{"id":2842,"date":"2023-11-09T11:34:58","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T17:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houston1.one\/?p=2842"},"modified":"2023-11-09T11:35:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T17:35:00","slug":"wanderstay-boutique-hotel-the-first-boutique-hotel-in-houston-opened-by-black-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houston1.one\/en\/eternal\/wanderstay-boutique-hotel-the-first-boutique-hotel-in-houston-opened-by-black-people-2842","title":{"rendered":"Wanderstay Boutique Hotel: the first boutique hotel in Houston opened by black people"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Deidre Mathis made history in Houston by opening Wanderstay Houston Hostel in 2018, the city’s first adult-only themed hotel. However, the entrepreneur did not stop there: 5 years later, she introduced Wanderstay Boutique Hotel, the first boutique hotel in Houston owned by black people. Find out more at houston1.one<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It all started at Wanderstay Houston Hostel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mathis holds a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Florida A&M University as well as a master’s degree in corporate communications from Bowie State University. She also obtained a certificate in tourism management from the George Washington University School of Business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In 2018, she opened Wanderstay Houston Hostel, an adults-only themed hostel featuring 8 themed rooms that can accommodate groups of up to 30 people. Before opening the establishment, 36-year-old Mathis had traveled to 46 countries on all continents. During her travels, she realized the importance of having a fun, safe and unique place to stay. Therefore, she knew what to offer travelers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In addition to themed entertainment, each room includes plush bathrobes, slippers and a towel dryer. Guests can also book a room and let the staff choose a room theme of their choice as a surprise. By the way, dogs are also allowed here, though for a small fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hostel strives to unite travelers from all over the world. It has a friendly atmosphere, and private and shared rooms are designed to make tourists feel at home. Guests get all the necessary amenities at an affordable price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wanderstay Boutique Hotel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After the success of the hostel, which welcomed more than 15,000 guests from more than 30 countries between 2018 and 2023, Mathis continued to conquer the Houston hotel industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, the entrepreneur opened Wanderstay Boutique Hotel for business travelers and ordinary tourists, as well as small groups over the age of 18. While Wanderstay Houston Hostel is the first black-owned hostel in the United States, Wanderstay Boutique Hotel is the first black-owned boutique hotel in Houston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It offers a place for small group events, such as business meetings or weddings. Its rooms, like those of Wanderstay Houston Hostel, are themed. The 10 unique rooms are decorated in the styles of black and white art, safari, desert, sports, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In general, a boutique hotel is a small, refined hotel that surrounds its guests with exclusive luxury and guarantees top-level service. Typically, hotels of this category are located in small, well-renovated mansions or buildings with individual design. The first boutique hotels in the world appeared in the 1980s in the UK and the USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, Mathis received a grant to start a business from the black pop diva, Houston native Beyonc\u00e9 through her Beygood Foundation. The businesswoman broke down barriers in the hotel industry, where there is a severe lack of representation for people of color. A 2023 report by Hotel Management showed that less than 2% of hotel owners in the United States are black, and the figure is even lower among blacks – less than 1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Determined to impact this statistic, Mathis also started offering courses aimed at teaching people how to open their own hotels. Moreover, Deirdre became the director of the Wander Abroad Foundation, an organization that provides short-term study abroad opportunities for financially disadvantaged students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 lessons in 5 years<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With 5 years of experience owning and managing Wanderstay Hospitality Group, which includes Mathis’ establishments, the entrepreneur has drawn important conclusions that she shared with hertelier<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.    Time is needed. When she opened the hostel, she naively thought that business would take off as soon as she opened the doors. In fact, it took almost a year to achieve a consistently high occupancy rate.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.    Asking for help is essential. According to Mathis, asking for help is a requirement, not an option. The human body is a machine that needs rest and relaxation. Therefore, it is necessary to delegate tasks: hire interns, staff, or call for volunteers. Business is always a team effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.    Become a professional at saving money. As Mathis explained, the worst thing that can happen to a hotel owner is losing money. The businesswoman advised having savings for unforeseen expenses for 3-4 months in advance, which should be replenished from year to year. This means that in the first year of operation, you should save expenses for 4 months. In the second year, another 4 months, making it a total of 8 months of unforeseen expenses. This practice allows you to be prepared in case of unexpected problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.    Have fun as hard as you work. Spend time with friends, read a book, or watch TV. According to Mathis, there’s no point in starting your own business if you can’t enjoy the fruits of your labor. Conversely, having fun motivates you to do even better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.    There will be tough times. In business, there are always days when the owner thinks about quitting. Perhaps every entrepreneur has wanted to leave their job at some point, but it’s important to know how to control yourself. Difficult periods are inevitable, but if it were otherwise, everyone would become a businessman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deidre Mathis made history in Houston by opening Wanderstay Houston Hostel in 2018, the city’s first adult-only themed hotel. However, the entrepreneur did not stop there: 5 years later, she introduced Wanderstay Boutique Hotel, the first boutique hotel in Houston owned by black people. Find out more at houston1.one. It all started at Wanderstay Houston […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":328,"featured_media":2522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1164],"tags":[1921,1917,1915,1918,1919,1913,1920,1916,1922,1911,1912,1914],"moimportance":[81],"motype":[1158],"moformat":[83],"class_list":{"0":"post-2842","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-an-adults-only-themed-hostel-featuring-8-themed-rooms-that-can-accommodate-groups-of-up-to-30-people","9":"tag-deidre-mathis-made-history-in-houston-by-opening-wanderstay-houston-hostel-in-2018","10":"tag-desert","11":"tag-it-all-started-at-wanderstay-houston-hostel","12":"tag-mathis-holds-a-bachelors-degree-in-broadcast-journalism-from-florida-am-university-as-well-as-a-masters-degree-in-corporate-communications-from-bowie-state-university","13":"tag-safari","14":"tag-she-opened-wanderstay-houston-hostel","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-wanderstay-boutique-hotel-3","17":"tag-wanderstay-boutique-hotel-the-first-boutique-hotel-in-houston-opened-by-black-people","18":"tag-wanderstay-houston-hostel-3","19":"tag-white-art","20":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatori","21":"motype-eternal","22":"moformat-vlasna"},"modified_by":"Inna Hananova","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/houston1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/houston1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/houston1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2842"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/houston1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2843,"href":"https:\/\/houston1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2842\/revisions\/2843"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/houston1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2842"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=2842"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=2842"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=2842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}