Hotel Brand Tiny Urban Escapes Taps Into Micro Luxury and Sustainability
Photo Caption: One of the suites at Tiny Urban Escape’s first property in Indianapolis. Source: Tiny Urban Escapes.
Skift Take
The founder of Tiny Urban Escapes, Indiana’s first Black and female-owned hotel, is taking an innovative approach to sustainable, luxury travel in urban environments.
A boutique hotel opening in July in the historically Black neighborhood of Haughville, Indianapolis, aims to tap into a few trends percolating in hospitality broadly: helping guests feel a sense of place and reducing the carbon impact of hotel operations. Tiny Urban Escapes will strive to bring a small, green oasis into the middle of a bustling Indiana city with luxury touches.
Founder and CEO Robin Staten-Lanier has tapped four upcycled shipping containers to create suites, a courtyard, and a glass pavilion, creating a green space near Belmont Beach, a historical site for African Americans near a swimming hole.
“It was the only place they were allowed to swim in the city,” Staten-Lanier said.
Despite the innovations, Staten-Lanier wasn’t born into the hotel business, technically speaking.
“I’m not a Hilton, so I don’t come from a family of hoteliers or anything,” Staten-Lanier said.
Founder and CEO Robin Staten-Lanier. Source: Tiny Urban Escapes.Instead, Staten-Lanier was inspired to leave her role in higher education and launch a boutique hotel brand thanks to her grandmother, Ira J. Staten. “Some of the fondest memories I have as a child all centered around her home and the space she created — a tiny, four-room bungalow-style home,” Staten-Lanier said. "But it seemed much larger than life as a child, and the spirit of hospitality she embodied every day inspired me to — years later — start on this journey." Staten hopes to embody that same level of hospitality with Tiny Urban
