booking opportunities most properties overlook.
If you want honest insight without the noise, join the list.
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