“I read an article during our research about having art in hotels that used the phrase, ‘where art and hospitality intermingle’,” Lisa recalls. “That’s exactly what happens here. We want to give our guests that experience.”

Indeed, there is something about the arts that connects people. Suddenly they want to talk and ask questions. This is why Innisfree has chosen to create the Luna Gallery.

As a project of The Hive, Gallery Directors will seek out artists who have a statement to make or have given back to the community through their work. Rotating exhibits will change with the seasons, giving hotel guests and art lovers an opportunity to appreciate new works and discover new artists.

“In a world where you’re always busy rushing, it gives you time – even if it’s temporary – just to relax,” Lisa says. “That short walk through the hotel can change your whole perspective.”

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Stay tuned for more details about the 4th Annual Dixon Dub.

Teams from around the Pensacola Community will compete for the title of Lip Sync Championship. For more information, to become an event sponsor or to sign up your team today, please contact Aidan O’Daniel at aidan@innisfreehotels.com.

Check out these video highlights from last year’s event:

Innisfree’s Community Gardens Project

Innisfree places great value on education – whether learning from one’s circumstances or through the traditional university system.

Because of its significant contribution to education in our region, Innisfree Hotels made a $250,000 pledge to the University of West Florida in February 2013. Like the MacQueens and Innisfree Hotels, UWF has a strong community focus, initiating positive change for its students and hometown.

As a result of this substantial gift, the UWF Hospitality, Recreation and Resort Management program will be renamed the MacQueen Guest Experience Management Program within the Department of Global Hospitality and Tourism Management, a special honor for a couple who build more than hotels – they build community, challenging others to do good wherever they can.

But the money the Innisfree has given to UWF is only the beginning. Hospitality is at the core of everything we do at Innisfree Hotels, and we seek to nurture the industry by educating those who will cultivate its future.

We open our doors to students of hospitality, providing real-world training in our properties along the Gulf Coast of Florida and Alabama. Working in collaboration with UWF Professor of Hospitality Dr. Xuan V. Tran, we turn our beachfront hotels into classrooms each semester. Students in marketing and revenue management are exposed to all aspects of resort operations, from front desk to food and beverage and managerial duties.

The students are tasked with creating a class project, culminating in presentations to the Innisfree executive team, who critique, share ideas and offer possible employment to interested students. One of the brightest glowing examples was a marketing project that led to the implementation of live pirate and mermaid shows at our Holiday Inn Resort.

As a result of our special partnership with the University of West Florida, we employ UWF graduates at various levels throughout Innisfree. We are proud to establish a legacy educational conduit that will strengthen tourism, the third largest economic driver in Escambia County. We hope our proven commitment to community will set an example for other area companies.

In 2012, three retired principals – Dr. Wendy Bennett, Ms. Modeste McCovey and Ms. Linda Scott – along with Pastor LuTimothy May, Mrs. Stephanie Stephens-Beach, and Julian and Kim MacQueen, discussed their desire to open a private school to meet the needs of underserved children in the Pensacola community.

Their vision was to provide values-based excellence in academic achievement with a focus on the arts and sciences, while providing creative experiences for scholars, their families and the community. Julian and Kim MacQueen’s focus on corporate social responsibility at Innisfree Hotels was always an integral part of turning this vision into reality.  

Today, Dixon School of Arts & Sciences has become a part of the Innisfree family, where scholars excel in academics, arts and sciences. The Innisfree family has been at the forefront in celebrating student accomplishments, tutoring scholars, encouraging artistic exposure and fostering excellence in science through From The Ground Up Community Garden programs. Innisfree employees have rolled up their sleeves and created, built, repaired, painted, moved furniture, cleaned and so much more – all in the name of creating a safe and inspiring environment for learning.

Innisfree continues its support of Dixon School of Arts & Sciences as Director of Development Rich Chism serves on the school’s Board of Directors. Also participating in this collaborative effort to educate and inspire are the company’s Accounting and Payroll Departments, Bee Loud Marketing Agency, Hotel Employee Holiday and Fundraising Festivities and From the Ground Up science exploration with Elizabeth Eubanks.

Dixon School of the Arts and Sciences, together with the Innisfree family, is working tirelessly to be recognized as one of the nation’s premier educational institutions – enriching and benefiting its scholars, their families and the community.

In 2019, Innisfree Hotels began renovations on the all-new Dixon School of Arts & Sciences. Scholars will be able to call the new location home for the 2019-2020 school year. Julian and Kim MacQueen personally donated $1.25 million toward the renovations, curriculum and the sustained success and growth of the school.

Innisfree’s vision for serving those who cannot see began with a man at the heart of our family.

Julian MacQueen’s wife, Kim MacQueen’s father lost his sight later in life, but he never lost sight of what was important. Together, the MacQueens have built a company rich with foresight and sensitive to the special needs of its guests, employees and the community at large. Innisfree Hotels has long been inspired by the blind and amazed by all they can accomplish.

Blind from birth, Nick Dotson is one of seven Hilton International team members in the world to navigate the complexities of the reservations and customer service desk without sight. He can be credited with introducing Innisfree to Independence for the Blind, a local organization with a mission to train people who become blind to learn basic life skills again.

Independence for the Blind provides an Independent Living Adult Program to teach skills such as reading Braille, money handling and food preparation; a Vocational Rehabilitation Program with computer keyboarding and interviewing techniques; a Transition Program to prepare high school students for college and the workforce; and an Early Intervention program for visually impaired babies and preschoolers. Serving 10 counties, it is the only nonprofit entirely devoted to educating the blind and visually impaired in West Florida.

Innisfree has supported Independence for the Blind since 1994, when Julian MacQueen aided in the formation of a proper not-for-profit board and assumed the role of its first chairperson. For 20 years, he has continued to offer financial, legal support and guidance.

As a tribute to Kim MacQueen’s father, Clarence, and all who have lost the ability to see, Innisfree gave a substantial donation to Independence for the Blind to build its Pensacola-based training facility, now known as the Clarence W. Gemmill Training Center. A garden on the property was named for her mother, Jean, to recognize those who support the blind.