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For the founder of Hôtel Weekend, Natalia Swarz, the way people travel isn’t just about where they go or how they get there, but a set of principles that define their journey. Traveling the Hôtel Weekend way means taking everything at a slower, more thoughtful pace. It’s about holding onto “what you feel when you are in a hotel, discovering somewhere new, when life is pure and unrushed,” Natalia says.
Hôtel Weekend started out as a blog, written through the lens of Natalia’s conscious travel philosophy. But since then, the brand has grown with its audience, spawning in-person events, an online store, and even a book. From building an immersive website to using Member Sites to connect with an international audience, learn how Natalia used Squarespace tools to turn Hôtel Weekend into a business with multiple income streams, all while staying true to its mission and values.
Growing a lifestyle brand into a business
Once Natalia made the decision to travel more consciously, she was able to clarify the process of defining Hôtel Weekend’s brand. “I wrote these words over time in a notebook: barefoot, pared back, slow, gentle, kind, pure, simple yet luxurious,” Natalia says. “I always go back to this notebook when I feel I have too many new ideas or I get excited over something new.”
That core set of values has become even more important as the brand has developed as a business and a community hub. “To decide which new offerings to add, we always listen to our audience,” Natalia says. “Our DMs are always open and we get so inspired by our community’s requests or feedback. It’s important to have your ears, mind, and heart open. New ideas and inspiration come from everywhere. Sometimes, it’s also new Squarespace features that inspire us to find a way to use them.”
“I wanted to create a brand that could be anything—a website, a book, a café, clothing, whatever you can imagine,” Natalia says. But she keeps her community members top of mind before making any brand decision. “We like to keep it simple and non-spammy,” she says. “There’s a lot of thought and love put into every single email sent, every product designed and shipped, and every piece of content created for our members. It’s really important that people feel with all of our communications that there is a real woman behind this project.”
Designing an immersive travel website
COVID-19 hit travel brands especially hard, but Natalia kept Hôtel Weekend active and engaged with its community thanks to its strong online presence. “We launched the Souvenir Shop with the idea of hosting pop-ups in hotels around the world,” she says. “As COVID came, ecommerce grew a lot and IRL events slowed down. But that time spent in lockdown was very creative: We introduced playlists, recipes, movie lists—all of this was sent through the Hôtel Weekend newsletter, and people loved it.”
The Hôtel Weekend website also offers a little escape for those unable to travel: from audio soundscapes for different destinations to souvenirs from far-flung locales. “I’ve always wanted to bring this feeling of an immersive getaway to our online universe,” Natalia says. “We always talk about how you can travel through sounds or scents. We use the tools that the Squarespace platform has to make entering the site a true escape. Some people have pointed out how they feel relaxed once they enter our website, and that's the goal.”
But the business is also designed to help travelers step straight from that immersive website into their own journeys. Hôtel Weekend uses the same ecommerce design on its website to sell both physical items in the Souvenir Shop and digital Explore Guides, affordable PDF guides to the best-kept secrets of destination cities.
Photo (left) by Marina Denisova
Connecting a community with Squarespace tools
A key element to Hôtel Weekend’s growth has been Natalia’s commitment to cultivating and interacting with the brand’s audience. With the support of Squarespace tools, she created a membership to connect travelers, started a brand newsletter, and financed a self-published travel book.
“I was very excited when Squarespace launched the Member Sites feature. I’ve had this idea of launching the Hôtel Weekend Club since 2019, but didn’t know exactly how to make it happen. The minute I received the news of the feature launch I knew it was time to do it,” says Natalia. “It was the same when Squarespace introduced Email Campaigns—it made my life so much easier. I knew how important email marketing was but wasn’t really making the most of it as other options were not aligned with our brand aesthetics. I love how I now have everything in just one place, making it easier and also more beautiful.”
The connection she cultivated with her audience even helped Natalia fulfill her dream to publish a book. “Pre-orders through the commerce site helped me finance the printing, and three months after the launch, we are just 20 copies away from being sold out,” she says.
Natalia doesn’t just use Squarespace tools to make it easier to connect with her community, but to offer its members the best possible experiences. Hôtel Weekend Club members get travel perks at partner hotels, online store discounts, access to premium travel content, and invites to regular gatherings and retreats all over the world.
Creating in-person experiences for an online audience
Though the business has expanded to include in-person events, Natalia is mindful of striking the right balance for her global audience. “With over 30,000 newsletter subscribers and thousands of daily web visits, it is very important for us to stay close to our community,” she says. “We host seasonal events so we can meet in person, but to be able to reach our audience all over the world, staying in touch digitally is the way to go.”
That said, an in-person meeting place for like-minded travelers is on the Hôtel Weekend vision board. “We want to bring this universe of barefoot luxury that we’ve built over the years to life by opening a small hotel in Portugal,” Natalia says. “The first hub for our members to connect, relax, and gather. Stay tuned for it.”
Inspired by Natalia’s story? Start building your own brand on Squarespace.