Behind the Stays How to Choose the Perfect Location for Your Micro-Resort
Meet Ian Joseph — real estate investor turned hospitality entrepreneur — who is on a mission to bring a new kind of micro-resort experience to life.
What started as a simple desire to buy a vacation home led him to Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, a historic spa town with deep hospitality roots.
Now, Ian is in the early stages of launching Branch, an experiential micro-resort designed to blend striking architecture, immersive nature experiences, and strong community connections.
Branch hasn’t broken ground yet, but Ian is deep in the trenches — securing financing, finalizing design plans, and laying the foundation for what he hopes will be the first of many unique stays. Inspired by brands like Live Oak Lake, he’s determined to build a hospitality concept that goes beyond beautiful accommodations and taps into the story, history, and culture of its location.
In this episode, we dive into:
- Why Ian chose Berkeley Springs, West Virginia and what makes it a hidden gem ready for a hospitality revival.
- The rise of micro-resorts and why entrepreneurs without traditional hotel backgrounds are leading the way.
- How Ian is designing Branch to integrate with the local community — partnering with restaurants, chefs, and wellness providers instead of competing with them with onsite offerings.
- How he’s designing unexpected, locally inspired experiences for guests — like moonshine tastings, fruit wine flights, and hyper-local food collaborations.
- What he’s learned about raising capital for a hospitality development — including securing debt financing and finding the right equity partners.
- His long-term vision for Branch and why he believes the best hospitality brands will be built around story-driven destinations.
- And so much more
Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more.
Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of the Journey Alliance. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we’d love for you to apply to join our Alliance at joinjourney.com/alliance.