The Three-Legged Stool of Strong Indie Hotels

Why Brand, Technology, and Culture Must Work Together—or Not at All

A good hotel is like a three-legged stool. Take away one leg, and it doesn’t matter how strong the others are—it won’t stand. And yet, many independent hotels are trying to balance on one or two legs. Some don’t even know what the third leg is supposed to be.

Most owners are doing their best. But good intentions don’t build stability. Stability comes from structure. And structure in hospitality comes from three things working in harmony: Brand. Technology. Operations & Culture.

I’ve seen this firsthand—in my own hotels, and in the properties we help reposition across the country. When these three legs are in place, you’re not just keeping the lights on. You’re building something that guests feel, that staff believe in, and that your business can grow from.

Brand is where everything begins. It’s the essence of your hotel—the reason someone books it in the first place, and remembers it after they leave.

A lot of people think brand is about design. And sure, design matters. But real brand work goes deeper. It’s the story you’re telling, the emotion you’re evoking, the way your place makes people feel—whether it’s cozy, nostalgic, adventurous, luxurious, or just plain honest.

Your brand should shape the entire guest journey. From the way your signage looks, to the type of music playing in the lobby, to the local goods in the shop. When it’s done well, guests don’t always know why they loved their stay so much. They just did.

Without a brand, your hotel is just another building. With a brand, it becomes a place worth remembering.

Tech isn’t exciting to most people in this industry. But it’s necessary. And when it works, it disappears.

Your website. Your booking engine. Your property management system. The way your team communicates. The way your guests check in, check out, leave feedback, and get follow-up emails. All of that is your technology stack—and all of it matters.

Modern tech gives you real-time data, dynamic pricing, better guest targeting, and cleaner operations. More importantly, it helps you deliver on your brand promise. If your brand says “effortless comfort” but your check-in process is clunky and slow, guests won’t believe you.

We’ve seen hotels double their direct bookings and improve RevPAR significantly just by getting their systems in sync. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It just has to work. And it has to work together.

The third leg—the one people forget about or assume will take care of itself—is Operations & Culture.

This is how you run the place. It’s the heartbeat. It’s the way your team carries themselves. The way they speak to guests. The pride they take in small tasks. The attitude behind the service.

You can have a great brand and all the right tech, but if your team doesn’t care—or doesn’t know how to care—guests will feel it. They always do.

Hospitality is service. But more than that, it’s a spirit. It’s remembering someone’s name. Anticipating their needs. Going the extra mile not because you have to, but because that’s the kind of place you’ve built.

Culture starts at the top. Owners, managers, team leads—all of them set the tone. Do you show up? Do you listen? Do you thank people? Are you building a place people are proud to work in?

Operations is structure. Culture is heart. Together, they’re the third leg. Without it, the other two fall flat.

Here’s what we see over and over again…

Around 80% of independent hotels aren’t really focused on any of these three.
Another 15–20% are leaning hard into one, maybe two. Usually operations or tech.
I’d wager that less than 5% are focusing on all three intentionally and consistently.

And that 5%? They’re outperforming the rest.

Not by a little. By a lot.

These are the hotels that have guests who come back. Teams that stay longer. Reviews that feel human. Financials that are healthy. Owners who sleep better.

The Ozarker Lodge is one of our own properties. When we found it, it was severely underperforming. A dated roadside property with no clear identity, aging systems, and a tired team. It had potential—but it didn’t have legs.

We rebranded it, rebuilt it, and reinvested in the people who would run it.

The brand was rooted in the nostalgia of American road trips—simple pleasures, screen doors, creek swims, family adventures. Every detail of the guest experience was shaped around that.

We rebuilt the tech stack from the ground up. Cloud-based PMS, direct booking site, and integrated guest communications. Nothing flashy. Just clean, modern, and efficient.

And we worked with the team—hiring the right people, creating standards, celebrating wins, and putting culture front and center.

The results?

In our first full calendar year post-relaunch (compared to the previous ownership’s “best” year), we saw:

→ 40%+ increase in occupancy
→ 125%+ increase in ADR
→ 220%+ increase in RevPAR

This wasn’t the result of a single tactic. It was the outcome of building all three legs—brand, tech, and culture—together, on purpose.

If you’re running an independent hotel—or thinking about it—ask yourself:

If any one of those is missing, you’ve got a wobble. And over time, that wobble becomes a problem you can’t ignore.

But if you get all three right—even in simple, steady ways—you’ll have a foundation that’s strong enough to carry the weight of everything else.

It won’t always be easy. But it’ll be worth it.