01The challenge
A beautifully renovated 15-apartment boutique hotel was sitting largely empty. It had no defined customer-experience strategy, no brand identity, no marketing plan, no operational structure, and no compelling online presence. Everything that turns a building into a business still had to be designed.
02What I owned
I acted as the primary strategist, designer and operational lead across five connected areas:
- Branding & positioning. Created a hospitality identity aligned with how modern travellers actually choose where to stay.
- Space & experience design. Personally curated the apartment interiors: high-end, but warm and welcoming.
- Service & operations. Trained staff, built quality-control systems, and set up responsive guest support through Airbnb.
- Marketing & SEO. Crafted compelling listings optimised for search visibility and conversion, with professional photography and keyword strategy.
- Local experience. Designed printed local guides so guests could explore the city with confidence.
Customer experience isn't a screen. It's every touchpoint from the first photo a guest sees to the last morning they check out.
03Key decisions
- Photography as first impression. Professional imagery plus keyword optimisation made the listings impossible to scroll past.
- High-end but cozy. An interior approach that felt aspirational and comfortable at once.
- Quality as a system. A repeatable preparation and quality-control process so every stay felt the same: excellent.
- Brand-led marketing. A digital strategy built to grow awareness, not just fill a calendar.
04Impact
+600%
Monthly revenue, from $4k to $28k
80%+
Occupancy rate within months
★
Achieved Airbnb Superhost status
This project is why I think about products as whole experiences. Every discipline (brand, service, space, digital) was pulling in the same direction, and the results compounded because of it.