Story is the strategy.

We built the brand before the building. Abril Fatface for the display weight, a five-color palette that refused to pick one lane, a warm direct voice that framed every guest moment. Each letter, each color, each sentence was a deliberate choice, and every surface of the inn started here.

The Herwood Inn

My background before this was in theater and hospitality, and I've always approached a room the way I'd approach a set, a frame for the people passing through. Each suite was named for a woman musician and given her own color from the palette. We cast custom signs on brass chains for each door. Beyond the identity work, accessibility mattered. Nick's Nook was the fully ADA-accessible unit, ground floor, ramp entry, a walk-in tiled shower, shower chair on request. Franklin Flat and Mitchell Manor were pet-friendly, two pets per room, with fenced yards where possible. Every suite got the same relaxation brief, soft textures, low light, intentional quiet. A place to exhale.

The Shed was the building behind the main Inn. We turned it into a venue, weddings up to sixty, elopements for two to ten, private chef's-table dinners for twenty, workshops with local makers. Events came with local catering coordination, curated beverage selections, and hand-picked décor. Every gathering was priced individually because no gathering was the same. Beyond the four suites, a whole events business grew up next to hospitality, same brand, same partner network, second revenue stream.

Two kinds of partners made the inn run. On one side, the Proud Partners of Woodstock, the thirty-plus local businesses we curated into maps and guides for every guest. On the other, the national brand partners who furnished the suites, Brooklinen, Casper, Parachute, Buffy, Anchal, Allswell, Loftie. We linked out to each from inside the portal, tracked who clicked, and shared the analytics back with our partners. They returned the favor with guest-only discount codes, so a guest could buy the mattress from the suite they'd just slept on.

The illustrated map of Woodstock we commissioned, with every Proud Partner pinned.

A tablet in every suite. Guests could order from the Commune Shop with 24-hour in-suite delivery. Watch yoga classes with Liz Mig or a live feed from the Catskill Animal Sanctuary. Chat with reception. Read the annotated guide to every object in their room, which mattress they were sleeping on, what the alarm clock did, where the yoga mats lived. Seven tiles, seven sub-experiences, built with HTML and Squarespace. Watch a real guest flow below.

The Commune was the self-serve lobby, wine, snacks, merchandise, fresh coffee and pastries every morning, unlocked with the guest's room code. Every product on the shelves was chosen against a brief, eco-sustainable, cruelty-free, fair-trade, or locally sourced. Guests could buy in person or order from their suite and have things delivered within 24 hours.

Every booking the first year came through a press link or a friend-of-a-friend. We never ran ads. Writers, travel bloggers, and Instagram creators found the Inn, wrote about it, and their readers booked. Forbes and AFAR brought mainstream credibility. Yahoo Life and Brooklyn Based brought the Brooklyn crowd. Hudson Valley One and Times Union brought local visibility. Influencers like @girlwanderlist, @nytoanywhere, and @brooklyndoublewide kept the feed full of guests. The product did the work.