263: 3AM Coffee Thief
Adam Arnold is a small business technology consultant who, with his wife Kara, owns and operates the Little Canyon Inn, a four-unit roadside motel near Colorado's Royal Gorge. After a scouting road trip with his oldest son, Adam found a fixer-upper with killer mountain views and turned it into a distinctive stay built on patio doors, local makers, and the great outdoors. Susan and Adam talk about pulling the plug on TVs, puppy perks, and partnering with fellow boutique moteliers.
What You'll Learn
- Why great hosts let guests drop their baggage without picking it up
- What makes forgotten Western motels so weirdly irresistible
- Where the best deals hide (hint: not on the market)
- What the motel mullet is and why it works
- Why ditching TVs shrinks the surface area for problems, even if a few guests bolt
- How local coffee, soap, art, and board games turn a room into a memory
- Why banks love lending to people who don't need the money
- Why restoring an old motel to look like everything else defeats the whole point
- Why OTAs make it harder for small properties to buy their own ads
Key takeaway:
The more distinct your property, the less you have to compete, so lean into your character and let the wrong guests find a TV somewhere else.
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