Special guest post by Ashley Cothran
A lot of people ask us what Travaasa means. When the creators set out to build our first location in Austin, there was no word that fit exactly what they planned to share with guests. They wanted to offer a way to experience Austin outside of the hotel room. To offer guests something they can take with them that couldn’t be purchased at a souvenir shop. To that end, they combined the word Pravaasa (Sanskrit for memorable journey) with Travel – enter Travaasa.
To create something this out of the box, we knew we knew our approach would be a non-traditional one.
Our leaders wouldn’t be the predictable candidates with the most hospitality experience – we needed to find our X in the Travaasa equation.
This is our team.
We have five pillars we pride our brand on: adventure, culinary, culture, fitness & spa/wellness. Each experience, program and offering we create has those ideals in mind. Having a full schedule to offer guests is great, but it is our team that brings the pillars to life.
Our people live those lifestyles each and every day, both at work and in their free time. From our front desk to our sales team, our employees can be found up at dawn to participate in the Run Austin half marathon, working on their own community gardens, taking in the best entertainment Austin has to offer, contributing to community gardens, competing in rodeos and exploring Austin by bike. Their love for that lifestyle translates directly into their daily jobs and sharing those experiences with each other and with guests. No one is reciting a script; each anecdote or piece of background is from his or her own memorable journey. The outcome is better than anything we could’ve planned or dreamed up.
For us, our team is our winning formula. It is a method that has found its way to our second Travaasa location, and will inevitably be the groundwork for all future resorts we create.