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“What makes your hotel part of the trip a guest really wants to take?” That’s the question Caroline Rice, founder and strategy director of Bellhop, a boutique branding agency for travel and hospitality, encourages hotel owners to ask. Here, she shares why the strongest hotel brands connect what makes a property unique with the bigger experience a traveler is hoping to have.
—Interview by Jennifer Glatt, edited by Bianca Prieto
(Image courtesy Caroline Rice)
Where do properties go wrong in connecting what makes them special with what actually convinces someone to book?
They forget that the property is part of a larger feeling or experience the guest is chasing. With the rise of micro-cations and city-maxxing, and the continued pull toward experience-based travel, the properties that stand out are the ones that position their uniqueness within the bigger trip their audience wants. Sure, a few unicorn properties drive the entire trip. But most of us aren’t Amangiri or Blackberry Farm. We’re one meaningful part of a guest’s larger travel goal.
Spending money to win a booking, then earning a lukewarm review, is money spent twice.”
Where can a smaller property make its marketing dollars work harder, and what’s a common expense you’d challenge an owner to rethink?
It’s market-dependent, but one reality holds everywhere: branded properties are currently winning in LLM search. Until that shifts, look to local experiences that share your audience and already drive interest to your destination, like an expedition outfitter in Moab or a winery tour in the Finger Lakes. Partnering with them puts you in front of travelers who are already researching your area. As for what to rethink, traditional paid influencer marketing is losing its luster, and I think paid search won’t be far behind.
What do independent hotels need to get right before investing more in campaigns designed to drive guests to their own website?
The experience that happens after someone books, from the first confirmation email to the moment they arrive and every moment on property. Guests now use LLMs to research where to stay, and those tools lean heavily on reviews. Spending money to win a booking, then earning a lukewarm review, is money spent twice.
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When you look at how independent hotels market themselves, what’s something owners tend to overlook or get wrong—and what would you encourage them to do differently?
Believing their website should only be about their hotel. Even with everything AI can do, the travel advisor industry keeps growing, because travelers want the inside scoop, local recommendations and help planning the trip, not just a place to sleep. Use your website, social channels and guest communications to share recommendations, special access and behind-the-scenes looks at your destination. You build trust, and you become part of the experience before they ever arrive.
Anything else you’d like to share?
As someone who works in branding and also owns and operates a small, independent hotel, I’m genuinely excited about the shift AI is creating. When a traveler asks AI where to stay, it recommends the hotels it understands, which means a clear, specific sense of who you are matters more than ever. And it learns about you from what your guests say, so every stay is now part of your marketing. Brand and guest experience happen to be the two things I love most about this industry. Used well, AI is also giving us better tools to strengthen both. That’s a flywheel worth getting excited about.
Mint Pillow’s Take
Here’s the thing: Your hotel is only part of the reason your guests are taking the trip—think more supporting player rather than main character. So show them how you fit into the overall destination experience. Think about which local businesses already attract your ideal guests and how you might work together to reach travelers while they’re planning.
Take another look at your website, too. Are you helping people picture their time in your destination with recommendations and insider tips they can actually use? And once they book, does the experience live up to the promise? From the first confirmation email to checkout, every touchpoint should help guests feel they’re getting the trip they came for.
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