Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Emily Butterfield. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Emily, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Our Boutique Art Hotel, Oak Street Mansion, was a single-family home for nearly a century, until the Sabates family turned it into a Bed & Breakfast with a unique positioning – an Art Hotel. They displayed all of their personal (and impressive) art collection throughout the mansion for guests to enjoy. When they retired from the Bed & Breakfast world, Audrey and Aaron Clemons (a brother-sister duo) bought both the Oak Street Mansion and Southmoreland on the Plaza. We wanted to keep the Art Hotel dream alive, so we’ve partnered with the Kansas City Art Institute who curates a continually changing display of artwork from Professors, alumni, and students. It has been a wonderful collaboration and Oak Street actually won Runner-Up for Best Art Museum in all of Kansas City this year! Now Southmoreland on the Plaza shares the same dream of being a Boutique Art Hotel. There is a vibrant symphony, theatre, opera, ballet, concert, and museum scene in Kansas City and we love promoting them! We are only two of three locally-owned hotels on the Plaza and we are very proud of our connection to Kansas City. We’ve done partnership promotions with Andres Chocolate, Amigoni Wine, Made in KC Marketplace, Boulevard, etc. and we have an upcoming Wine Pairing with TerraVox winery that will be pairing the artwork on display at Oak Street with their wines!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Many of the people who see me around the mansion will ask if I’m the owner and I am not. However, I am the Head Innkeeper and Property Manager and love taking care of this historic home! I’ve been working in hospitality for over a decade now and my background is very diverse. I ran a guesthouse in Cambodia for three years, started a hostel in Patagonia, Argentina, worked at B&Bs in Ireland and England, etc. etc. I lived abroad for 8 years before finally coming back to the states and settling in Kansas City, Missouri. When I first moved here, I wrote a letter to each of the hotels I’d like to work at and Southmoreland on the Plaza & Oak Street Mansion were the first hotels I was really excited about. Many of the B&Bs I see around the world are a bit stuffy and outdated, but both of these properties do a great job of balancing historic charm with a clean, modern feel. They both were updated in 2019 and have great features like contactless check-in (so no coordinating with the front desk to pick up a key or scheduling a check-in time).

Have you ever had to pivot?

COVID was a tough time for everyone and it caused lots of changes in the hospitality industry, which we were not immune to. The staffing shortages were (and continue to be) very difficult and we no longer had the staff we needed to run full breakfasts anymore. Plus, people were starting to be weary of eating in large groups and would rather either eat in their room or go out to eat somewhere. We are located next to so many great, local restaurants so we thought, why not support them instead! We were very nervous to make the change, but so far we’ve been pleasantly surprised with how much people love this new system! There’s of course the people who were used to how things used to be run and had a hard time with the change, but most of the newer clientele all really enjoy it. We’ve had multiple B&Bs reach out to us to say they had to make the same changes in order to survive during COVID, but this seems to be the way the hospitality industry is moving as a whole and we are excited to be on the forefront of this new era!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Oak Street Mansion has been in business for nearly a decade and Southmoreland on the Plaza has been around for 2! I think the biggest thing that helps our business build a reputation is word of mouth. People come and have a lovely time at our inn and want to tell their friends about it. Some guests we’ve had for years and years and come to spend every Anniversary or birthday with us. We love being a part of their traditions! I think the other biggest thing for us is that we are a local company and in a world of Hyatt’s and Marriots, people choose our hotels because we are run by and support Kansas Citians. All of our rooms are named after famous Kansas Citians at Southmoreland on the Plaza and we share their story in each of the rooms. At Oak Street Mansion all of our rooms are named after neighborhoods in Kansas City and we are very active in our local neighborhood associations. We absolutely love Kansas City and are proud to be a part of it all! People coming to visit Kansas City for the first time come to stay with us because they know we can tell them where the local hot spots are and the up-and-coming events. Locals love staying with us because they share our hometown pride!

Contact Info:

• Website: oakstreetmansionkc.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/theoakstreetmansion/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheOakStreetMansion/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-butterfield
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/oak-street-mansion-kansas-city
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@oakstreetmansion
  Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.nz/oakstreetmansion/