Lark Lodges founder Robert Blood wears many hats now. Along with serving as president of the boutique lodge model and administration firm he based in 2012, he’s principal of the design agency Elder & Ash and companion at Lark Capital, which is an funding and growth affiliate. In describing his unlikely journey from English main to hotelier, Blood mentioned he himself is proof of the idea that the “proper mindset” is a very powerful qualification for reaching success in hospitality. He mentioned the corporate is now rising and thriving—actually, it’s almost doubled in dimension since 2020, when he was lastly capable of persuade longtime pal and colleague Peter Twachtman to take over day-to-day operations as CEO and give attention to what he does finest and enjoys most—“inventive imaginative and prescient, strategic development, and model elevation.”
Early Days
Blood traced what he has come to understand was an affinity for hospitality to the times when, as a scholar at Bates Faculty, he was a part of a scholar actions board that created leisure experiences, and to his time as a ski teacher at Sugarloaf who imagined proudly owning a well-liked bar and inn. He added that his father’s untimely loss of life helped form his perspective towards life, and maybe nudged him towards hospitality. “My mother and pop had talked about retiring once they have been 55 and opening a bed-and-breakfast,” he mentioned.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t till he and his then-girlfriend, Leigh, who turned his first spouse, took a job on the island of Nantucket as innkeepers for Susan and Dale Hamilton that he truly skilled what it took to run such an enterprise, and, extra importantly, realized how a lot he loved it. “Though we had no expertise in any respect, they only handed us the keys and left us to run the place. We realized the enterprise from the within out, with the assist, friendship, and mentorship of Dale and Susan,” Blood mentioned. From that year-long expertise, he determined how he wished to stay and work. “From the second I stepped foot on Nantucket and have become the innkeeper of the Sherburne Inn, I made a decision to stay my life working at one thing I actually take pleasure in, one thing that wasn’t only a job, however a way of life.”
A Resort of His Personal
In contemplating choices for a lodge of his personal, Blood was drawn to what turned often called the boutique sector based mostly on his expertise on the Sherburne Inn: “Folks cherished being there principally for the immersive atmosphere and the expertise they have been having.” Nonetheless, as he shortly realized, investing in a boutique lodge was one other matter totally: “Happily, I didn’t go to Cornell Resort College, so I didn’t know that it was agreed upon that making inns beneath 100 keys worthwhile was unattainable.”
Fortunate for him, his mom disregarded the recommendation of well-meaning associates and fronted the down cost after studying the marketing strategy he created with the assistance of Dale Hamilton, a Harvard Enterprise College graduate who, together with his Sherburne Inn, proved {that a} well-located small property might be economically viable. So, with a $350,000 mortgage from his mom (a 10-year observe at 6 p.c curiosity), an SBA mortgage, and standard financial institution financing, he was capable of buy his first property, a nine-room inn in Kennebunkport, Maine, for $1.725 million in 2004.
Blood mentioned this primary property “was like a check lab for us. Leigh and I turned consultants at value management and realized methods to run a really tight enterprise.” He mentioned in addition they realized the worth of investing in repositioning and design. “Folks actually favored the impartial spirit of our property as a result of it felt very native. We discovered that by making good renovation and design selections that we might actually drive top-line income.”
By means of trial and error and really onerous work, they developed an working precept that labored for them. “I wished to raise the expertise in these small historic properties for a extra trendy traveler—we changed the doilies and lace with trendy conveniences and comforts alongside nods to New England allure and historical past.”
Their gamble paid off. 4 years after opening the Captain Fairfield Inn, they have been capable of do a cash-out refinance, enabling him to pay his mom again in half the time.
Between the refinance of that property and the founding of Lark Lodges in 2012 there have been different ventures, together with The Veranda Home and Chapman Home on Nantucket, bought with the Hamiltons, and The Attwater, in Newport, Rhode Island, bought together with his mom and sister. He additionally offered consulting companies to inns and resorts from 2007-2012.
From Possession to Partnership
A lot has modified within the years since Blood based Lark Lodges, which is now what Blood described as “a administration firm and a model” that doesn’t personal the inns in its portfolio. Nonetheless, Blood, who’s president, does personal 22 of these inns with buyers by way of Lark Capital, the affiliated funding and growth division of Lark created in 2022. There has additionally been a full-service design studio open to everybody since he and his second spouse, Megan Kennedy, launched Elder & Ash in 2017.
At this level, Lark’s portfolio of properties has grown to 53 inns. Along with Lark Lodges, it consists of “sister manufacturers” that have been created in response to demand for particular manufacturers in different segments: Bluebird by Lark, AWOL, and Blind Tiger guesthouses. As well as, Lark Unbiased extends to different impartial properties the advantages of its expanded infrastructure, together with hands-on operational, tech, design, HR, and income assist.
The Proper Mindset
Talking to LODGING from one of many “distinctive spots” he prizes, Block Island Seashore Home in New Shoreham, Rhode Island, Blood described the various methods working within the boutique sector has enabled him to “stay the dream”: “Though I wouldn’t say I had a pure inclination towards inns or eating places from an early age, I did have an innate want to create experiences. I additionally actually cherished structure, and the concept of being a steward of historic buildings that play an essential function in communities.” He additionally had what he described as “the proper mindset”: “You need to be keen to work onerous, strive new issues, and embrace what you’re doing. We’re performing duties that may be carried out by virtually anybody—we’re fluffing pillows, ensuring the drinks are good and hospital corners tight. What makes us good at what we do is how we make individuals really feel.”
What he feels most is grateful: “The great thing about my life is that I get to work with my two finest associates—together with an entire group of unbelievable individuals—whereas creating superb experiences for individuals.”
Mentors Matter: Giving Credit score The place Credit score is Due
Not like these born into the trade, Lark Lodges founder Robert Blood considers himself fortunate to have stumbled into hospitality. He made positive to say these whose helped make a distinction in his potential to understand a dream he didn’t know he had.
In fact, it begins at house, together with his mother and father. He referred to as his mom, who disregarded the recommendation of associates who discouraged her from investing in his first property, “my biggest advocate and largest believer. My mother has formed my imaginative and prescient in life; she is a big proponent of the concept of working alongside individuals.” He additionally acknowledged the affect of his father, who died lengthy earlier than his son turned a profitable hotelier: “My father supported the concept that life was a journey that needs to be celebrated.”
He pressured that it was Nantucket innkeepers Dale and Susan Hamilton who most straight influenced his profession. “I actually credit score each Dale and Susan with giving me the chops to do what I do, beginning with hiring me within the first place. In addition they modeled what it took to succeed, helped with my marketing strategy, and proved that there have been actually earnings available in particular small properties. They purchased the Sherburne [Inn] for $600,000, and, following sound, easy, sensible enterprise ideas—in contrast to the earlier homeowners—bought it for $2.4. million. I realized an incredible quantity from each of them.”
