Hotel developer Roger Bloss is ready to take the hospitality industry to new heights—literally. As CEO and president of Alternative Hospitality, he is leading the charge for cannabis-focused hotels. The company’s first rollout, set to open in Desert Hot Springs, California in 2021, is the 160-acre Coachill Inn Resort, which will feature 150 rooms, an amphitheater, and a lazy-river pool. Here, Bloss shares his inspiration and plans.
How did your background at Best Value Inn and Vantage Hospitality inform the wellness- and cannabis-focused Coachill Inn Resort?
We know people love experiences when they travel, but what I’ve learned is that people are willing to seek out places where they feel comfortable. There’s a return on investment on their time, money, health, and wellness. I’m not building places where people go to hang out and get high. This is about the experience.
How did you get interested in cannabis as it related to hospitality?
I suffered a heart attack during a horrible accident and I knew that if they put me on opioids, I was going to become an addict. My doctor was the one who suggested cannabis. I started to see all the age groups, demographics, and psychographics [of those visiting Coachella Valley], and I thought if people are willing to go on a wine tour in Napa Valley, then why not cannabis?
What can we expect from the Coachill Inn brand?
We’re creating a health and wellness resort around CBD and hemp. We’ll use hemp products everywhere, from uniforms to bed sheets and concrete. CBD will be infused into amenities like shampoo and body lotions. The hotel doesn’t sell or touch marijuana. If you are at the hotel as a cannabis user and want to partake in your guestroom, private balcony, or in a special wing, that is at your discretion. My goal is to keep my room rates low and my product quality high.
Among the amenities at the forthcoming Coachill Inn Resort, shown in a rendering, is a lazy-river pool
How did you find investors for the project?
The cost barrier is high. Because [marijuana] is still illegal federally, we’re not seeing a lot of public money. Most of it is private funding. Everybody looks at it as the next gold rush, and they want in. We established ourselves as a publicly traded company in the beginning to show we passed all the tests.
Are you paying attention to the competition?
It’s such an interesting and fascinating industry. I love that other people are looking at it. I’m several years ahead, and I have the hotel side supporting me. I’ve created something that no one else has ever done. I probably wouldn’t have even thought about it if I didn’t have the heart attack.
The Coachill Inn Resort, shown in a rendering, is slated to open in 2021
This article originally appeared in HD’s March/April 2020 issue.
