Storytelling in Hospitality (and Social Media)
By Isaac French
On Wednesday, I posted this thread on X. Almost immediately, I knew something was very different… likes, comments, and reposts were flying in like I’d never seen. I canceled the 2 meetings scheduled that day, and started responding to comments and answering questions.
It only got crazier and more out of control—far more than I could even try to keep up with.
Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia (cofounders of Airbnb) both reposted, as did Paul Graham (founder of Y-Combinator), and over 5,000 others. By the next day, the thread had been seen more than 16 million times, with over 66,000 likes.
One day in…🤯
I guess we “went viral.”
Spending ~8 hours of the afternoon before (and half the night) writing and rewriting the thread paid off. And it shed a huge light on our family train car stay, prompting several major publications to reach out and offer to write stories on it. This should all be huge in driving occupancy and traffic to our little off-the-beaten-path town of Deary, Idaho (where the train car, depot, and caboose stays are).
But for me (somewhat selfishly), the best feeling came from all the comments about the storytelling, and how much people loved it.
Means a lot, and here’s why:
I’ve never been a good natural storyteller, though I’ve enjoyed writing since I was young. But in the past several months I’ve spent considerable time trying to develop this skill. I’ve listened to dozens of interviews, taken a course or two, and read numerous newsletters and pieces of advice.
And this thread about our family’s project transforming a rotten train car into what it is today felt like an important milestone on my journey of learning to tell stories better.
But it also made me think of a podcast I recently listened to with Ian Schrager, the OG boutique hotelier. He compared the best hospitality experiences to great stories…
He talked about how much joy he gets in putting together the pieces of a guest experience in a very particular was—just like a story—that moves people.
First impressions. Last impressions. What’s the narrative? What is being evoked?
This resonated with me.
I’ve talked a lot about the importance of first and last impressions, but I love thinking about it with this frame explicitly: what’s the narrative you’re trying to tell?
This skill of storytelling quickly proves its immense value not just in marketing your property or experience through social media and beyond, but also in crafting amazing properties and guest experiences. And it can be learned and perfected, even if you’re “not a natural.”
As I reflect on some of my own favorite hospitality experiences ( Babylonstoren , Amangiri, and others), I recognize the stories told through the experiences: the architecture, landscape, staff, welcome note, last impressions leaving, etc. I may not have consciously discerned them this way in the moment, but I was deeply impacted—yes, even moved—by them
The takeaways:
Anyone can get better at storytelling! And it’s one of the most valuable skills to pursue…
Use these skills to craft better guest experiences, and then market them better.
Twitter (X) is not dead. Start telling your own story (build in public) and good things will happen!
By the way, if you want to know my top recommendations for how to get better at storytelling and writing, check these out:
This short essay by Paul Graham
2-hr podcast with Shaan Puri
This guy’s tweets and newsletter
This interview with Aaron Sorkin
Sam Parr’s copywriting course
That’s a wrap. Hope you enjoyed!