Inspired Marketing: Sophie Guest House in Plyos, A Story

“There is a story behind Sophie's creation, indeed. For one thing, the founders have been taught to love their home since they were children. That was what inspired them to found the guest house. Our founders are from Ivanovo Oblast. As children, they would often visit Plyos, so their love for it is natural. When they decided they wanted to found a guest house, they spent a lot of time looking for the right place. They actually stumbled upon it by accident. While visiting Mount Freedom (Svobody) in Plyos, the owners saw a beautiful spot that is now the location of Sophie. It was an empty lot, so they spent a lot of time looking for the spot. The owners took care of everything: once they bought the land, and the construction began, they worked tirelessly to clear the territory and bring the necessary materials. They built the entire thing from scratch, starting from the foundation.
The concept is a tribute to the town and its history because the Sophie Guest House façades are a spitting image of the 19th century merchant houses, which were located in the historical part of the city. They used archival photos to recreate the history. Even the town's urban planning department joined the project; they are very strict about preserving the historical heritage of the city. The owners built the first house for themselves. In the middle of doing that, they suddenly realised they didn't want to “hog” all the place to themselves. They wanted to share this with people, and so the idea to build a guest house came to life. The Russian heart and nature meet European-level service and hospitality, a unique amalgamation and atmosphere.

“The owners had a particular idea in mind when they were building the hotel, so they wanted to make a team that would get behind the idea. So whenever a new person comes, the owners inspire them to follow that idea. The owners also want the staff to care for the houses as if they were their own. We basically invite every new guest into our home, and this is what the owners want to convey to the guests. It's difficult to recruit people because there are only 1,700 people living in the town, and they're mostly adults. Young people want to leave as soon as they finish school, so they're hard to come by. The town's small, three square kilometres of it. There's only one school, so it's understandable that young people tend to skip town. The owners had wanted to build a young, energised team, but over time, they realised that young people look for something more, and it's not usually a town. A small place like this is not how you imagine spending your twenties. You want to be more active and have more opportunities. The town's infrastructure is about peaceful vacations. Our team now comprises people aged 30–50, mature people that come and stay for a long time. They don't leave after one year. And, of course, everyone puts their heart and soul into their work. There's no other way to do it, really. There just isn't.”

“There is a seasonality when it comes to Plyos, yes. It starts in early May and ends in late October. May is about bloom and blossom, the nature coming alive. Summer is about the Volga River, boat trips and beautiful shores. Autumn is special. It's a golden time of the year, just the way Levitan imagined it: the opposite shore is lit up with bright sun colours and rays of sunshine. The guests are always mesmerised. If guests want peace and quiet and warmth, they come from November to March, when they can fully enjoy a real Russian winter with its sparkling snow and eerie silence. If you stroll along the shore at night, you won't come across a single person. It's quiet, peaceful.
Our hotel occupancy rate is always at least 70% in winter, and it's not even the high season. It's 100% booked from May to September. If we had a wait list, it would be another 50%.
“People tend to book the hotel long before the arrival. It's early February, and as of today, we've almost run out of rooms for the summer.”

“Both houses are filled to the brim with various trinkets, paintings and pretty things. These are either from the owners' personal collections or from Europe. Every time they go there, they find something to bring back to the hotel, something pretty and inspiring. So we keep adding new things. You can always—always—find something the hotel doesn't have. But it's not random. Every single thing in the hotel has a purpose, and everything matches. Sometimes the painting has its own history connected to the hotel. We've actually got paintings like these.

“Two months ago, we hung a new painting in our restaurant. It depicts the old Plyos. The owners came across it in an antique shop in Belarus. The shop keepers thought nothing of it, but our owners saw the shore, Plyos, the beauty of it, and bought it immediately. And so now our restaurant guests get to enjoy it.

“We have two more paintings in the restaurant. We call them “lovebirds”. One of the owners visited an antique shop in Europe and fell in love with a painting there. It was a lady in lace, wearing a headband, reminiscent of the Russian kokoshnik. And lace was the spitting image of our Vologda lace. The shop keepers refused to sell that painting without the other: a portrait of a man. The said the paintings'd been in that shop for a long time, and they had always been kept together, so it was either two paintings or none. The owners brought the paintings back to Plyos. They wanted to separate them and hang them in different houses, but the staff liked the story so much that we convinced the owners to put them up together. And so now they're both in the restaurant, next to each other.”

“We've never partnered with online booking services. We sell an exclusive product. We are not something people stumble upon. Our audience wants to spend their vacation in a beautiful place enjoying its unique nature. They can find us on our official website and on social media. This way, we can contact the guests directly for more information or special requests.

“Our guests take gorgeous pictures and post them on social media where hundreds and millions of subscribers can see them, and so they want to come pay us a visit. We prize photo content. Whenever we read comments from our subscribers, we understand they get it. They feel the unique atmosphere. We create comfort, and we do it with love, and pictures convey every single detail, our furniture, accessories, paintings, kitchenware, rooms. “Traditional advertising's got nothing on recommendations from friends, colleagues and family members. And thus begins word of mouth.

“We've been prioritising our social media for a long time. They're an important tool in our communication. We launched our Instagram* in 2022 (*owned by Meta; Meta is recognised as an extremist organisation and banned in Russia). We're developing our Telegram channel now.”

“Thank you for your interest in Plyos and Sophie!”