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
👉 Watch Scott Eddy’s previous episode here:
Most boutique hotel owners say they want more direct bookings.
Fewer OTA commissions.
Higher nightly rates.
Stronger guest loyalty.
Long-term brand equity.
But very few are willing to invest in the one thing that actually makes that possible:
A real brand strategy.
In this episode, I sit down with Jason Henzell of Jakes Hotel in Treasure Beach, Jamaica — a property that grew from a small seaside restaurant into a 75-room boutique destination with multiple restaurants, villas, agritourism experiences, and deep community impact.
And we talk about the uncomfortable truths.
• Why most hotels treat marketing like a cost instead of an investment
• Why some Caribbean hoteliers wait for foreign validation before taking branding seriously
• Why influencer visibility without positioning does not create profitability
• How authenticity compounds into long-term loyalty
• Why resilience and community integration are strategic advantages
• What 33 years in hospitality teaches about reinvestment
This is not a fluffy conversation about pretty rooms.
This is about:
✔ Boutique hotel brand positioning
✔ Direct booking growth
✔ Guest loyalty strategy
✔ PR and reputation building
✔ Community-based hospitality
✔ Scaling without losing identity
Jason shares how Jakes:
• Started small and grew intentionally
• Built rooms based on demand instead of ego
• Reinvested continuously into property and people
• Turned community contribution into brand equity
• Understood PR as investment, not expense
• Built a brand designed to last 100+ years
If you are relying on:
Hope marketing
Random social posting
Heavy OTA dependency
Discount-driven occupancy
This episode will challenge you.
Occupancy is not the goal.
Profitability, loyalty, and brand recall are.
And those require strategy.
Want more insight into relationship-driven hospitality, travel PR, and destination branding?
👉 Watch Scott Eddy’s previous episode here:
https://youtu.be/NEXmyl3TCXQ
If you’re ready to move from “talented operator” to intentional brand owner…
If you want predictable demand instead of feast-or-famine bookings…
If you want guests who choose you because of who you are, not because you were cheapest on Expedia…
👉 Click here to complete the questionnaire and see if you qualify for a Deep Dive Call:
