Hospitality is not a spreadsheet - The book that could change the way you build places

This is not a book about hotels. It’s a book about building places people ache to return to, because the place changed them a little. If that sounds romantic, good. We’re going to need romance. We’re also going to need spreadsheets, scars, and a spine.

I learned this the long way. I built LOBBY not to add another logo to a skyline, but to prove you can design soul per square meter. Not vibes. Not a Pinterest board. Soul. The thing you feel when a place fits you like an old jacket and still makes you stand taller.

The industry told me to sell rooms. I tried that. It felt like selling air in nice boxes. Rooms are inventory. People don’t remember inventory. They remember moments. From the espresso at 6:12 a.m. before paddling out, the needle dropping on a record that suddenly becomes your city’s soundtrack, the quiet charge of a bar before the first guest breaks the surface with a story.

So here’s the first cut of truth: Indie hospitality is not a style; it’s a stance. It’s the decision to build from the inside out, beliefs, then rituals, then space. Rather than the outside in, furniture, fragrance, and a press release. It’s slower. It’s harder. It pays in loyalty you can’t fake and word-of-mouth you couldn’t buy if you tried.