Ep. 22: One of a kind guest experience, with Moniqua Lane.

TravelHotels

Sep 22

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This is part two of a two part episode, the first part aired September 15, 2020.

In part one, we met Moniqua Lane. She’s the visionary behind The Downtown Clifton. She’s currently breaking ground on her second project, The Citizen Hotel. She also has a couple of other hotel projects in the works. You’ll hear about her process of coming up with a new concept that’s fitting of the place, on today’s episode.

If you haven’t listened to last week’s episode, Moniqua shares how she fled her law practice, and landed in the hospitality world, what she’s built, and why. The episode is really overflowing with stories about inclusivity—how The Downtown Clifton not only stayed open throughout the pandemic, but opened it’s arms time and again to continue to be a community partner, even when it was really, really tough. I learned so much, and we also had some great laughs. That’s episode 21.

On today’s episode, we’re going deeper into Moniqua’s process of building a hotel that truly represents the community, what she’s borrowed from those that came before her, a hilarious brush with a celebrity, and she’s sharing her plans for her new project, The Citizen Hotel, and the hotels we can expect down the pipeline.

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A conversation so nice, I had to share it twice! Interviewing Moniqua really filled my cup over these last couple of weeks. It felt like some of my personal ideals of what a hotel could be, came to life. I’d already had this great experience at The Downtown Clifton, and I had my own history in Tucson’s Barrios having lived there a decade ago, and this conversation allowed me, on a personal level, to check in on a city I love. With The Downtown Clifton acting as so much more than a place to rest your head—but as a true community partner—I know that Tucson’s getting through this time.

Here are my key takeaways:

In times of crisis, hotels can actually fortify their position in a community by keeping their doors open, by making statements of what they believe, and standing by those statements—even if it means long nights, long mornings, and going deep with guests and neighborhood residents, too.
As a hotel owner, Moniqua has created a space that guests say “feels like home” and one local called “Barrio Viejo’s living room”—where no matter who you are, and where you’ve been, you’re welcome here. We scratched the surface on this, and my sense is that a big part of that “living room” feel, is the staff. If you build a team that feels like family, you’re that much closer to creating a space that feels like home.
Finally, Moniqua’s success is in her ability to adapt. Being a nimble property with a tight-knit team, she’s able to provide truly personalized guest experiences. It’s one thing to share a statement of inclusivity on social media, it’s another thing to really see it through. If you haven’t listened to the first half of my interview, episode 21 is full of examples—like the story about the righteous protestor, the on edge police officer, and even a known felon who’ve all arrived at The Downtown Clifton’s doorstep in recent months.

As always, keep sharing your stories.