developing hotels inspired by the pillars of design , music and community-driven experiences . After first opening the Hotel San Jose in 2000 , she formed Bunkhouse in 2006 to finance her growth . By 2018 , she sold a 51 % interest to Standard International to further enhance opportunities , which Lambert told HOTELS might include the development of a distinct select-service brand . “ I ' ve always loved limited-service hotels ,” she says . “ I really love our Austin Motel [ the place to chill deep in the heart ] and I think that it would be a challenge and fun to be in that space . I think there ' s room for a limited-service hotel brand , so I ' m interested in that .”
More currently , Bunkhouse is preparing to open the Hotel Magdalena in Austin , and developing projects in New Orleans and Atlanta . The group is also close to getting a deal done in downtown Los Angeles . The plan for the well-performing company is to grow steadily with projects that interest Lambert and team .
GUIDING LIGHTS What drives Lambert today on a daily basis is her desire to further hone Bunkhouse ’ s art of operations as well as the guest experience . “ As new brands come online and as markets tighten , the thing that is of real value to us is how important the guest experience is — how important the emotional experience is for a guest ,” she says . “ Why they ' re willing to come back again and again does not have a lot to do with what we ' re dropping to the bottom line . We can ' t forget that a guests ' emotional experience is worth its weight in gold .”
When asked how Bunkhouse trains the team to deliver the experience Lambert has a hard time putting her finger on it and instead points to the overall culture of the organization . “ We realized a while back that we kind of had a tiger by the tail almost accidentally . We developed a culture before we developed a brand or
“ THERE ' S A DISCIPLINE AND THERE ' S A BUSINESS , AND IT ' S KIND OF ART AND CRAFT , RIGHT ? YOU NEED TO LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR CRAFT TO BE ABLE TO EXPRESS IT ARTISTICALLY .”
before we developed Bunkhouse ,” she says . “ We kind of intuitively discovered value in the emotional appeal of travel and of staying in a hotel .”
Lambert adds that the best thing any hotelier can do is hire and invest in people who then will manage other people . “ It starts from the top down ,” she says . “ We ' re in a people business , and that ' s not just the guest . It ' s also the people we work with . And so there ' s an art to management , and hiring really good managers makes all the difference .”
While Lambert says she has been influenced by lifestyle pioneer Chip Conley , who created the Joie de Vivre brand , lately she has been working with friend Jenna Lyons , who was creative director and president at retailer , J . Crew . “ I like the way she thinks and she ' s very curious and supportive of a lot of makers ,” Lambert says . “ It ' s always inspiring
Hotel San Cristóbal Baja in Todos Santos , Mexico , opened in April 2017
– LIZ LAMBERT
to be around somebody who has those qualities of kindness and curiosity , and thinks really big .”
Lambert adds that she often uses Pinterest as a muse and takes a lot of shelter magazines . “ I still rip pages out of magazines a lot . But I think reading informs you so much ,” she says . “ And I think whether going to far away places , or taking that trip through a good novel – all of that ' s super important to anybody who ' s creating .”
What ’ s inspiring Lambert right now is her 1-year-old son , as well as tents and pods that could become room structures at El Cosmico , her dreamy 21-acre modern-day campground / vintage trailer hotel in Marfa , Texas . “ I was just talking to a tentmaker this morning in France and I got really excited about tent structures . It ' s not hard to excite me about tent structures .”
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