Scarlet Connect’s developers combine decades of hospitality and software experience

Connection is at the nexus of every decision we make. 

How can we connect hotel guests and staff to improve the overall guest experience?

How can we connect hotel owners, hotel management companies, and sales and operations staff to all of the solutions that fit their unique needs – in a single location? And at an extremely accessible cost?

Seth Kines thought of the idea for Scarlet Connect while enjoying the success of his first company, Scarlet Boom, (a hotel sales and marketing company focusing on the hybrid sales model). Seth began his career in the hotel industry “by accident” and was merely looking for a part-time job to “make enough money for a summer Vegas trip”. He was hired as a part-time night auditor for a Residence Inn and ended up keeping the job for three years.

After working as a part-time night auditor for a number of years, Seth saw an opportunity to make hospitality his full-time job. He earned his first management position as the overnight manager at the prestigious Kiawah Island Golf Resort. “I really give Kiawah Island Golf Resort so much credit for introducing me to hospitality and the idea that I could turn a “job” into a career.”

Kiawah prioritizes guest satisfaction and the guest experience as early as day one in the new hire orientation process. After enjoying a few years at Kiawah, Seth made the move to Greenville, SC, to work as the Front Office Manager of the Hyatt Regency Greenville, the largest hotel in Greenville at the time.

“One of the biggest reasons upper management at Hyatt Regency Greenville gave for headhunting me for the position is that I would be hired directly from Kiawah, and knowing all of the training and hospitality knowledge I would have from working there.” Up until the time Seth started his own firm, he actually continued to hear from recruiters on LinkedIn who reached out to him primarily because they saw “Kiawah” on his resume. ” Kiawah Island Golf Resort (home of The Sanctuary Hotel) has consistently been ranked as one of the top destinations in the country, renowned for their 5-star guest satisfaction. “I haven’t worked for Kiawah Island Golf Resort in 10 years, however, I still have recruiters reach out to me because they see KIGR on my Linkedin.”

After stints in operations management at Kiawah Island Golf Resort and the Hyatt Regency Greenville, Seth wanted to learn more about hotel sales: enter Strand Hospitality Services. Strand hired Seth to open a new full-service boutique hotel in Lake City, South Carolina, and he became responsible for all sales and marketing efforts. “The opportunity to have opening and pre-opening experience really appealed to me, so I took the chance and moved to Lake City. To this day, Strand Hospitality Services is one of my favorite companies, former employers, and current clients!”

The opportunity to work with Strand and its constantly growing portfolio gave him exposure to different brands, markets, and trends within the hospitality industry that he still uses to this day. Seth understands the intricacy of the hotel budget and where they often choose to cut spending. He also understands what staff can get approved, and attributes his years with Strand Hospitality Services to learning the “ins and outs” of the budget process.

Working with resorts, full service hotels, and select/limited service properties, Seth has learned what hotels need and where there is a disconnect with current software solutions and hotel budgets. The problem is that most of the existing software solutions out there are (a) not hotel-specific or even specific to the hospitality industry and (b) too costly.

From 2016 to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Seth had the unique opportunity to work for the Darla Moore Foundation. During his time with one of the state’s leading nonprofit organizations, he founded and served as Executive Director of Visit Lake City, leading that CVB to national and international recognition, and then was promoted to Chief Marketing Officer for the Darla Moore Foundation, overseeing all marketing efforts.

Enter Patrick:  an entrepreneurial software developer with over a decade of experience focused primarily on early-stage companies.

Before launching his third pre-revenue start-up, Patrick’s first experience in the industry was with an Internet of Things company: SteadyServ Technologies. As SteadyServ’s third employee and Head of Product, he helped raise over $25 million, expanded the product to multiple countries, and created partnerships with major corporations such as Intel and Accenture.

After more than four years of helping to build SteadyServ from the ground up, Patrick left to start his own venture: Square.events, a platform centered around local event data collection. There, he built a B2C mobile app where users across the country could find local events happening around them. As a part of the data gathering and market rollout strategy, Patrick and his team also built a B2B platform where tourism boards could easily receive event information from local providers.

When Patrick first met Seth, he was intrigued by the gaps in the hotel industry and enthusiastic about building a sister company to Seth’s existing service, Scarlet Boom. “You can’t dip your toe in the water when developing software,” he advised. “The only way it works is if you go all in.” And so, they did, developing hotel specific software based around the guest experience, and offering these on a single platform.

Seth and Patrick created Scarlet Connect to overcome a host of issues impeding the hotel industry: lost sales and revenue, inefficiency and higher costs, and poor hotel reputation, among others. They’ve spoken with hotel owners and property managers navigating antiquated and siloed software solutions, and their feedback has inspired Scarlet Connect’s evolution. Scarlet Connect’s solutions are designed for a range of hotel sizes and needs– and they’re extremely affordable.

Learn more about our current solutions by visiting our Solutions page. There, you’ll find descriptions of our existing (and developing) solutions.

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