CASE STUDY № 01

The Garland & The Front Yard.

North Hollywood, CA · Director of Creative Development & Marketing · 2014–2023

Beverly Garland's Holiday Inn, rebuilt over nine years into a six-time Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice hotel — with a restaurant, a retail line, and a million-dollar private dining room that didn't exist before.

The challenge

A beloved property without a brand.

The Garland opened in 1972 and spent decades as a well-run but anonymous property in a part of Los Angeles the industry overlooked. Family ownership wanted a hotel that could stand with the city's design-led independents without losing the warmth and Hollywood history that made it theirs.

There was no brand to evolve. It had to be invented — voice, identity, digital presence, and guest experience — and it had to pay for itself along the way.

What I did

Every layer of the brand, built in-house.

Brand & voice

Created the brand platform, tone, and creative direction for every physical and digital asset, consumer and business alike.

Digital & UX

Designed and rebuilt thegarland.com and thefrontyardla.com, driving the digital overhaul behind a 125% direct revenue lift.

Events & activations

Created Drag Yourself to the Valley, named among the country's best Pride events by Uproxx and a top LA Pride event by the LA Times in consecutive years.

Retail & merchandise

Designed all branded merchandise and produced it direct with overseas and domestic manufacturers, doubling The Store's footprint along the way.

Physical development

Delivered The Tangerine Room from concept through construction, managed a $1.2M ballroom renovation finished early, and directed a $3.5M+ capital program (2020–2022) — including a COVID-era outdoor investment of roughly $500K across cabanas, pool deck, courtyard, and grounds that positioned the property for LA’s outdoor era.

F&B brand extension

Extended the Garland DNA into The Front Yard as a freestanding restaurant brand with its own site, voice, and social presence.

The Tangerine Room

A private dining and events space conceived, designed, and delivered inside the hotel — now a seven-figure annual revenue line for the property, and the room this site takes its color from.

The outcomes

Numbers a brand book can't fake.

Outcome ledgerThe Garland
Direct revenue growth, YOY+125%
Return on ad spend, $1M+ media budget23:1
Tangerine Room annual revenue$1M+
Catering revenue after ballroom renovation+20% YOY
Merchandise production costs, direct-to-mfr−70%
Billed creative hours via template systems−50%
Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice, Top Hotels in LA6 years
Recognition incl. Travel + Leisure World's Best 2022 · OpenTable Top US Outdoor Dining 2022
Press & recognition

Coverage earned, not bought.

Condé Nast TravelerTravel + LeisureTime OutLA TimesLA WeeklyUproxxForbesUS NewsOpenTableParade
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