00:00.00
vigorbranding
Hey everyone today I am joined by my friend tasel patel she’s the ceo of niem tree hospitality amongst other things tasel won’t you say hello and give a little background.

00:08.99
Tejal Patel
Sure so hello everyone hi je thanks so much for having me um my name is tajel Patel and I’m the present Ceo of Nemtro hospitality. Um, it’s a venture that I created right before the pandemic and before stuff hit the fan if you will.

00:24.46
vigorbranding
If.

00:26.73
Tejal Patel
Um, but prior to starting my company and since the beginning of my career I’ve worked in all different areas of hospitality I’ve worked in restaurants and events and consulting and I went to school for hospitality as well. So um, it runs in my blood I’m a third generation hotelier. Um I wear a lot of different hats I serve on a couple boards such as the international hospitality institute and I’m also the email director for the western division for the asian american hotel owners association. So.

00:52.82
vigorbranding
Nice. That’s great. So it’s funny that you mentioned um, being third generation hotel year. So um I remember when I met my first patel and and then I remember meeting my second. And I was like oh do you he’s like no no no he’s like patel’s like smith and jones you’re gonna meet a lot of us I was like oh right? So it’s great. Um, anyway, so it’s a great name and what I have found is very rooted in hospitality and restaurants as well. Um, just in general and you mention.

01:12.12
Tejal Patel
Yes, yeah, yeah.

01:29.55
vigorbranding
The pandemic. So while I think it’s we’ve been trying to not talk about it much. It just seems like every time we feel like we’re starting to come out a new variant hit. So I think it’s still very top of mind. Um and 1 of the things that you and I talked about prior to the show is just the the. Impact on mental health that it’s had in the workplace not just personal but in the workplace and the industry. Um, how how do you think we can prevent Burnouts. So for those that don’t know like I mean I know stories of hotel years and not boots on the ground folks but like of big corporations getting into the trenches and doing laundry and. You know making beds literally um that will create Burnouts so how do you think we prevent that. How do you think we get back to a ah variation of normal.

02:15.65
Tejal Patel
You know it’s It’s so that’s such a hard question to answer you know because it’s it’s kind of multidimensional in a way I mean Burnout being in hospitality, you are constantly at service to others and no matter what’s going on in your life like you got to put on a face and and. Give the best service that you can you know? So. There’s a lot of like um, there’s a lot that you’re kind of like pushing down emotionally and so I think that the number 1 way to really just try and avoid burnout in the workplace is to actually talk about it. You know, um I think that’s the number 1 way to approach any issue and. It’s just 1 of those things that’s hard to bring up just because it is so personal I think that if we created a little bit more empathy within our workplace culture then maybe we can kind of make those steps into preventing burnout for the future and.

03:07.22
vigorbranding
Yeah, and it’s really difficult too when you’re looking at your um your team you know every single industry has this but you have the folks that are dedicated that will go above and Beyond. They see the future path they um they care. Um, and then you have everything in between the whole way down to I barely show up. Um, and I think historically many businesses have been able to get by with that grouping. But now I think what happens is the people who care are the ones that are. Strained they’re the ones that are all the pressures put on the people who are just barely showing up actually literally aren’t um I think they’re the ones that have either quit or not come Back. Um or variation of ah how do you How do you? Foster support. For those rock stars that are still in the trenches with you to ensure that they don’t leave because I mean the great resignation is very very real across all the industries. So how do we prevent them from leaving.

04:12.40
Tejal Patel
So I think that you know with the great resignation which is still continuing I mean we really Saw. Um, why people left but it’s important for us to figure out why do people stay and I think that if we really just hone into that piece and really kind of. Pull out what is driving our team members who have stuck with us then that’s how and continue cultivating that then that’s how I think we can keep them from ah leaving I Think what’s also important is that we create a culture a positive culture to where you know we all have probably worn a billion different hats during the pandemic. You know and it’s I I lost my train of thought because I just remember that I was making rooms in the middle of I remember I was making rooms.

04:58.20
vigorbranding
Yeah, back it was like a ptsd. No no, it’s fine. No it’s it’s real. Um.

05:04.44
Tejal Patel
Oh my God Yeah, okay sorry we’re gonna have to find cut that. But.

05:13.80
vigorbranding
And no better representation of the pandemic honestly where it’s like we were just hit with so many things right and having to pivot.

05:17.86
Tejal Patel
And yeah, and you know just could create that culture I mean a lot of people left because the culture was bad of their organizations and I completely understand that. But you know with the people who have stayed you can revamp you know the way that you do your day to day and how you bring in new people and how you. How you? um I guess mentored these people and that you know create leaders out of them if they stuck with you this long then they can be your next Gm or or next head person. You know it shows that their care and they’re committed. Absolutely.

05:46.80
vigorbranding
Yeah, and showing them the path I think is important too. Um, you know so there was I think prior to the pandemic and even actually in it if I recall correctly the brands were starting to spin off these niche focus brands. Um, and and to me I was um. A bit raw raw about it because I’m a very big ah you know, ah purveyor or supporter of niche um vigor being case in point like we easily could have been a general practitioner but we zeroed in and that that helped fuel our success and I think the same goes for every industry. However. I think there’s a bit of poaching that may happen. Um from your own pool. So like when Marriott spins off um Moxie and now I know that they’re looking at 2 different groupings. But do you think it’s really an effective growth strategy and do you think it’s something that’s going to continue. When we see so much uncertainty in the travel industry right now.

06:48.38
Tejal Patel
So like um if if I’m if I understand correctly, are you asking that is the is having niche properties and bootique properties kind of be the the norm now and if if that’s feasible.

07:00.42
vigorbranding
Yeah, do you think that’s going to like take over the the old guard standards of you know I hate to pick on Sheridan but Sheridan or you know the the ones that everyone knows just they just know and they don’t even know how they know what they just do but these niche do you think these niche ones are the path to the future. Because a lot of them were started. The ideation was started prior to the pandemic and now I think what we see in the consumer base is the need for excessive trust and these new ones are are they going to be able to build that. So just I’m looking for a little bit of ah you know, um. Soothsaying or future casting here.

07:36.68
Tejal Patel
Yeah, no, you know’s I I love a good niche product. You know I love a good unique restaurant and hotel. Um, but the what I live in an area I live in a market where there’s just so much over developmentlo hotel wise um across all sectors. And and that’s the greater houston market and so I feel like whenever there’s something new and exciting. Everyone just jumps onto it so during the pandemic for example, um, everyone saw how extended state properties were doing phenomenal. They were actually they were pandemic proof. They performed the best.

08:11.27
vigorbranding
A.

08:13.39
Tejal Patel
And alongside that economy scale hotels. So now I’m seeing a lot of interest in those types of properties. What I saw during the pandemic was the same thing with the niche product. It’s something that the younger traveler wants and I feel like as if it’s going too fast you know and it’s just. I Think it’s going to become the same thing as having the millions of midscale properties that we see you know on every single corner. You know, um, it’s gonna be it’s it’s the niche The it’s just gonna become common to be honest.

08:39.70
vigorbranding
Right.

08:47.82
vigorbranding
Yeah, do you think it’s going to become as common I mean let’s take the restaurant industry I mean in this day and age just open up door Dash or Grubhub You have everything you could possibly want to eat you know and and so do you think that is the way of the future or do you think meaning like luxury brands.

08:57.54
Tejal Patel
So.

09:07.61
vigorbranding
Stop trying to appeal to anything less than luxury because there are so many niche that gobbled them up. You have for instance even hotels which focuses on the health conscious traveler. Um, you have is it called true t r you I believe it’s Hilton lunch true.

09:22.83
Tejal Patel
Ah, yeah.

09:26.80
vigorbranding
You know you have that 1 I’m not really sure what that’s for Moxie’s for the young kind of party. You know the I’m traveling because I’m hanging out with friends or there is an event or something like that and all those seem to gobble up that middle ground.

09:35.60
Tejal Patel
Yeah.

09:42.15
vigorbranding
You know because we you know we’ll always have the comfort suites when always have the laquitas and stuff like that which are the lower scale or not lower scale but you know mean, um, affordable economy. Um, so do you think that you start to see more of a separation at the top in surrounding those niche areas.

09:48.71
Tejal Patel
So.

09:57.50
Tejal Patel
Well I see a little bit of I do see that separation but at the same time I mean we gotta be mindful of how many brands there are right in the market. Everyone Every single brand is coming out with a lifestyle brand they’re coming out with a soft brand. They’re coming out with ah a.

10:11.84
vigorbranding
A.

10:15.97
Tejal Patel
Some product that is for you know the young people and and whatever you know. So it’s like even though it’s because of all the brands that are hopping onto it I feel like it’s just gonna become more common. So I mean yeah, we’re gonna see a little bit more um that that space that that separation but I don’t think not for long.

10:26.77
vigorbranding
Yeah, yeah.

10:35.51
Tejal Patel
And now we’re seeing that there’s some interest in um, in converting like economies like hotels like you know those roadside motels into like really nice like kind of like a upscale boutiqueki you know it has that old motel charm but you know you’re getting a higher 80 r so um, you know you’re you’re seeing. A lot of those different products pop up and I think that’s something we’re going to see for the next 10 years and

10:57.58
vigorbranding
Yeah, so in that same vein. Do You do you think?? um the the brands that have been created as revisionist brands like ah ah, Delta hotels for instance Delta hotels whole thing is to clean up. An older hotel with finishes and launch it underneath a different brand. Do you see them as the post pandemic kind of a hero maybe is the right word Heroin I don’t know like the path Forward. Basically.

11:23.73
Tejal Patel
Hero. Um I Yeah definitely I Mean for sure you see I Delta hotels I definitely can say that they’re you know, kind of leaning the way in scooping up some of these old properties um making them better flipping it in. Turning it into a better product and I mean there’s opportunity in that versus like building ground up because building ground up right now is just a nightmare.. It’s so expensive you know and the construction costs are at an all time high and so you know taking a distressed property flipping it and.

11:48.95
vigorbranding
In here.

11:57.96
Tejal Patel
But another flag on it I mean that’s that’s the way to do it and I see other brands are doing that too such as Snessa Synessa has been doing that after they acquired a red lion. So.

12:05.86
vigorbranding
Okay, yeah, that makes a lot of sense I think in some of that’s ah spurd on because you know a lot of support was lost from from brands not lost but like reduced I mean they had their choices to make too in you know, putting people on sabbatical and you know how much can you let’s say Market a brand when. No, 1 ne’s traveling and you know how much are you going to really invest in marketing the food and beverage outlets when no 1 ne’s dining in um and I think that caused a lot of not necessarily secondguessing but big pivoting. Not not temporary but like okay how do we sustain and and get back to hopefully growth. We also saw a lot of ah hotel years. There was a dark side to it from what I understand I heard rumors or anecdotes secondhand of people jacking up prices because they’re just trying to get the money in the door that they lost. Um, how do you think we do you think there was trust lost. First of all from hotel and traveler slash guest and then how about Brand and hotel management companies like do you think there was trust lost there and how do we rebuild that.

13:14.80
Tejal Patel
So the first part where we’re talking about trust between the traveler and the hotel I don’t think there is necessarily trust lost I I like to think that most of the travelers that came through our properties were um, they were understanding of the situation. You know I mean you sometimes you have those. You know people those platinum guests or whatever who are like I didn’t get breakfast. This is ridiculous I’m never coming back and blah blah blah blah blah and it’s like we couldn’t do it I’m sorry like we like we couldn’t um so I don’t think there’s nothing of trust loss there I do think that during the pandemic a lot of owners.

13:43.44
vigorbranding
Right.

13:53.21
Tejal Patel
I mean I think relationships were really tested during this time and especially with franchisors and and we’re franchisees of of couple brands as well and you know I um I feel that some were supportive and some weren’t you know when we needed some relief For example.

13:54.50
vigorbranding
E.

14:09.99
Tejal Patel
Um, a little bit of a cut on marketing fees and and you know the the royalty fees and things like that it wasn’t really not many brands were forthcoming a couple were such as red ruth and g 6 but others were kind of late to hop on and and best western was 1 of the first people to do that. Um.

14:24.90
vigorbranding
Um.

14:27.74
Tejal Patel
You know whenever you go and sign a franchise for whether like anything a restaurant or hotel. You know the franchisor is like you know all about oh I got you I got you back. This is a partnership you know and I think this when all the partnerships were tested even with lenders even with your financial institutions. You know.

14:37.36
vigorbranding
Right.

14:45.73
Tejal Patel
So some people so 1 of our members. Actually they’ve ah they’ve sued their hotel brands. They’ve sued a I and choice. Um, yeah, so there’s a lawsuit going on which and and it’s sad. It’s unfortunate. You know because there so many of our members like are franchisees of those.

14:52.43
vigorbranding
Oh wow.

15:05.11
Tejal Patel
Those brands and so yeah, it’s a whole thing and and he did it because he’s fed up. He felt that he didn’t get the support that they promised and that he hasn’t seen a return on his investment which is investing in this brand. So um I think that varies like you know case by case. But.

15:16.68
vigorbranding
Yeah.

15:24.90
Tejal Patel
The the majority sentiment is kind of like okay like we’re kind of cautious now and.

15:27.45
vigorbranding
Yeah I mean it’s so difficult when you’re in a throes of chaos and Uncertainty. It’s really difficult to not be myopic um and think long-term but that’s essentially right like when someone says to you professionally or personally that I have your back. And that were this is a partnership that is rarely actually tested you know and when it is I think that’s that’s where believability and trust is reinforced or you know indefinitely Broken. You know it’s like well you know you said you had my back and that this is a partnership but when push came to shove.

16:03.97
Tejal Patel
Yeah, yeah.

16:04.71
vigorbranding
You didn’t um and I think maybe that’s where the door starts to open to ah debranding and and taking on a different brand and um, you know we have so much real estate these days Available. Still um to do things like that. It is a wonder why? a lot of folks choose to build especially with the costs you know and and the time you know I was speaking to ah um, someone who’s consulting on marketing our agency and he’s like okay when this project going to be done I’m like it’s a hotel. He’s like right I was like.

16:24.66
Tejal Patel
So.

16:38.70
vigorbranding
Right? Like well I don’t even think they’ve poured the foundation and he’s like okay but we did the work I’m like yeah because we needed to do the work and now we wait and he’s like okay so when I’m like 2024 but he gets.

16:45.86
Tejal Patel
Yeah, yeah.

16:51.71
Tejal Patel
I mean even with like our property I mean like we I had signed my first franchise agreement in 2019 the year end and that’s when I you know filed my paperboard for the company and stuff and then um it was a waiting game. We didn’t break ground until like ah like last January like a year ago

17:08.51
vigorbranding
Fell out.

17:10.51
Tejal Patel
That’s when he finally broke ground and you know we’re we’re working on hopefully opening in February you know and we’re pretty lucky that we’re able to build a property at 2019 levels otherwise this property would have been like you know 1 point five times more. So um, it’s yeah.

17:27.17
vigorbranding
Yeah,, that’s crazy. You know and and we feel it even on the lower scale too. Um, we’re going through innovation of our house you know and just the costs there. Yeah I can imagine when you start to you know, just look at it from a more macro lens and exponentially increase all those. Ah. All those numbers like how astronomical it gets Um, it’s pretty insane I think you know we’ve tapped on a bunch of issues that are happening I think resilience really is the is the defining characteristic that we need to see more from every individual involved as well as brands companies and partners. Um, and you just recently spoke on the topic of resilience at the global Hospitality Summit. What do you think we learned from the pandemic with with regards to power of resiliency from leadership throughout the organization.

18:18.80
Tejal Patel
My hope is that we learn really and I hope we really learn like what makes our business Run. You know, like really what is the heart of hospitality you know and and and it’s a spirit.. It’s not really like real. A lot of people just look at hotels and restaurants as just a piece of real estate as an investment I get it. Of course I mean I Love to make money just like the next person but these types of properties. These assets They don’t function like any other commercial asset. You know there’s a specific business that’s going on inside and the relationships that are being built. They’re not. Transactional you know and so your your business your your at the end of the day your roi is based on what the people inside are are doing for your customer. So I think hopefully that kind of finally um I Hope that really just got drilled into some people’s heads I hope Um, but I.

19:12.27
vigorbranding
E.

19:15.73
Tejal Patel
Also think that we have learned that we need to diversity is important absolutely but there are other facets to it such as equity and inclusion because diversity. You know we you can have I mean we can have people that look like you and me and and everyone else stand up in a room. But.

19:25.25
vigorbranding
And.

19:33.94
Tejal Patel
Do they feel included in their conversations. How are we cultivating our people and I think that’s something that we’ve we’ve learned um I hope that we continue on that momentum and we continue having these conversations because whenever things are bad. You know that’s when we talk about it. But then when things are good. We like forget about the bad times. You know we forgot it. We forget about the issues and so yeah.

19:53.21
vigorbranding
Yep, well and it’s easy as it as it sling shots back to you know I mean as with anything when you Kk a fire hose and then let it go. It doesn’t go back to Normal. It goes back to exaggerated force right. Um, and it’s the same thing here. It’s the same kind of phenomenon where it’s easy to really when you have some extra time forced upon you to really think about what you could be doing better and then when you unkink the hose you’re You’re not just backed into the Grind. You’re back into an accelerated grind. And I think 1 of the hardest things for leaders right now is it’s very I mean gosh if there was ever a metaphor roller coaster would be it just when you think we’ve crested and we’re about to come off of the pandemic delta hits just when we think we’ve crested and we’re about to come out of that I’m the Cron hits that we can have arguments as to The. You know severity and ah the you know, um, it’s a word I’m looking for like how we’re reacting is it in line with the actual threat and we could have arguments about that are discussions about it but nevertheless it still shakes travel it still scares people.

20:55.16
Tejal Patel
Yeah.

21:05.28
vigorbranding
And especially when we start to see blockages and shutdowns of travel from other countries the fear just gets stoked all over again. Um, you know here we thought the embers were going to burn out but instead Boom we have a fire again and it’s really tough to I think maintain resilience when you’re going through that when you don’t know what literally tomorrow. Will bring are there things that you’ve done um with within your leadership and organization to at least help people along with being more resilient and becoming comfortable with the pivot.

21:36.60
Tejal Patel
And I like to I mean I feel that it it’s just important I mean but Beyond trying to like be honest here and then also kind of tell you like what I do like leadership wise because honestly like I am in the same boat It’s so hard to be resilient because it’s like. You know 1 step forward and 2 steps back literally like almost all the time like so it’s been like for like the last eighteen months and so you know I just try to do where I just I talk you know and and and I ask like how can I help you? How can I support you? What do you need you know? and I think that’s really just all of.

21:56.85
vigorbranding
Yeah.

22:14.91
Tejal Patel
That’s all we can do is be there for each other I think we kind of figure that out at the beginning of the pandemic and we just have to continue just being there for each other genuinely. Um and just being good human beings to 1 another honestly and.

22:27.00
vigorbranding
Yeah, actually reclaiming the humanity of it and not just that leader subordinate relationship that is honestly a byproduct of the industrial area where you know? Yeah I hate to say it but they’re almost not human to some folks. It’s like no, you’re the person that does the thing you’re a product to me.

22:35.69
Tejal Patel
So.

22:45.71
vigorbranding
Um, and now now I think that’s become drastically reduced over time. But you’re right, We really need to find that humanity again you know and it’d be interesting to try this out but you know leaders oftentimes have very good negotiation skills. Um and the key to good Negotiation. Isn’t just simply listening or developing the toolset of reading between lines. It’s about being really really good at excavating True insights. Um, and so I actually I just took I just went through um the master class with Chris Voss from a company called black Swans. Group Um, he used to be an fbi negotiator so he was the person you called when there was a hostage situation. So just a little bit of stress involved with that. Um, and he goes through negotiation which you know it was really interesting to see his tactics and to learn a little bit about them and how that um. You know how that changes the human condition human Psyche and ah for those that are watching you saw it. But for those that are listening tasel Even when you said like how you talk to someone your demeanor changed in a really good way. Um, it was genuine curiosity and I think when that comes from a leader when it’s you know, not a. What do you need, but more like what? What do you need? How can I help you it just it just it disarms people. It. It brings them up to you you down to them and I think you’re more likely to excavate insights because I think we see. A misdiagnosis of issues that are facing So let’s take the restaurant Industry. It’s very easy to say that the reason why people aren’t coming back to work is because they’re being paid by the government. That’s 1 of the narratives out there right.

24:30.11
Tejal Patel
We are yeah we are the same thing in in the hotel business too.

24:34.10
vigorbranding
Right? So It’s like okay, great. They’re good and while that may be 1 of the causes. It’s not the only cause and I think a lazy leader will take that say hey that checks out That’s good enough for Me. You know we’ll just try to pay him more., But what you start to do when you actually use negotiation tactics and you start excavating the real reasons you actually come up with a bigger set and 1 of them may be I don’t feel heard. You know I don’t feel like my leader hears. What’s really happening or they’re so far removed their insights are actually obtuse. They’re not.. They’re not connecting and so I think um. You know, maybe the key to resiliency 1 of them is excavating real issues and how to how to solve them. You know and that issue isn’t always money.

25:17.66
Tejal Patel
It just yeah, it’s not a and you know like to add to your point I mean they they don’t I mean maybe the problem is like like as an employee I don’t feel heard I don’t feel supported like maybe there like there are systems here in place. In this establishment which are conducive to like how I do my day to day like there isn’t like For example, you know, ah earlier when we talked about like what’s some of the lessons we learned from covid nineteen we learned to adopt technology so the hotel industry has been traditionally techverse and now we saw a lot more ah like hotels. Implement technology now you know Beforehand you know, like automation and things like that it was hard to kind of get that implemented in hotels and so when you give your employees what they need when you give your staff what they need then they’re going to be happy and they’re going to perform and they’re gonna go above and Beyond you know, but you kind of have to you have to have.

26:05.69
vigorbranding
A.

26:14.90
Tejal Patel
Conversations you know you can’t just expect that Oh like I’m saving in a buck here. Oh they’ll deal with it. It’s the way we’ve done it. No, you gotta change your ways.

26:21.49
vigorbranding
Yeah, yeah, technology There’s so much great technology out there. There’s more coming you know innovation is going to lead this industry forward and that doesn’t mean you have to go I think to the extreme so like in the restaurant industry. What we start to see is ah the adoption of um. The auto like the rebuilt automat so I had stratto morfogan on a few episodes ago where he has launched Brooklyn dumpling shop. It actually doesn’t require but maybe four people on staff and that’s it and. He’s crushing. It. They have like 600 already sold in in development which is crazy. Um, and so to me I’m like that’s a great idea. But if everyone goes that direction. You’re going to leave a white space open um and the white space always gets filled. It’s just the way it is. So in the in the hotel industry I think there’s a lot of room for just streamlining. Um you know 1 1 thing in particular is just the check in checkout process and keys like just why do I even need that you know can’t we just get to the point where everything’s on the phone or on my watch and I know some are. You know I know keyless ent’s ah big within Marriott um, they’re they’re trying to continue to roll out. Um, but I think smoothing those things over will reduce the need for certain people on staff and open up the door to get better stronger talent and. But I mean by that isn’t necessarily people who come in strong but people who have um, the heart and the focus and the desire to do well because it’s you know a lot of times you can train them on what they need to do but you can’t train eagerness and dedication right.

28:07.88
Tejal Patel
Great.

28:10.17
vigorbranding
Um, and I love that you tapped into dni just diversity and inclusion or dei in you know equity as well. Um, depending on what you mean by equity that I think that gets um, mised or misdefined ah by a lot of folks. It depends who you’re talking to. However. When you’re when when you are building resilience. There’s strength in teams. But if you are feeling excluded and not a part of a team for whatever reason your chances of developing the resilience muscle resiliency muscle is really reduced. Um. So moving on for resiliency I think let’s ah, let’s get into some fun chat. Um during the Pandemic. We saw a lot of speculation as to how restaurants would pivot permanently and there there were some things thrown around I just want your hot takes on this. So 1 thing that was thrown around is ah. You know, bifurcating the rooms into apartments as well. So you would have hotel rooms for rent but you would have apartments as well in the same building um food and beverage could not only service people in the building but also be optimized for takeout and delivery. Um, ghost kitchens virtual restaurants. All these things so is there anything that was discussed during the pandemic and implemented somewhere that you feel will continue on and are there ones that you think were hype and just are never really going to be realized.

29:39.17
Tejal Patel
So oh man that is like I literally need to think about that I I.

29:41.48
vigorbranding
And that’s a blindside question. So.

29:46.64
vigorbranding
Is there 1 that was surprising like oh wow I didn’t think about that.

29:49.87
Tejal Patel
In terms of like so the concept that you just spoke of like including like food and beverage are just like in general some of the trends we saw that.

29:57.40
vigorbranding
I Think just in general some of the trends that we saw and and some of the ideas of how the hotel industry could pivot um moving forward.

30:04.98
Tejal Patel
Well so 1 thing we saw was just like changing up like the different revenue streams right? So 1 concept was working from the hotel room which that was a bust so and worked out that was like a fail on so many levels and I thought it would be fun I mean honestly because I I mean i.

30:13.61
vigorbranding
Um, yeah.

30:24.30
Tejal Patel
I’ve been quarantining like with my crazy Indian family you know and and so it’s like I would love some away time but you know it’s It’s I can see how it wasnt feasible which is fine. Um I Love the idea of how ah so depending on your market some hotels they were actually able to you know.

30:25.76
vigorbranding
Right.

30:43.62
Tejal Patel
Um, the word escapes and right now but they were able to ah basically provide student housing for University students and especially they’re not students right? So those who probably couldn’t go home but they couldn’t stay on campus either. So then you know a lot of hotels were able to provide student housing. So I love seeing those different revenue streams in that aspect. Um.

30:48.88
vigorbranding
Oh wow.

31:03.53
Tejal Patel
Yeah work from home was a bust I can’t really think of anything else really as far as restaurants go um I was a little skeptical about virtual Kitchens I never tried it of course but I don’t know I’m I’m always on the fence about like Vr because I just love being somewhere like in person and.

31:21.46
vigorbranding
Um, sure.

31:23.15
Tejal Patel
And experiencing it touching it. But yeah and that’s probably not even what virtual Kitchens are to be honest I just assumed it was like like where you sit down and then like you know your food still like comes to you like through grub hub or whatever but like you’re seeing an experience I saw someone try to do that.

31:38.31
vigorbranding
Oh yeah, so that that could be um so the virtual kitchen and ghost kitchen um push is essentially like let’s just say you have you know? Tasel’s house of pancakes in your hotel. Um.

31:41.35
Tejal Patel
You know what? I’m talking about.

31:57.23
vigorbranding
Well, that’s only going to sell 1 day part but you have the kitchen you have the staff probably have the ingredients you could create you know, bang and burgers and basically continue to make food and just it’s for delivery and pickup only or just delivery only.

32:13.33
Tejal Patel
Oh so. That’s my spiritual kids. Well I Totally well man your listeners are think I’m an idiot so I know in restaurants like a Youtube Yeah, so okay, that makes sense.

32:15.34
vigorbranding
And so you would never go into the brick and mortar.

32:21.39
vigorbranding
Well because you are a hotel person. You’re not a restaurant person but you know f and B play such a big role.

32:30.79
Tejal Patel
Well I saw some vr Okay so I met like Vr experiences so you know like in museums and destinations or like those Vr you know, like um, but opportunities available. Yeah yeah, and then I saw some I saw some restaurants when I do it to like the really like nice like trendy ones but it was just like.

32:33.55
vigorbranding
Um, yeah.

32:40.68
vigorbranding
Immersive like the full immersive like they they’re doing it with ah Van gogh.

32:50.14
vigorbranding
Yeah, it’s like a kind of like a parlor trick I think for restaurants. Um, but I do think there is a way to leverage augmented reality that has very much not been tapped at all um, as well as some other trends and so.

32:50.42
Tejal Patel
Man like like so in my that’s just me. But yeah.

33:08.40
vigorbranding
The final question I have before we get to 1 final final question. So um, the final serious question is do you have any hot takes or thoughts on um, crypto and crypto’s role in becoming a real currency that can be used for hotel transactions.

33:09.80
Tejal Patel
Yeah.

33:24.21
Tejal Patel
So I will be completely honest I’m not 1 ah hundred percent knowledgeable about crypto I’ve been reading on the trends and seeing some hotels that have actually implemented it and I think there’s a future for it. Um I think that it’s going to be a slow. Rise because again I feel like there’s just so much skepticism behind it. Um, and and you know we’ve had the same skepticism since we first heard a bitcoin so you know just going into all these different cryptos. So I think it could definitely be like you know a thing for the industry. Um, just hospitality. You know, ah like you know on a full scale. But.

33:48.16
vigorbranding
A.

34:01.36
Tejal Patel
Um, I just don’t know how quickly that’s going to be implemented and and I don’t know if that’s going to be um, well adopted within like for example, all the brands like in all Marriotts and and in all you know yoltsin’s and in all economy hotels. You know what? I mean like industry standard I don’t know if that it would be to that point.

34:12.60
vigorbranding
Right? Yeah, it’ll be really interesting to see I mean because I know burger king launched some sort of like I think it was bitcoin specifically and I think it’s paying off quite well from them. So I think it’s going to take some of these bigger brands to experiment show. Good results and then other people will come on board. Um, speaking of good results and bad results. How? How are the people of Houston with the loss of the world series is that is everyone okay over there. Okay, moving on to the final question.

34:33.13
Tejal Patel
Yeah, yeah.

34:47.15
Tejal Patel
I’m about to like end this right now and all your files are gonna just go. You know what? whatever you know y’all are just cultures for.

34:52.13
vigorbranding
Yeah I was expecting ah much meaner from you when Atlanta won but it was a great series.

34:59.75
Tejal Patel
Well, you told me that I can’t I can’t be a potty mouth on your show and otherwise thegarities that we’re going through my head right now like wo.

35:08.92
vigorbranding
I love it I love it. Um, so the real final question is if you had to spend 1 final night on earth at any hotel and have 1 final meal where would you stay and what where would you eat.

35:19.29
Tejal Patel
And oh my God okay, you know what? like I literally this morning since like 5 a M I was trying to like think of this question, the answer and I can’t pick like 1 specific 1 But um, I’ll say this that I would love to be in. Something like the um, the amagury right in Utah or even um, um, if you heard a forestus.. It’s a new hotel that Opened. It’s kind of a wellness hotel. It’s I think it’s in the dolomites in Italy and it.

35:50.32
vigorbranding
Okay.

35:53.25
Tejal Patel
It’s just beautiful Gorgeous Naturey with mountains and greeneries. So just being in a hotel like that just peaceful like I would be that would I would love to go out but seeing that um and then um, my last meal. So I love my mom. My mom makes really good.

36:01.13
vigorbranding
Yeah, ah.

36:11.44
Tejal Patel
So it’s an Indian dish of’ve called mutther bunnier. Um, and it’s my favorite and I love it the way she makes it. So I think I would love to have that as my last meal lots of it. But.

36:19.92
vigorbranding
That’s awesome. Yeah yeah, um, and and did you say it’s part of that word a paneer so it’s like the cheese nice. That’s so yummy. Yeah I Um I know it’s a hard question and I oftentimes think about my answers to that.

36:25.60
Tejal Patel
Yeah, it’s like a it’s like a yeah cheese. It’s a Indian cheese. Yeah.

36:37.80
vigorbranding
And it’s always very difficult because when you when you’ve seen a lot of beautiful places. It’s like which 1 do you really want to go to and I thought about this too. But it’s between a number of places but I think it also depends on the season. So right now it is cold in Atlanta I hate the cold so much.

36:53.95
Tejal Patel
Come on down to Houston we are just bipolar weather. It’s hot hot up.

36:55.88
vigorbranding
And yeah I love visiting sexes I love visiting? Um, when we like we have work in ah phoenix for instance I love going out there. Um I’m I’m the weirdo that will like run around the lake in Phoenix in like 100 and five degree weather like. And just love it. Um, so I can’t get enough heat. But I think on.

37:17.63
Tejal Patel
Yeah, that’s doable because it’s dry heat like hous. Oh God like it’s it’s it’s humid heat. You know So it’s okay.

37:23.32
vigorbranding
Yeah I like that too I like all the heat just heat in general I So long as it’s not cold I’m I’m happy. Um, you know and if I’m buy a body of water That’s even better because I can usually jump in it. But um.

37:37.78
Tejal Patel
Yeah.

37:39.83
vigorbranding
Yeah, so for me I think about beach places right now and we stayed ah at a place in this archipele go off the coast of portugal actually technically in between portugal and America and it’s called the azor the azor islands and on the main island sal miguel.

37:53.53
Tejal Patel
Okay.

37:58.63
vigorbranding
We sit in an echo resort and like I could be there right now that’d be really nice it. It was just it was just wonderful like you you come in the front door and your you know bathrooms to the left and you walk a little further and the bed is there and then it’s like 3 stairs down and it’s like a living room.

38:15.59
Tejal Patel
Yeah, yeah.

38:17.55
vigorbranding
That looks out onto a deck and it’s all on 1 this is just 1 floor. Um, and you walk onto the deck and it’s an infinity pool and in front of there. It’s just meadows with some cows and then over to the right is beautiful. Um, Volcanic mountain. And then to the left is the ocean and so it’s like almost like 3 different ecosystems and ah I whenever I’m having a stressful day which is almost every day I um I Mentally go there for just like five minutes and just like reclaim some peace.

38:41.17
Tejal Patel
So yeah.

38:53.35
Tejal Patel
What’s it call again.

38:54.80
vigorbranding
Um, the hotel I’m actually completely blanking on. It’s a echo hotel I’ll put a link in the show notes though, but it’s it’s on ah Sal Miguel Island in the azors. Yeah.

38:58.74
Tejal Patel
Okay, okay, yeah I would just that’s the type of place I would like to be which is like the 5 hotels that I couldn’t pick out of like they’re just so peaceful and like The. It’s just the surroundings are beautiful and I need peace right now like I need I need a vacation I’m tired so I want to go to a quiet place that’s like far away from here and yeah and just practice. Yeah.

39:21.30
vigorbranding
Um, yeah, and turn off the phone. Yeah I need that too I say I say it almost daily to my wife I’m like I need a vacation I need 1 please and she’s like yeah yeah I know.

39:35.30
Tejal Patel
Ah, oh.

39:38.81
vigorbranding
Um, so the name of the Echo Beach Resort is ah San San Santa Barbara Santa Barbara Echo Beach Resort is what it’s called and I have links in there but it would be I want to go there right now. Anyway, Tael Thank you so much for your time. Thanks for making this happen and thanks for being a good sport about the the baseball jabs and all of your insights.

39:42.78
Tejal Patel
And a Barbara perfect.

39:58.30
vigorbranding
And I hope this isn’t the last time we talk.

39:58.49
Tejal Patel
Yeah, absolutely thank you for having me I hope that your viewers got value or your listeners and viewers got value out of this and keep up the amazing work. Your content is great. So um, thank you.

40:08.00
vigorbranding
Thanks So much. Yeah, of course.