What Happens When You Build From Alignment? Inside the Evolution of INTRVL, Stone Tavern Farm, and LNGLIV

There’s a difference between building something that looks good and building something that feels like you.

And honestly, that difference is where some of the best hospitality branding happens.

In Episode 111 of the Brand & Market Podcast, I sat down with my friend, client, and fellow hospitality enthusiast Zack Metcalf to talk about the evolution of his real estate and hospitality projects, including INTRVL in Joshua Tree and his newest project, Stone Tavern Farm in the Catskills.

But somewhere along the way, our conversation became about much more than real estate.

We talked about branding, naming, guest experience, creative development, entrepreneurship, and the word that kept coming up throughout the conversation: alignment.

Because whether you’re building a micro-resort, launching a new business, or simply trying to figure out what you actually want your life to look like, the same question keeps coming back:

What are you actually trying to create?

And maybe even more importantly…

How do you want people to feel when they experience it?

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From Sapphire Haven to INTRVL

Zack’s Joshua Tree property didn’t start out as INTRVL.

It started as Sapphire Haven.

The name had a story behind it. When Zack and his wife, Becca, got married at the property, she chose a sapphire instead of a traditional diamond. Because the property was also the place where they got married, Sapphire Haven felt like a natural fit.

Then came My Haven Stay.

And then, briefly, there was an idea to simply call the property Joshua Tree Micro Resort.

From an SEO perspective, that makes a certain amount of sense.

From a branding perspective?

Not so much.

As Zack put it during our conversation, he was focused on building the engine before he really knew how to put gas in it. He had the property. He had the vision. He knew he wanted to create something special.

But the brand hadn’t caught up yet.

That’s where our branding work began.

And eventually, we landed on INTRVL.

The idea was simple but meaningful: an interval is a pause between seasons.

And when you looked at what had already happened at the property — weddings, milestone birthdays, retreats, family gatherings, and all of the seasons of life that had already been celebrated there — the name suddenly made sense.

The property wasn’t just somewhere people came to stay.

It was a place to pause.

To celebrate something.

To mark a moment.

To be fully present in whatever season of life they were in.

That’s a much stronger brand story than simply telling people where the property is located.

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Hospitality Branding Should Create a Feelingling

This is one of the biggest things I wanted to highlight from our conversation.

When people hear the word branding, they often immediately think about logos, fonts, colors, and websites.

And yes, those things matter. But they’re not the whole brand.

A logo doesn’t create a feeling by itself. The story behind the brand does. The experience does. The way someone feels when they walk through the door does. The memories they make while they’re there do. And eventually, that’s what gives someone a reason to return, or tell someone else about you.

Zack experienced this firsthand with INTRVL.

Once we had the brand strategy in place, it started influencing decisions far beyond the logo and name.

The property has different areas with different purposes. There’s The Outpost, a more playful area with things like pickleball, a jacuzzi, a bar, and bocce ball. There’s the casita. And there’s the wellness-focused portion of the property.

Those aren’t just names.

They’re ways of communicating what each space is for.

They’re helping guests understand the experience before they even arrive.

And that matters.

If I’m traveling with my kids and I’m deciding between a space called The Outpost and something called The Wellness House, I’m probably heading toward The Outpost.

Sorry, wellness. I’m here for the pickleball.

The point is that good branding helps people self-select into the experience that’s actually right for them.

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How Hospitality Branding Influences the Property

One of my favorite parts of this conversation was hearing Zack explain how the brand strategy actually changed some of the physical decisions being made at INTRVL.

The wellness concept didn’t just live in the brand strategy document. It started influencing the amenities, the sauna placement, the cold plunges, the way people would interact with one another, the views and the overall sense of community.

Zack said that once the brand strategy helped clarify the experience they wanted people to have, they became much more intentional about designing the physical property around that experience.

That is what I mean when I say I see branding as holistic.

Your brand isn’t separate from your property.

It’s the property.

It’s the guest experience.

It’s the amenities.

It’s the design.

It’s the way you photograph it.

It’s the way you talk about it.

It’s the reason someone chooses you over the other 37 properties they could have booked.

And when all of those pieces are working together, the brand starts to feel effortless.

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The Next Chapter: Stone Tavern Farm

INTRVL isn’t Zack’s only hospitality project.

He’s also working on Stone Tavern Farm, a 240-acre historic property in the Catskills of New York.

And this one is a completely different kind of opportunity.

The property includes a historic farmhouse, an original barn dating back to 1803, a wedding venue, cabins, and significant acreage.

The vision is to renovate the existing structures while adding unique Igloo Craft units to create a destination that can serve weddings, retreats, vacationers, and winter travelers. The first phase is planned to include eight units.

What I found especially interesting is that Zack is approaching this project differently because of what he’s learned from INTRVL.

The question isn’t simply:

“What can we build here?”

It’s:

“What do we want people to experience here?”

What do we want them to feel?

What kind of memories do we want them to make?

What role does the property play in their lives?

Those are branding questions.

They’re also development questions.

And they’re marketing questions.

Because when you know the experience you’re creating, it becomes much easier to make decisions about everything else.

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A Blank Canvas Is Exciting… and a Little Terrifying

One of the things Zack loves about these hospitality developments is the blank canvas.

When you’re renovating an existing hotel or property, there are already a lot of decisions that have been made for you.

With a development like Stone Tavern, there’s much more freedom.

You can choose the units, the amenities, the layout, the design and the experience.

The problem is that a blank canvas can also be overwhelming.

Where do you even start?

The answer is the same one we kept coming back to throughout this conversation:

Start with the vision.

Before you choose the logo, the color palette, the furniture, the amenities, or even the exact type of guest you’re trying to attract, get clear on what you’re actually building.

Because strategy makes creative decisions easier.

When you know what the experience is supposed to feel like, you have something to measure every decision against.

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The Same Idea of Alignment Shows Up in Life, Too

This is where our conversation took an unexpected but really meaningful turn.

Zack is also building another brand called LNGLIV, focused on longevity and transformation for men.

And while that might sound like a completely separate conversation from short-term rentals and hospitality, the underlying idea is actually very similar.

Alignment.

Zack shared that after spending time around other successful entrepreneurs, he noticed something.

Many conversations were about wealth, business, real estate, and achievement. But the conversations he found himself most interested in were about the things underneath all of that.

How are you doing as a husband?

How are you showing up as a father?

How is your health?

What kind of person are you becoming?

What kind of life are you actually building?

He eventually developed the idea around five pillars: health, relationships, identity, purpose, and the “what” versus the “why” of the life you’re creating.

One of the phrases we developed during the branding process for LNGLIV was:

“Let your ceiling be their floor.”

And I remember sitting with that one.

Because while LNGLIV is intentionally designed around men, the idea isn’t exclusive to men.

It’s about what we’re modeling for the people who come after us.

Our kids.

Our families.

Our communities.

The people watching us build our lives.

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Ask the Hard Questions

One of the most powerful parts of our conversation came from a question Zack shared during a keynote he gave:

What would your spouse say about your relationship with them?

What would your kids say about your relationship with them?

Those are uncomfortable questions.

They’re also really important ones.

Because awareness isn’t the same thing as failure.

You can look honestly at where you are without shaming yourself for it.

The question is simply:

Do you want to keep operating this way?

That idea applies to business too.

What is working?

What isn’t?

What are you doing because it’s actually strategic?

And what are you doing because you decided somewhere along the way that that’s just how things are supposed to be done?

Sometimes the biggest shift happens when you’re willing to stop and ask better questions.

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Build Something That Feels Like You

What I loved most about this conversation with Zack is that, on the surface, we talked about three very different projects.

INTRVL.

Stone Tavern Farm.

LNGLIV.

But underneath all three is the same philosophy:

Build with intention.

Don’t just create something because you can.

Don’t choose a name because it has good SEO.

Don’t add an amenity because everyone else has one.

Don’t build a business that looks successful from the outside if you don’t actually like the life it creates on the inside.

Start with the experience.

Start with the feeling.

Start with the why.

Then build everything else around it.

Because the strongest brands aren’t the ones with the prettiest logos.

They’re the ones where everything makes sense.

The story.

The strategy.

The experience.

The marketing.

And ultimately, the people you’re building it for.

That’s the kind of brand that people remember.

And that’s the kind of place people come back to.

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Listen to Episode 111

In Episode 111 of the Brand & Market Podcast, Zack and I go much deeper into the evolution of INTRVL, the Stone Tavern Farm development, the branding process behind both projects, and the story behind LNGLIV.

If you’re building a short-term rental, developing a hospitality project, or simply trying to create something that feels more intentional, I think you’ll get a lot out of this conversation.

Listen to Episode 111 wherever you listen to podcasts.

And if you want to follow along with Zack’s projects, you’ll find links to INTRVL, LNGLIV, and his personal channels in the show notes.