Our business name was inspired by William Butler Yeats’ famous ode to a peaceful moment in a lakeside cabin expressed in the poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree.   Galvanized by our namesake, Innisfree Hotels operates on the principle that every guest deserves a memorable and peaceful experience equal to the one that inspired Yates on ‘Heather Island’.   This commitment to service is reflected in the loyalty, integrity and professionalism of every member of the Innisfree family.

Innisfree was founded in 1985 when our CEO, Julian MacQueen, leveraged a development project into hotel ownership and then, three years later, hired Harlan Butler, our current day President, to manage Innisfree’s rapidly growing hotel portfolio.  Our aggressive revenue management, paired with an emphasis on efficiency, productivity and excellence in service, has allowed us to rapidly grow while tenaciously tackling obstacles such as multiple hurricanes and the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Today we own and manage numerous hotels in the southeastern United States including six Gulf front resorts in Florida and Alabama.  We are one of the primary drivers of economic development in the Gulf Coast region.  We’re the largest employer on Pensacola Beach and our beachfront hotel developments have led to the doubling of local RevPAR (revenue available per room) during the last decade.

Innisfree has a proven track record of designing projects to meet the market demand and completing these projects on time and under budget.  We have developed more than $300 million of successful projects including resorts, hotels, motels, retail centers, RV Resorts, and condominiums.

Our ability to deliver results stems from an experienced executive team with a powerful combination of hotel management, marketing and property development expertise.  Julian MacQueen and Harlan Butler each have four decades of hospitality industry experience.  Our hotel managers have worked their way up through the ranks; they know first hand how to create an exceptional customer experience and a profitable hotel.