Surprise, Delight, and Fur Babies: The Bold Hospitality of Staypineapple with Dina Belon
How bold branding, empowered teams, and a love for dogs helped Staypineapple redefine boutique hospitality.
In this episode of The Inn Crowd, Jamie Mattingly sits down with Dina Belon, President of Staypineapple—a boutique hotel brand known for its cheeky personality, unforgettable design, and pet-obsessed culture. From their “Naked Experience” to handwritten guest notes, Staypineapple has carved out a loyal following through humor, heart, and hyper-personalization.
Dina shares how they empower team members to go off-script, why surprise and delight isn't just a marketing slogan—it’s a mindset—and how being unapologetically bold has helped the brand attract the right guests (and happily repel the wrong ones).
Whether you’re a hotelier, marketer, or just love a great guest experience, this episode is packed with ideas and insights.
🎧 What You’ll Take Away from This Episode:
Why being dog-obsessed isn’t just cute—it’s a growth strategy
How Staypineapple empowers team members to create legendary surprise-and-delight moments
Why personality-driven branding increases guest loyalty
The power of saying, “We’re not for everyone”—and meaning it
How Dina thinks about guest personalization beyond preferences
Why a teabag and a box of Kleenex might be more meaningful than a comped cocktail
What happens when your social media strategy is built by your guests
Dina’s vision of Staypineapple as a mix of Steve Martin and Audrey Hepburn
Ideas you can steal to make your hotel—or any brand—more memorable and magnetic
Come for the dogs, stay for the pineapple robes, and leave with a masterclass in modern hospitality.
Dina Belon Linkedin
www.Staypineapple.com
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Inn Crowd Podcast | Dina Belon from Staypineapple
00:00:04:15 - 00:00:28:05
Jamie Mattingly
Welcome to the Inn Crowd where we dive into the latest strategy shaping the hospitality and travel industry. I'm your host, Jamie Mattingly, and today we're talking about something that sets hotels apart from the rest - personality. Staypineapple has built a brand around fun, bold and playful hospitality. And today we're joined by the woman behind it all. Joining me today is Dina Belon, president of Staypineapple.
00:00:28:07 - 00:00:48:22
Jamie Mattingly
Dina leads a brand that isn't afraid to have fun, whether it's through creative hotel design or marketing campaign or a truly stand out guest experience. Say Staypineapple hotels or in some of the country's most exciting cities. And their brand recognition is undeniable. From their famous pet friendly policies that are naked, experience, you know. Welcome to the show.
00:00:48:24 - 00:00:56:24
Dina Belon
Oh my gosh, Jamie, thank you so much. That is the best coffee I've heard in a while. Explaining that. That was amazing.
00:00:57:01 - 00:01:14:06
Jamie Mattingly
You? Well, I mean your brand is so fun to follow online, so I can't wait to dive into the conversations before we do. You guys do have such a unique brand personality. What do you guys hear from guests about what makes the Staypineapple so different than other hotels?
00:01:14:08 - 00:01:41:05
Dina Belon
I think it's two primary things. And you touched on a little bit in your intro. One is really the, Uber luxurious sleep experience that we provide, which is the naked experience. Our bedding and linen interior are so comfy, cozy and amazing. You'll want to sleep naked. So that's that is a really core element to the brand, and we hear feedback on it so much.
00:01:41:07 - 00:02:23:10
Dina Belon
It's incredible. And then I think the other really differentiating piece that guests feel is that very personalized experience and very Uber curated, interactions that they have on property that are fun and light and perky and interesting, and very authentic. I think those are really those are really our key differentiators as a brand. And, and we hear it in our reviews and in comments on social media and in personalized, one on one experiences with our guests.
00:02:23:12 - 00:02:40:02
Jamie Mattingly
And it's one of the they have to fade out of the Staypineapple property. Can you tell us about your brand, where you guys are located? And you know, what are what is your core value? What do you guys, you know, we differ and it's a lot about that guest experience. So can you elaborate a little bit for somebody who's never heard of the hotel chain?
00:02:40:04 - 00:03:11:06
Dina Belon
Sure, absolutely. We have currently ten hotels. They're located in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Boston and New York. All city center urban locations. One of our core, pillars is location. Location, location. So really, it starts from our real estate business. Michelle Barnett, who is our owner. She her family comes from real estate.
00:03:11:06 - 00:03:35:14
Dina Belon
And so location, location, location is a very uncommon real estate strategy, but it is also an amazing strategy for why. Guess what? Right. So if you're staying in Chicago, you want to be in the loop. If you're staying in San Diego, you want to be in the Gaslamp. So that's a really for pillar to our brand is that every hotel is really well located.
00:03:35:16 - 00:04:07:06
Dina Belon
So all of those cities, I think the other really key element to know about state Staypineapple is, our quirkiness, our fun, our energy as a company is different. And, we're definitely not a great box. The designs of the hotels, our design is that it is whimsical elegance. So you'll see a lot, almost contradiction.
00:04:07:08 - 00:04:42:12
Dina Belon
Designs will be very beautiful and elegant, like the bathrooms in San Francisco are all Carrara marble, and they're beautiful. But then we have a bright yellow dresser in the room. So it's this, this juxtapose, you know, upper upscale, luxurious experience with a little bit of Nickelodeon thrown. Right? Just a little bit of fun and energy and excitement because people, whether you're traveling on business or you're traveling on vacation, it doesn't really matter.
00:04:42:16 - 00:04:52:23
Dina Belon
You want to enjoy your experience. You want to have fun. And gray and beige should be eliminated from the hours from.
00:04:53:00 - 00:05:23:22
Jamie Mattingly
Amen. From here, list the god. Let's get rid of it. I love it so. And even I know branding is more than just the logo. It's about creating an experience that people forget now they Staypineapple has built this amazing identity that is instantly recognized. So let's talk about how that impacts guest loyalty. Your playful, your color, your. Kathy, have you found that this uniqueness directly you think have you found that this uniqueness directly impact repeat guests and brand loyalty?
00:05:23:24 - 00:05:48:09
Dina Belon
Oh, 100%. There are guests that love us, and we have a lot of Staypineapple evangelists. We call them, and then there are, there are guests that our brand isn't right for. Right. We have a door hanger. The, do not disturb door hanger says go away. I'm naked. That's not so. People don't like it, and that's okay, right?
00:05:48:09 - 00:06:11:17
Dina Belon
Like, every brand isn't right for everybody. When I started at State Staypineapple, I came from the big brands. And I remember Michelle saying to me, Gina, sometimes it's just not a gospel. And that's okay. And I kind of made my head explode. I was like, I don't understand because I worked at Marriott and Wyndham and we had a brand for everybody, right?
00:06:11:19 - 00:06:37:06
Dina Belon
And so I was like, I don't understand. There's guests out there that are not right for us. Okay. But it's as if, if you really focus on the guys that resonate with your point of view, then you get a very loyal following, right? You got people that are very passionate about what you're doing and how you're doing it, and they want to be part of it.
00:06:37:08 - 00:07:04:17
Dina Belon
I think what's the most interesting about our brand is that it's co-created every day with towels, with the guests in the team. It's not we're not the only ones created. We're I know, I'm sure we'll talk about, you know, user created content, things like that. Our guests create a lot of what you see, particularly on social media around, who we are and what we're do.
00:07:04:20 - 00:07:07:02
Dina Belon
So that's a really that's a really cool.
00:07:07:04 - 00:07:34:05
Jamie Mattingly
It's it's yeah, absolutely. And you're right, we definitely will get in to that UGC back there because you guys are I think ahead of the game with that because you're giving them things that are photo worthy, you know, a unique experience. So that's, something I definitely want to
dive into here in a moment. Have you found that travelers actively seek out, say, Staypineapple hotels?
00:07:34:07 - 00:07:58:15
Jamie Mattingly
Because I love what you just said, actually, about you're not for everyone, right? You may have a smaller pool, but the guests that you guys do are way more into it because you're speaking directly to them. Right. And from a business standpoint, I mean, I can kind of bring a brand that is giving off, like, do you want to stay with us because you're the we're like, we're not hiding who we are.
00:07:58:17 - 00:08:03:01
Jamie Mattingly
So you're all weeding out, how are you? Maybe wouldn't one anyways.
00:08:03:03 - 00:08:43:10
Dina Belon
Yeah. I think, in branding a point of view is important. And and really sticking to it and not shying away from it. We obviously have the naked experience. We're not just quirky. We can be edgy and, you know, a little irreverent on occasion. We had one of my favorite marketing campaigns that we ever did was, big ass cakes and kickass cocktails and, that was one that we actually had our lender all last and go, you guys may have pushed it too far if we laughed and we were like, well, thank you for your advice, Mr. Banker.
00:08:43:10 - 00:09:13:03
Dina Belon
But we got the marketing out of like, we're good, we're good. We know, we know it's her. Right. But, you know, I think it's really authentic and just resonating with that. Like, they get it, they see it, they believe it. What? What we do and what we talk about and who we are is very much, we enjoy it and we have fun and it comes across very authentically.
00:09:13:05 - 00:09:42:03
Dina Belon
We don't hold back. We know, kind of shy away from being that, brand and letting letting our individual person out show through as well. Right. So, Dash, our Staypineapple Pop, which is our little mascot, is there's a stuffed dash on every bed in every hotel, and he's there for you to snuggle with and and enjoy.
00:09:42:03 - 00:10:06:21
Dina Belon
And if you want to take home, it's $25 donation. And, the, some of the proceeds go to the local, animal shelter in the location where we're at. That's actually Michelle's dog. So everything is super authentic. She has a dog, is, Alaskan husky. His name is Dash. He's got one brown eye,
one blue eye.
00:10:06:21 - 00:10:40:15
Dina Belon
He runs around the office. So I think that's also, you know, one of the things that in marketing we have to be very careful about is making sure that there's, there's, more to why we're doing something. It's not it's not all flashy because our brand could get that way, right. It could fairly easily go into a, like, over the top kind of and go beyond what's fun and authentic.
00:10:40:17 - 00:10:58:00
Dina Belon
So we do check ourselves sometimes not not limit ourselves to, oh, that's too edgy or too this or too that. But is it more to who we are? Is it 4 to 3? And in our point of view, and how we see so.
00:10:58:02 - 00:11:00:13
Jamie Mattingly
The not just for Edina sake.
00:11:00:15 - 00:11:01:04
Dina Belon
Right.
00:11:01:08 - 00:11:20:03
Jamie Mattingly
Do you guys do you have a core understanding of your, your voice and who you guys are? And so you're talking is coming within those walls, like, is it very important? You're right. Because you could just become, hey, let's just be edgy for no reason. Let's to try to be controversial, to get attention. And then you lose all sense of a brand.
00:11:20:03 - 00:11:45:17
Jamie Mattingly
You don't know who you are and you get no, no, you are. So that's really important. And I love that you brought up, Dao because one thing that you guys are absolutely correcting it in had correct you if we know it's not at the neck anymore, like if you're in booming industry, I believe in 2023, it was a $2 billion industry was impacted by, 2032.
00:11:45:17 - 00:12:05:01
Jamie Mattingly
It could be like a $4.7 billion industry like that. There's a lot of money out there that hotels could be cashing in on. And I think you guys have just carved out this very unique, position in your market. So I love to explore how being pet friendly has influenced the brand. And not just the brand you're used to see.
00:12:05:01 - 00:12:31:04
Jamie Mattingly
Because as much as we love posting our vacation photos, we love posting our pet photos on sellers. I am sure you guys recognize the value of your pet friendly policies, not just in making guest happy, but in the UGC in the marketing campaigns that you guys get to implement with it. So can you talk a little bit about your pet friendly policies and how you guys capitalize on those, or guest loyalty for marketing and other aspect of it?
00:12:31:06 - 00:13:01:12
Dina Belon
100%, yeah, it's it is one of our largest pillars is a brand. And again, it comes from a very authentic place. Michelle and our whole leadership team, myself included, we are all not just pet friendly, but we're dog obsessed. We love animals so much. And it it really started with that. And, and our desire to travel with our path and make sure that they're part of the family.
00:13:01:14 - 00:13:25:11
Dina Belon
So the experience, it really started with the experience. I'm pretty and giving guys the ability to do things without rules. So and we were the first brand that said you could leave your pet your room and not have to take it with you. Doesn't have to be. You know what? All the time we ask guests to leave us their cell phone number so that it's their pet.
00:13:25:12 - 00:13:50:00
Dina Belon
It's the Stroustrup sign. Then we can text him or give them a call and let them know that, you know, lolly, Whiting and Rowe. Or, you know, seems to stress, we we have an amazing pet package. When you check in, in your paddock. It's a pad. And boys and treats and water, a water bowl for you to take with you.
00:13:50:00 - 00:14:20:09
Dina Belon
And, a little poop bag, dispenser for you to take, you know, all kinds of fun, quirky things. And of course, we love to brand everything. So there's Staypineapple branding all over, which is, you know, bright yellow and fun and your, so it really started with that. And then I think organically, our guests started posting pictures of their pets and we were like, you know, this is really cool.
00:14:20:09 - 00:14:53:03
Dina Belon
This is really fun. And so we really leaned into that, and it's, well, our guests and, influencers as well that are staying with us, both cases are focused on incorporating pets into their photography. And we have thousands and I don't even know how many photographs that are. UGC photographs out there on social media that we've posted, that our guests have posted.
00:14:53:05 - 00:15:20:05
Dina Belon
It is it is created a following, I think, for the brand we could have never done from just appeared. We couldn't have hired a marketing agency to create a level of social media following that we have achieved through just saying, gauging people with what they care about a mouse, their babies, their little fur baby.
00:15:20:07 - 00:15:45:15
Jamie Mattingly
Exactly. You and I both know in this industry that user generated content or reviews testimonials from real people are way more powerful than anything our marketing team can come up with, right? Oh well, we tried the art to get those reviews and to get them to share their photo and the through having that really unique branding, you guys have just created a system that it comes to you guys naturally, and that's very special.
00:15:45:15 - 00:15:48:10
Jamie Mattingly
And thank you that a lot of money on the other end.
00:15:48:12 - 00:16:23:14
Dina Belon
Oh a ton. Yeah I, we we don't do we don't pay for any of that. We haven't paid for photography, lifestyle photography in year. None. Zero. All of that comes through, you know, user generated content. It's amazing. It is it is one of the genius factors that I would love to take credit for. But I have to admit, the the guests created it and we went, oh, that's really cool.
00:16:23:16 - 00:16:48:07
Jamie Mattingly
So you're saying is within here? Guest. Exactly as well, for anyone listening that has not that doubt say Staypineapple social media pages, I highly recommend it and you will see loads and loads and loads of the cutest dog photos in row. They're laying on the bed. Or you know, there are also some really adorable human photos. But you know, I like the dog and they're really, really cool.
00:16:48:07 - 00:16:56:20
Jamie Mattingly
And I can tell that all of them are tagging. Get to me. Really? Are you see that they are voluntarily sharing with you guys now.
00:16:56:20 - 00:17:11:13
Dina Belon
People have gotten really into almost competitive over the best photos on our social media. And you know who's getting the most likes and it's hilarious. You can see some of the comments just
made me crack up.
00:17:11:15 - 00:17:17:17
Jamie Mattingly
Have you guys ever, turn that into maybe a photo competition or anything like that now?
00:17:17:17 - 00:17:30:14
Dina Belon
Yeah. In fact, at Halloween every year we do a pet Halloween photo competition, for dressing your pet up as a Staypineapple. So, Yeah, it's it's, you know, I'm going to.
00:17:30:20 - 00:17:48:07
Jamie Mattingly
Go back down last October, I, I have now that I the one thing that I do love about the Staypineapple that you guys are not afraid to have fun, as you mentioned earlier, the naked experience, which is just the most amazing sleeping experience that you want to sleep naked. I understand that correctly.
00:17:48:09 - 00:17:50:11
Dina Belon
Yeah. You got.
00:17:50:13 - 00:18:17:03
Jamie Mattingly
It. It's clear that you guys have been a great personality. So what does this approach done to your marketing success? Andy said, we you don't have to or you haven't had you in a very long time to invest in those professional photos. I do know that you guys are active on, you know, advertising platform. I'm sure that you guys have a very robust email, marketing, having this amazing personality.
00:18:17:05 - 00:18:34:09
Jamie Mattingly
How does that help you guys? You work with the typical big brands, the Marriotts and stuff like that. What can you say is different and and working well for, say, Staypineapple, but the other branches can't replicate due to their, I guess, bark in personality.
00:18:34:11 - 00:19:03:16
Dina Belon
Yeah. You know, what am I favorite examples is if you go to a typical branded website, you'll often see, photography, the hotel. And it's so beautiful and, you know, the, the resort photographs or whatever it is. And regularly always the regular mean there's not even any shipments in this. They're very they as pretty as they are.
00:19:03:16 - 00:19:38:10
Dina Belon
They're very static. And I can't see myself laying in there. I can look at it and appreciate that it's pretty. But our photography is all about the people in the picture. I mean, the buildings are great. You know, San Diego's got sunshine painted on the outside of the building. You know, so that's cool. That's fun. But what people really want to know about is the experience that they're going to get the, the building or the, the physical plant is a piece.
00:19:38:13 - 00:20:03:06
Dina Belon
It's the stage. I always like to say it's the state, but it is not a pride. Why is the and so we really lay that out right. We we want to enjoy that. You and I think that's a that is something that people miss. Oh in their marketing. And so we do the same thing in our email campaigning and stuff like that.
00:20:03:07 - 00:20:29:19
Dina Belon
Like we put in, moving graphic on the emails, things that that show you what it's going to feel like when you're there. We want to emote and emotion, or memory. Even better. Right? Most of our email campaign is to cars that have stayed with us for what we're trying to trigger is really a memory that you have.
00:20:29:21 - 00:21:02:02
Dina Belon
And yet you to want to come back and stay again. Right. So, repeat gas is a big model for any boutique hotel. I think, you know, any anybody that's not, living and breathing on a loyalty program like you're either, I, I drive loyalty and points based, and that's how I get people to come back. Or in our space, we get people to come back by providing such an amazing experience that they want to do it again and again and again.
00:21:02:04 - 00:21:17:04
Dina Belon
And that's obviously how we reduce our cost as well. We're reducing our dependency on OTAs through taking that OTA gas, building a relationship with them and then retargeting them and making sure that they.
00:21:17:04 - 00:21:18:04
Dina Belon
Start to engage and.
00:21:18:04 - 00:21:19:19
Dina Belon
Have a relationship with us.
00:21:19:21 - 00:21:32:20
Jamie Mattingly
They well, I have to say before our conversation, you were a little worried about talking, touching on the marketing side of the president. And, you know, a lot of that you led on the.
00:21:32:22 - 00:21:33:16
Dina Belon
Well, good.
00:21:33:18 - 00:21:55:23
Jamie Mattingly
I know you guys, you guys do a great job. But I do think that the idea of listening to your guests is so important, and you guys are clearly cordially thanking them. Great new strategies or tactics or means of communication. And, I think the other important thing that you touched on there was, you know, the get me stay with you guys for the first time by looking through that.
00:21:55:23 - 00:22:22:16
Jamie Mattingly
Okay? But it doesn't mean that has to be how they book every other time. Right? So we should be using a robust email campaign to continue to reach out to them or a remarketing campaign. They go off, you know, invoke that memory. So you guys are really ahead of the curve on that. And the last thing I wanted to touch on is that I have a I currently have a hotel client, owns a couple hotels gearing up that is very old.
00:22:22:18 - 00:22:38:01
Jamie Mattingly
And his thinking when it comes to photography and when we first met a couple of years ago, and I was trying to do that lifestyle biography and get some human faces in there. So some experience he was don't worry, because he can when he went to school, they were taught no, no, no, no.
00:22:38:03 - 00:22:39:00
Dina Belon
No.
00:22:39:02 - 00:22:48:24
Jamie Mattingly
No. I think that such an old antiquated idea, but it gives the brand that are on their toes right now and looking for unique ways to stand out and.
00:22:49:01 - 00:23:30:04
Dina Belon
Oh, 100%, 100%, people underestimate, the value of seeing what and seeing what you're going to be doing on a website. And that's not just at the hotel. I think the other thing that, many brands miss is show me what my experience is going to look like. And one of the things that we're going to be we're moving towards and trying to do more of its video so that you can get more of a holistic experience and of the city you're in and the low kick, because we're in central cities and we're not resorts, right?
00:23:30:04 - 00:23:54:03
Dina Belon
We're city center hotels with half of our hotels don't even have parking, let alone a pool. Right. So the city has a lot of the amenities. So getting out and photographing or video obviously, and a lot of user generated content is where we get a lot of video ocracy of what people are doing in the city. So we also provide free bikes.
00:23:54:03 - 00:24:26:22
Dina Belon
They're painted yellow and black and they're, you know, very, very interesting and fun. And so, photography of people out in the city riding around on the bikes, like in Chicago, along the water in the park and, you know, like, it just it does it puts you in the place and lets you feel like you know, what the experience is going to be like, particularly if you've never been to our hotels or you've never been to the city, you're going to.
00:24:26:24 - 00:24:41:10
Dina Belon
That's one of the highest anxiety elements when you're booking, right is I see all these pretty pictures, but is that what my experience is really going to be like? So that's what we're always trying to impart.
00:24:41:12 - 00:24:58:05
Jamie Mattingly
Yeah. Like that scary Instagram photo of like the wing. And it's so beautiful and it's on the edge of a mountain. But if you zoom out, it's nothing like what it looks like in that photo, right? So yeah, video really help you understand the full depth of something, maybe a little bit more than a photo light.
00:24:58:07 - 00:24:59:03
Dina Belon
Yeah.
00:24:59:05 - 00:25:18:15
Jamie Mattingly
So talking about that being in the middle of a city center, I think that there are a lot of hotels that, like, you guys like you, but you're not a resort. Maybe don't have that giant pool. You guys have
to find other ways to really make sure that your guests have that great experience. You guys, lean on a lot of local partnership with the.
00:25:18:15 - 00:25:19:14
Dina Belon
Yeah, yeah.
00:25:19:16 - 00:25:21:01
Jamie Mattingly
That you guys are in.
00:25:21:03 - 00:25:44:07
Dina Belon
Yeah, we absolutely do. In fact, we've been doing that for a very long time, but we're, in embarking upon a massive project this year, our big project, every company sets their goals at the beginning of the year. Right. So this year, we have one goal, for the whole company. And it's our hyper personalization project.
00:25:44:09 - 00:26:11:02
Dina Belon
And everything that we're doing is associated to that in some way. It's hanging off of that goal. We've always done hyper personalization, but it's always been very manual. So I hear in the lobby you say something that is unique to your stay, and I go run and do something cool and fun related to what I heard you say.
00:26:11:04 - 00:26:48:11
Dina Belon
Great experience, very authentic, very real. We call it surprise and delight. It's our internal program, which is really just a program to empower the team members to surprise and delight every guest anytime, anywhere and anywhere they want. But now we're upping our game with that. And we redid our entire tech stack last year. And so we now have an integrated, single source of truth between our CRM and our PMS.
00:26:48:13 - 00:27:21:20
Dina Belon
And so all of our guests data is, consolidated and those to two elements that are kind of the brain of the company and the brain of what we do. And now we're able to capture information that you state in New York. And the team mentioned that you're really into the Boston Red Sox and you go to Boston and stay at our property, and you check in and your room is covered in Boston Red Sox paraphernalia, because we know that about you.
00:27:21:20 - 00:27:46:08
Dina Belon
Right. Or whatever. The thing is that you're passionate about, we understand that you're super into cycling. So when you show up in Seattle at the Maxwell, then you're given a whole map of cycling spots to go. And by the way, here's my buddy that works at the cycling shop down the street and he'll hook you up with a real bike.
00:27:46:08 - 00:28:13:11
Dina Belon
Because although I love our state Staypineapple, cruisers, a real cyclist, they just want to ride them. Right. So but really understanding those things and the idiosyncrasies of all of that, and what makes you tick as a customer? Hyper personalization isn't about me knowing that you like Coke or Pepsi. I'm so tired of that example. I hear it all the time.
00:28:13:13 - 00:28:53:23
Dina Belon
Everybody's like, well, you know, we'll have in the system that this guy likes other pillows or bungalows or Coke or Pepsi or whatever. And I'm like, yeah, that's table stakes, guys. I need to know what makes the guests tick, what they're passionate about, what makes them who they are. Like that kind of stuff that's going to give me the tools to really make their experience exciting and fun and engaging, and create those Staypineapple evangelists that feel like the brand is as much theirs as ours.
00:28:54:00 - 00:29:15:07
Jamie Mattingly
Yeah, new. The level of personalization you're talking about is stuff that goes on at like Michelin star, restaurants. You guys are top notch. That is really fun to hear that you guys really do care so much about that. And I love the idea of even before just the casual listening, like I overheard something great, like, let's make that special.
00:29:15:09 - 00:29:33:17
Jamie Mattingly
And I think for an employee that's got to be felt fine to know that they have the permission and believe in that way, rather than just like a simple hello, welcome, sir. Like I can go above and beyond to be creative when I come to work. How fun is that? These are your employees. Like reacting well today?
00:29:33:19 - 00:29:56:05
Dina Belon
Oh yeah, they always have. So one of the things that has been and since the beginning is stay Staypineapple, the brand, surprise and delight was one of the core pillars of the company. And it's evolved over the years and gotten better and, more valuable. But one of the things that I think is the coolest about it is there's no budget for it.
00:29:56:07 - 00:30:29:17
Dina Belon
Like there's no budget line item that surprise and delight that is all about, you know, how much money you're spending this month on that stuff. And it's not that surprising. Delights have to or are even often expensive. It's just that I don't want to limit the team members creativity or their ideas. It can be anything from a team member that we had in Seattle, had a guest call, and she was stranded on in a parking lot with her two kids.
00:30:29:17 - 00:30:51:07
Dina Belon
Her rental car was broken down, and she was worried that her reservation was going to be given away. And the team member obviously put her mind at ease. Talked to her for a little while, but then sent pizza to their car in the parking lot with sodas and desserts to feed her kids because she knew she was stressed out.
00:30:51:09 - 00:31:21:00
Dina Belon
Like, that's surprise and delight, too. And those are. So there's kind of love, right? There's levels of we call, you know, we call those really the, legends of surprise and delight because they literally are legends in the company. Right. And then there's ones that are simple there. I noticed that there was a lot of tissue. I'm a housekeeper, and I noticed there was a lot of tissues in the guest room, so I clean the room up.
00:31:21:00 - 00:31:35:17
Dina Belon
But I also left you a couple extra teabags and an extra box of Kleenex and a little note that says, I hope you feel better. That's a surprise and delight to so like and everything in between that is.
00:31:35:17 - 00:31:58:05
Jamie Mattingly
And that an amazing personal touch with you. And I know for right now, and I won't call it a buzz word because I think that at the Earth Day we have the technology for it. But you guys are definitely taking that five step more and that what a beautiful experience you're creating for these guests. And really a. Not just for them.
00:31:58:05 - 00:32:05:03
Jamie Mattingly
Like you guys. They're creating really strong loyalty. So it's paying off but in such a beautiful way for both of you. I love that.
00:32:05:07 - 00:32:25:10
Dina Belon
Yeah, it it is as much about our team members as it is our guests, to be honest, that it makes their job fun every day. Right? I mean, think about it. When you're at when you when you join a
hospitality organization, you go to work for a hotel. Why why do you do it? You do it because you love people.
00:32:25:14 - 00:32:53:09
Dina Belon
You love to make people happy. You you know, you want to engage with people and and build relationships. And so it empowers the team members to do what they want every day. I had a, houseman tell me one time I work two jobs, and I work at another hotel. And here and at the other hotel, I have to ask my manager if I want to do anything special.
00:32:53:15 - 00:33:13:12
Dina Belon
And in here, I can do anything I want, anytime I want, and it makes my day fun. Like, that's that's worth so much to have the team members come to work every day and have fun and enjoy themselves. If we're not doing that, then we failed.
00:33:13:14 - 00:33:16:03
Jamie Mattingly
Yeah. And, you know, happy, safe, happy guests.
00:33:16:05 - 00:33:17:10
Dina Belon
So 100.
00:33:17:11 - 00:33:39:00
Jamie Mattingly
Stars, you know, start that and you can say start with up or 30 bottom. But either way you guys are all spreading the good vibes and that's excellent. So we know that you guys are doing very well on the brand loyalty and repeat. Guess what marketing methods have you guys found a work best for you guys who attract guests who don't know about you yet?
00:33:39:02 - 00:33:55:17
Jamie Mattingly
Is it do you guys rely a lot on the days and then you work, through, into direct booking next time? You guys. Again, I know that you guys are on. You don't have a robust advertising strategy. Is that what's driving most of this traffic here? Can you explain a little bit about what worked well in your marketing?
00:33:55:19 - 00:34:42:22
Dina Belon
Sure. We do all the above. Yeah, we do it. All right. And so we we do a ton in social media. We think that is a really good value based, strategy, particularly in the boutique hotel space. We do advertising and redirecting. People underestimate SEO still. And really, how you're driving traffic
to your website just as informational, not necessarily booking at this moment, but how do I get you to come to my website just to investigate our brand and see who we are and what we're doing and where our hotels are?
00:34:42:24 - 00:35:15:09
Dina Belon
And get you interested in us. And, you know, that's through great blogging, tagging, cross, linking to other sites, getting other sites to link to us. Right. Feeding the the engine, which almost starts to, be continual. I can't think of a word I'm looking for, but, you know, like, it repeats itself and builds upon itself, right?
00:35:15:11 - 00:35:41:13
Dina Belon
So, yeah. So all of that, is, is super important because it all ties together the social media ties to the website, which ties to the, advertising. When we follow you around on the internet and go, don't forget about us. Right. So all of that. Right? All of that is, dependent upon each other.
00:35:41:13 - 00:35:49:22
Dina Belon
If you're not doing all of it, well, then you're going to miss an element of contact with the guest.
00:35:49:24 - 00:36:06:11
Jamie Mattingly
Exactly. And we know now it's not just a single funnel. No one's going to see your website for the first time in, but they're going to take you all over the internet, you know, and then and then you start taking them all over the internet, you know, it's that game. But if they go to your website and they're not in, they're probably not going to go anywhere else.
00:36:06:16 - 00:36:26:00
Jamie Mattingly
But if they're a little impressed by the website and maybe some of the photos, they're going to go to your social media, they're gonna go on TripAdvisor and check your reviews. They're going to follow you around everywhere. So if you're going up in one place and not the other, you are losing opportunities, right? You guys seem like you did a very good job of making sure every touchpoint is on.
00:36:26:00 - 00:36:34:04
Jamie Mattingly
Brand, has that unique voice and is a memorable experience because that's what we're trying to do in those moments, right? We're just kind of think up here.
00:36:34:06 - 00:37:05:14
Dina Belon
Yeah. You know, and one other element that I think it's underestimated is actually providing value to the guests on the internet. So providing content that is, interesting about the city, like what are cool, unique things in the cities that we exist? What are underappreciated and or lesser known spots to visit? So even if they don't stay with us, they get something from us that might bring them back again.
00:37:05:14 - 00:37:30:16
Dina Belon
So, you know, don't don't underestimate being a value, too. We do that in our guests journey as well. So it's just as important to us to reach out and touch the gas when they're not on property and providing them value. We're not just reaching out to say, hey, we've got a sale going on, come back again. But maybe you are.
00:37:30:17 - 00:37:52:13
Dina Belon
Maybe I overheard that you're going to Wyoming this summer. We don't have a hotel in Wyoming, but I do have a team member that grew up in the town that you're going to in Wyoming. And so he writes you a specific like that's things to see in that little town in Wyoming and send you a personalized email about that.
00:37:52:17 - 00:38:27:16
Dina Belon
Hey, we heard you're going to X, y, Z Town in Wyoming. John, from the Maxwell grew up there. Here's some great tips for that area, like that kind of connection and ability to, personalize things that are not it's not just what's in it for us that creates a lot of trust. And you have to start a foundation of a relationship with the guests, has to be built on trust, or they have to feel like you're not just always selling to them.
00:38:27:18 - 00:38:54:00
Jamie Mattingly
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And thinking about the future and that this level of personal dating that you guys have, which is so again, just so beautiful, get a perfect length about Wyoming from one of your like, that's a that's a great thing for a hotel guest. I think your experience when you like, think about the future and potentially growing your brand more, getting a couple more properties.
00:38:54:02 - 00:39:01:00
Jamie Mattingly
How do you think that hyper personalized experience and continue to sell it across so many different properties?
00:39:01:02 - 00:39:38:22
Dina Belon
Yeah, it's it's our probably biggest challenge. So we have a huge growth strategy. We're growing our brand. We had has strictly owned all of the real estate, in our portfolio. That is changing both through selling some of the assets and then turning them into management contracts and branded. So we brand and manage. We do not franchise only, but, as well as expanding our brand to, new hotels with other owners.
00:39:38:24 - 00:40:04:16
Dina Belon
That is going to be our biggest challenge at ten hotels. It is, you know, manageable. And we have really great systems in place. Part of how we do that is a lot of centralized systems. So the only the only people that are at the hotel are hoteliers. So they're servicing guests and servicing team members. We don't have HR, we don't have it.
00:40:04:18 - 00:40:34:03
Dina Belon
We don't have accounting. We don't have a sales team sitting at the hotels. We don't have anybody else at the hotels, but just singularly focused on guest service and team member service. Everything else sits at our home office, which is in Bellevue, Washington, and they support all of the hotels. So we're able to have, a much more efficient and effective way of doing a lot of what we're talking about.
00:40:34:03 - 00:41:12:04
Dina Belon
Right? We can we can do it once here and then duplicate it and maybe adjust it per property because they're boutique hotels, right? They're not they're not courtyards. They don't all look the same. Right. And they all have their own little character, but it allows us a lot of efficiency. So we really do believe as we grow, that model is going to be an element that will differentiate us for owners, allowing us to do a lot more with a lot less because we don't have to duplicate it at every single hotel.
00:41:12:06 - 00:41:36:09
Jamie Mattingly
Yeah, that's great, but everyone gets to have their own little unique content into kind of like every employee can be, how they interact with the guests and to make their experience special. It's very in the moment and very hyper personalized as we've been talking about those very smart approach to the way you guys are doing things here. Again, as we know, The Staypineapple is such a playful and fearless brand.
00:41:36:12 - 00:41:46:19
Jamie Mattingly
Definitely a unique brand voice. What advice would you give to other hotels that want to stand out, but might be hesitant to take the same type of creative risk?
00:41:46:21 - 00:42:11:04
Dina Belon
Yeah, I mean, I think not every brand, it's not appropriate for every brand, and we is edgy and quirky and funky as us. But, or, you know, every brand needs to find their own core. Like, maybe you're super high tech, right? And you're attracting, guests that want to be able to just zip and do everything on their phone and zip out.
00:42:11:06 - 00:42:33:10
Dina Belon
That's not our brand. We we use a lot of tech. I mentioned we replaced our entire tech stack last year. And technology is a big part of what we do, but it's all behind the scenes. It's all to support the team members and make their jobs and lives a lot easier. We're very, engaged with our guests.
00:42:33:10 - 00:43:06:02
Dina Belon
We're very involved with our guests. Well, you can't get that kind of hyper personalized service without there being a lot of interaction. So when you check in at State Staypineapple, you'll never see a kiosk. You're never going to check in without engaging with a human being. So it's really important to find what are those core values as your brand and then stick to them and like, understand them really, really well and make sure that you don't diva off of them.
00:43:06:04 - 00:43:33:01
Dina Belon
You can grow. You can change as a brand thoughtfully, but you've got to stick to that core. And don't be afraid to take take risk. Jeff Bezos said something that I have used for years that I think, is super simple, but genius at the same time. There are two way doors and one way doors.
00:43:33:03 - 00:43:53:01
Dina Belon
If it's a two way door, if I can go through it and come back, go do it. Don't ask if it's a one way door. If I go through it and I can't come back, then okay, stop. Pause, analyze. Make sure it's the right decision. Check with your colleagues. Check with your boss. You know. Do all the stuff.
00:43:53:03 - 00:44:05:23
Dina Belon
But don't be afraid to go through two way doors. Go through. Make a mistake and come back. Do it as quickly as you can and as often as you can. Take risks.
00:44:06:00 - 00:44:18:11
Jamie Mattingly
Not that we know. You know, especially in business failures. They're not failures. They're lessons. Anyway, doors allow for that. You take your example or you learn something that will be
value the key down the line.
00:44:18:13 - 00:44:20:14
Dina Belon
100%. Yep.
00:44:20:16 - 00:44:33:20
Jamie Mattingly
I love that. Well, we're we're getting ready to close up here. I just have one one more fun question I wanted to ask you, if you had to describe the Staypineapple personality as a person.
00:44:33:22 - 00:44:38:05
Dina Belon
Who would know? Either.
00:44:38:07 - 00:45:05:23
Dina Belon
That's a good one. In. Yeah. Quirky brand. I've never been asked that question before. It's a good one. You know, I think I would say Steve Martin would be my person because he's fun and wild and exciting. But you'd have to throw a, a little bit of Audrey Hepburn in there. And I go back to contradictions.
00:45:05:23 - 00:45:27:04
Dina Belon
Right. It's the the, whimsical luxury. Whimsical elegance. It's that that, confluence of two things that when put together at the right levels, are magic. So, yeah, I think Steve Martin with a little Audrey Hepburn.
00:45:27:06 - 00:45:47:02
Jamie Mattingly
I love that. And for anyone that's listening and not able to actually see us right now, know your outfit, your whole style, your look right now is Steve Martin with Audrey Hepburn. I don't yes, I think that you you live the thing. Staypineapple. You look adorable. I just I from the beginning I was like, oh, I love her.
00:45:47:02 - 00:45:49:12
Jamie Mattingly
I thought it was going to be a great conversation.
00:45:49:14 - 00:45:52:14
Dina Belon
Oh, thank you so much. Thank you.
00:45:52:16 - 00:46:03:13
Jamie Mattingly
Yeah, yeah. My pleasure, my pleasure. Well, this has been such an amazing conversation. For those that are listening, that want to learn more about, say, Staypineapple or Book of Stay with you guide to where is the best place to find you.
00:46:03:15 - 00:46:16:05
Dina Belon
Yeah do Staypineapple.com. You can find us and you can learn all about us and see our fun, interesting and, somewhat irreverent brand.
00:46:16:07 - 00:46:35:10
Jamie Mattingly
Yeah. And also check out their social media. You guys will get to actually really get an understanding for the kind of experience that you guys will have with them. And if you are a pet owner, I could not recommend they Staypineapple more. And just to be sure and you can all pet to that just dog.
00:46:35:12 - 00:46:54:00
Dina Belon
No, it's not just dogs, it's all pets. We happen to be very dog obsessed. But yes, we do accept all pets. In fact, we even had, And somebody is probably going to kill me for saying this, but, a miniature horse one time, so somebody in operation is going to be like, what the heck do you know?
00:46:54:00 - 00:46:56:19
Dina Belon
Don't advertise that we take horses.
00:46:56:21 - 00:47:13:03
Jamie Mattingly
So the next I'm going to come with a full size horse. You guys are going to have to figure that one out. Oh, well, you know, that's been been an amazing conversation. Thank you so much for sharing your insights. That's it for today's episode of The In Crowd. If you found today's conversation valuable, be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode.
00:47:13:05 - 00:47:32:02
Jamie Mattingly
And if you're in the travel or hospitality space with insights to share, we'd love to hear from you! Head over to Duvall media.com and submit a request to be on the show. And remember, you guys, the best travel experiences don't just take us somewhere new. They change the way we see the world. So let's build a future where travel can that inspires and transform.
00:47:32:04 - 00:47:34:05
Jamie Mattingly
Until next time, safe travel.