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In the latest in our Hotelier Edit series, the Independent Hotel Show talks to Serena von der Heyde about the growth of the Your Place hotel group, the importance of championing and measuring DEI in small businesses, and the challenges that come with working with Online Travel Agencies (OTAs).

Serena von der Heyde was just 19 years old when she took over the management of her grandfather’s B&B in 1987, which later became Georgian House Hotel in London, Victoria.

“I didn’t even know we had this bed & breakfast in the family,” she tells us. “But I always knew that I wanted to be self-employed, so it was a gift from heaven for me.”

Luckily Serena had already been bitten by the hospitality bug, having embarked on a hospitality degree, and she began to juggle both roles: learning about the hotel industry while actively managing a hotel.

“It was a very steep learning curve, but I learned so much simply by making mistakes,” she recalls. “The lecturers were so supportive to me because they knew I was balancing running the place with managing a team, something I’d never done before. I'd go to my lecturers with all sorts of problems and say, ‘I'm experiencing this, what would you recommend?’ Although it was very hard work, it couldn't have been more fortuitous.”

In the four decades since, Georgian House has evolved into a leading boutique hotel in London, championing the beautiful period building and its original features while making the guest experience comfortable and contemporary.

“The hotel has changed beyond recognition,” laughs Serena. “It was very run down: every time it rained it leaked through the roof, and we were running around with buckets. After addressing all the big infrastructure problems, we got onto the fun bit of interior design and that’s where the business has really changed completely.

“As we grew, I also started recognising the power of training and growing skills within the business. At the start I was the manager, and trying to be good at everything, but then we brought in a management team and people with specialisms, who are really experienced and know what they’re doing!”

Building the Your Place brand

After acquiring a second property in the Lake District in 2019, which became Victorian House Hotel, Serena launched the Your Place Hotels brand in 2022 to coincide with the acquisition of Rothay Garth Hotel in Ambleside.

“We’d always been interested to know if what we had done with Georgian House Hotel was transferable to another place, and that's what prompted the move to get a hotel in the Lake District,” Serena explains. “We were using all the same techniques, and we had all the same values. We cared about the building and nurturing the building and growing the team in the same way. We started to operate as one business across the two. I think that was the first step of creating Your Place: we realised we were running as one.

When asked to describe the Your Place brand, Serena says, “All our properties are central. They’re all beautiful period buildings and comfortable, contemporary hotels. We champion informal yet professional service: people that really know what they're talking about but are also friendly and approachable.”

The next couple of years are set to be busy for Your Place Hotels. Bower House, around the corner from Georgian House in London, will offer a lighter breakfast and less extensive service at a lower price point to suit prolonged stays and will open in Spring 2026. The recent refurbishment of Rothay Garth in the picturesque Cumbrian town of Ambleside, meanwhile, is set to conclude in late 2026.

Championing DEI as an independent business

“We care a lot about inclusivity in terms of our team, and I think that’s really important, says Serena. “One of our taglines is that the hotel is ‘by individuals, for individuals’. Everything about it is tailored and much as you do in your own home.

“In a team of 50, four of our members have disabilities, seen and unseen, and for a small business I think that’s had quite a profound effect on how we operate. We’ve worked with Mencap and Springboard and it’s underlined that everyone is different, and we can make it a comfortable and rewarding experience for everyone working here if we are kind, empathetic, understanding and supportive.  We also work with the charity Only a Pavement Away, supporting people who’re looking to rebuild their lives through employment opportunities in hospitality. 

“We value clear communication, and we don’t use sarcasm here, as it can be confusing for someone with autism. If you’re speaking English as a second language, sarcasm and wordplay can sometimes be confusing, so it just becomes a much more comfortable environment for guests too when you’re being mindful about how you speak.

“Our average length of service for our full-time team members is just over four years, which is really high for the hospitality industry. Diversity, equality and inclusion is something I’m really passionate about and I want to be able to show that in a small business it’s possible to do these things. We measure our gender pay gap and our ethnicity pay gap, which a lot of businesses don’t do.”

Serena has previously held a role within UKHospitality, setup the SW1 Hospitality Forum for fellow hoteliers operating in Victoria and regularly speaks at events like the Independent Hotel Show, clearly valuing the opportunity to connect with industry peers.

“For me, it's been invaluable,” she comments. “I think I was probably ten years into my career when I started to reach out to other hoteliers, and I really think that the business starts to grow after that point. People are so generous and so supportive and so kind with their knowledge and expertise.

“For an independent hotel, we are small and in the grand scheme quite inconsequential so unless we work together and are represented by something our voices can get lost. UK Hospitality is amazing for independent businesses; we need a mouthpiece.  Independent hotels make up the majority of hotel bed stock in this country, and yet we have a voice that's so much less.

OTAs going OTT?

When asked about what she predicts for the future of the UK independent hotel sector, Serena foresees a reckoning between online travel agencies (OTAs) and the boutique and independent hotel sector.

“At the moment, the partnership between independent businesses and the OTAs is not balanced” she explains. “The control that OTAs have over independent businesses is quite marked. For example, if we offer a minimum price to the OTAs, we found for one property in one month there were 2000 examples of OTAs listing our rooms for sale at a lower price, meaning we’d end up accepting a lower price for bookings.

“We’ve worked out what rates we need to have a margin and they’re undercutting us. We then don’t stand a chance of getting direct traffic, because they’re online reach is so vast - which narrows already challenging margins.

“We do a lot of PR and invest so much time and effort in trying to drive direct traffic but struggle to compete against high investment affiliate campaigns driven by the OTAs.

“We’re a small property and we have no choice but to carry on working this way. Larger hotel groups can get their own direct customers and avoid OTAs. Independents are the ones being nailed by this.

“I do believe they will start to see that they’re killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Margins are already so hard-pressed and they’re getting so rapacious. Everywhere you look there’s another cost. Every step of the way they’re taking more and not one of us can stand up to them alone, partly because we’ll get put to the bottom of the listings and partly because our voice is too small.

“I know UK Hospitality have looked into it in the past and I hope that they pick it up again because it’s really one of the biggest stoppers on the independent sector of our industry. It’s one of the biggest barriers to growth and development.” 

Learn more about Your Place Hotels at yourplaceuk.co.uk. To keep up to date with all the latest industry news, trends and interviews, subscribe to the Independent Hotel Show newsletter.

The Independent Hotel Show takes place on 6-7 October at Olympia in London. Don’t miss your opportunity to connect with peers in the hotel sector, innovative interior designers and a wide range of quality suppliers.