hinter reposted this
let’s make the world beautiful | building small hotels & other cool spaces | sold Live Oak Lake | newsletter on design, craft & hospitality👇🏻
This couple burned out, so they built a tiny cabin in the woods. Five years later, they’re quietly redefining sustainable, design-forward hospitality. Guests are obsessed. Owners want in. The story behind hinter: 🧵 In 2018, Emily Padan & Mauricio Padilla met, drained from their teaching & tech careers. They shared a passion for travel—and a bold idea. North America lacked stunning, Nordic design. Even worse… Airbnbs were inconsistent. Hotels felt soulless. What if they could blend the best of both? Mauricio found a few inexpensive forested acres in Quebec & ordered a prefab cabin. They carefully furnished it to reflect their values: slow living, sustainability, & nature immersion. Didn’t cost them a fortune… They spun up an IG page & website. Booked out within weeks. Vision validated. A year later, they bought a couple more acres and built their second cabin. Each space: - 87%-90% occupancy - $150k/yr gross - $105k/yr net But hinter isn’t just a stay—it’s an experience. Guests are welcomed with a “perfect first evening recipe”: curated light settings, a sunset playlist (on vinyl, of course), board games, and book recs. Everything feels deeply personal. For every guest, hinter plants 10 trees through a non-profit partnership ($1/tree). Genius marketing, for just $10/stay. They’ve started the hinter planet, a lifestyle newsletter: no sales - just beautiful and fun to read content. Their spaces double as “showrooms,” showcasing the work of local artisansand furniture makers—a clever way to support the local economy while enriching the guest experience. Speaking of smart moves… They recently rolled out a membership offering 20% off stays, exclusive merch, and premium content. Guests love this, and for the brand, it’s a seamless, beautiful way to build loyalty and recurring revenue. As word spread, owners of other stunning minimalist properties began approaching hinter for management. From the start, Emily & Mauricio have been extremely selective. This exclusivity is paying off. They charge premium mgmt / marketing fees of 30-40% (nearly unheard of in the industry). Owners gladly pay. Now, with multiple properties under management, they’re setting their sights on Vermont for their biggest project yet: a 15-unit landscape hotel. (You bet I’m excited!) From a single prefab cabin to a portfolio of extraordinary stays, hinter exemplifies the power of authenticity and great design. They’re proving again that guests want meaningful, immersive experiences like never before. This is the art of doing things right. And you already know how much I love seeing good taste rewarded! If you enjoyed this, feel free to share it and follow me Isaac French for more stories and stuff like it. And in my newsletter, I’m sharing the specific numbers behind their builds, and the prefab co/model they chose for their 1st. I'll drop it in the comment below. Don’t miss out!
-
-
-
-
-
+8