Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Canahuate.
Hi Sean, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Thank you so much and great to meet you! My partner Ryan Swisher and I started our hospitality journey in spring 2020 when we acquired our first large short-term rental, a 10-bedroom, 10-acre waterfront property called The Estate on Lake Travis. We closed on this property during peak onset of Covid, which was terrifying, but given its remote location on the lake and its ample outdoor activities, we pretty quickly booked up the property and thus began our foray into the hospitality business! Given our success with the lakehouse, we started looking for our next property fairly soon after, but it wasn’t until early 2022 that we purchased our second property in Dripping Springs called The Liney Moon. This is an 8-acre ranch style property with a ceremony site + outdoor reception space, main house with 4 bedrooms / 4 baths, and 13 unique cottages for a total overnight capacity of 60 people. Since we only book this property out in its entirety, we’ve seen tremendous demand for large group gatherings including weddings, family reunions, corporate offsites, etc., which really got our feet wet with managing a property holding events.
By summer 2022, Ryan and I decided that we wanted to go all in on the hospitality business and were looking for what would be next. We decided to bring in a new third partner, Pavel Kolenda, who owns a tiny home construction company called Backyard Pod. Together, we had both operating and development experience, which opened up more opportunities for us in terms of building the optimal hospitality property based on our cumulative experiences. In late 2022 we found our newest property, a 20-acre property called The Cedars Ranch in Wimberley. There was already a beautiful event/wedding venue on the property, but we saw a great opportunity to expand by adding unique, glamping-style lodging and resort quality amenities. Our expansion includes adding 23 lodging units for a total of 28 full bedrooms and 15 loft beds, plus amenities like a resort-style pool with a poolside bar and cabanas, pickleball courts, hiking trail, and much more. We expect to finish this expansion project by the end of the year and look forward to reopening the beautiful property for weddings, corporate gatherings, yoga/wellness retreats, and all sorts of individual transient guests. With our third property under management, our team decided to establish an overarching hospitality company and brand, which we have named Reverie Hospitality. Our hospitality business focuses on acquiring and operating hospitality properties that facilitate unique and memorable gatherings and events in the great outdoors.
Would it have been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Over the last 3.5+ years, we have faced many challenges, including regulation changes, development delays, financing challenges (given our unique property type), major repairs, and many more. We have had to closely work together to overcome these obstacles and always prioritize doing things the right way. This has been vital to our success thus far, and as we grow our company, teamwork and integrity have become core tenets in our company’s business philosophy and team culture.
I appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Reverie Hospitality?
Reverie Hospitality’s mission is to curate exceptional experiences across our unique collection of properties that blend the wonders of nature with resort-style amenities. We believe in the transformative power of connecting with loved ones in beautiful natural settings, offering a special place for guests to immerse themselves and create lasting bonds with one another. We plan to add new properties to our growing portfolio to offer our guests unparalleled experiences at every property within our brand.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://staywithreverie.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecedarsranch/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCedarsRanch/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-cedars-ranch-wimberley
