Back in Topeka: To The Moon!

By Harlan Butler, Former Innisfree President Back in Topeka, we had a General Manager at one of our hotels, years ago – and she was a lady. (We were told later that she had perhaps a bit of a cocaine habit, but we didn’t know that at the time.) She wasn’t...

Back in Topeka: Find a Way to Say ‘Yes’

A Story by Mike Nixon, President (About Harlan Butler, Former President) An alternate title to this story could be: “Harlan Regrets Not Renting a Room to Elvis.” Yes, it’s true. While he was a General Manager, former Innisfree President Harlan Butler got a phone call...

Back in Topeka: “My Favorite Shirt”

With Harlan Butler, Former Innisfree President I used to travel all the time … going from hotel to hotel to hotel.  I had a favorite sport shirt, and I took it with me to one of the hotels. The next day it disappeared.  I said: “I know I had this shirt...

Back in Topeka: Selling Tomatoes

By Harlan Butler, Innisfree Hotels Past President Back in Topeka, in the late 1980s, the only place that was using modern hotel revenue management techniques in the United States was a place called Family Inns of America. Before founding Innisfree Hotels in 1984,...

Back in Topeka: High Stakes Steaks

At Innisfree Hotels, we’ve learned there are sometimes high stakes when eating steaks. The following stories are true, and they happened ‘Back in Topeka’. These particular tales have been long passed down by Harlan Butler, former president of Innisfree Hotels, who is...

Back in Topeka: The Rent Every Room Story

The Rent Every Room Story, Innisfree Hotels Here at Innisfree Hotels, it’s really a big deal to rent 100 percent of your rooms. Most brands consider occupancy full at 95 percent. But the way we see it, there’s very little effort involved in renting one more...