Neat B and I were in the Niagara wine region over the weekend and I was reminded of a few things:
Winemakers in Niagara will tell you that southern Ontario isn't the easiest of places to grow and make wine. But whatever, I think that Niagara is highly underrated. Niagara has some exceptional wineries that you really should explore if you aren't familiar. Ontario is also the largest ice wine producer in the world, by a long shot. We produce something like 90% of the world's supply. Ice wine can be a bit of an acquired taste -- they're sweet. But if you get a chance, try one from Stratus. They are supposedly the driest in the world.
I don't know how the wine demographics have shifted in other regions, but we were told over the weekend that 10 years ago it was mostly gray hairs who were out at wineries buying wine. Today, there are tons of young people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. And we certainly saw that over the weekend. This shift has winemakers now adjusting their wines. I couldn't tell you what a younger wine palate wants, but apparently it's something.
Lastly, there is a complete lack of cool and modern boutique hotels in the area. I would imagine that part of this is because the Niagara wine region is still emerging. But I think the other reason has to do with my previous point: younger people now want to go to wineries and the hospitality sector hasn't yet caught up. This strikes me as a massive opportunity.
Today's post is a question for all of you: What would you say are the coolest and most remarkable boutique hotels in the world right now?
What is clear to me is that travel (and flexible work) will continue to be a growing market and that there is demand for a variety of different hospitality offerings.
Sometimes people might want to stay in an Airbnb (which is usually a property owned by an individual or individuals).
Sometimes people might want to stay in a branded and/or membership-based rental such as a Sonder or a Wander (which, in the case of Wander, is a collection of properties owned by the same company).
And sometimes people might want to stay in a tried-and-true hotel.
I think that all of these offerings serve different needs. And at the end of the day, I don't believe that Airbnbs, or whatever permutation they take, will ever replace the best hotels. There are things you can get in a hotel that you can't get elsewhere.
So today I am hoping to crowdsource some of the best examples from all of you. Thanks in advance for any ideas you might send over.
https://twitter.com/donnelly_b/status/1528824226714615809?s=20&t=6q0vQtEWOLPU3hRHW1sIgw
What I was getting at with the above tweet is that I think there's way more demand, for places like this and this, than there is supply. Click on the first link and you'll see that it's booked up all summer long. And as for the second link, I just booked one of their rentals for this summer, but I have been trying -- for years -- to book it in the winter.
I think the unmet use case is as simple as this: I live in a big city, and I want to get out of the city and go somewhere cool and design-forward. There are, of course, some options. But there's a need for a lot more. Generally speaking, it feels to me like the majority of the supply is either (1) an expensive/large cottage or (2) an old "classic luxury" kind of hotel.
I'm specifically referring to Toronto and southern Ontario with these options, but judging by some of the responses I got to my tweet, this appears to be an opportunity in many other markets as well. But I would be curious to hear from all you in comments or on Twitter. What "local" hospitality offerings are missing in your market? Where would you like to travel to and stay, but can't?
Neat B and I were in the Niagara wine region over the weekend and I was reminded of a few things:
Winemakers in Niagara will tell you that southern Ontario isn't the easiest of places to grow and make wine. But whatever, I think that Niagara is highly underrated. Niagara has some exceptional wineries that you really should explore if you aren't familiar. Ontario is also the largest ice wine producer in the world, by a long shot. We produce something like 90% of the world's supply. Ice wine can be a bit of an acquired taste -- they're sweet. But if you get a chance, try one from Stratus. They are supposedly the driest in the world.
I don't know how the wine demographics have shifted in other regions, but we were told over the weekend that 10 years ago it was mostly gray hairs who were out at wineries buying wine. Today, there are tons of young people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. And we certainly saw that over the weekend. This shift has winemakers now adjusting their wines. I couldn't tell you what a younger wine palate wants, but apparently it's something.
Lastly, there is a complete lack of cool and modern boutique hotels in the area. I would imagine that part of this is because the Niagara wine region is still emerging. But I think the other reason has to do with my previous point: younger people now want to go to wineries and the hospitality sector hasn't yet caught up. This strikes me as a massive opportunity.
Today's post is a question for all of you: What would you say are the coolest and most remarkable boutique hotels in the world right now?
What is clear to me is that travel (and flexible work) will continue to be a growing market and that there is demand for a variety of different hospitality offerings.
Sometimes people might want to stay in an Airbnb (which is usually a property owned by an individual or individuals).
Sometimes people might want to stay in a branded and/or membership-based rental such as a Sonder or a Wander (which, in the case of Wander, is a collection of properties owned by the same company).
And sometimes people might want to stay in a tried-and-true hotel.
I think that all of these offerings serve different needs. And at the end of the day, I don't believe that Airbnbs, or whatever permutation they take, will ever replace the best hotels. There are things you can get in a hotel that you can't get elsewhere.
So today I am hoping to crowdsource some of the best examples from all of you. Thanks in advance for any ideas you might send over.
https://twitter.com/donnelly_b/status/1528824226714615809?s=20&t=6q0vQtEWOLPU3hRHW1sIgw
What I was getting at with the above tweet is that I think there's way more demand, for places like this and this, than there is supply. Click on the first link and you'll see that it's booked up all summer long. And as for the second link, I just booked one of their rentals for this summer, but I have been trying -- for years -- to book it in the winter.
I think the unmet use case is as simple as this: I live in a big city, and I want to get out of the city and go somewhere cool and design-forward. There are, of course, some options. But there's a need for a lot more. Generally speaking, it feels to me like the majority of the supply is either (1) an expensive/large cottage or (2) an old "classic luxury" kind of hotel.
I'm specifically referring to Toronto and southern Ontario with these options, but judging by some of the responses I got to my tweet, this appears to be an opportunity in many other markets as well. But I would be curious to hear from all you in comments or on Twitter. What "local" hospitality offerings are missing in your market? Where would you like to travel to and stay, but can't?
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