Jody on the genesis of the idea...
"We built a building in long street in Cape Town and had absolutely no idea what to do with it. So we thought let's create a hotel. Sometimes in business you just have to take a chance, jump in and run with it."
On naming the hotel...
"Actually, my business partner came up with the name Daddy Long Legs. We didn't know what to call the hotel. We were brain-storming one day and he was saying long and lodge street hotel, then he said Daddy Long Legs and I said 'stop right there - that's a name that no one will ever forget.'
"That evolved into the Daddy brand. We have Daddy Long Legs self-catering, Grand-Daddy, Old Mac Daddy... your brand needs to be dynamic."
On the unusual decor and facilities in his hotels' rooms...
"A lot of the rooms are quite extreme. One room has astroturf on the floor and braille on the wall. It has a wooden karaoke machine and a waterproof microphone in the shower.
"About four years after that we booked the granddaddy, a bigger hotel we own. I bought seven vintage American trailers. I set up a trailer park on the roof of the hotel and got artists to design and decorate their interiors."
Advice for aspiring owners of small hotels or guest houses...
"You need to do something different to compete with the bigger hotel chains. Their marketing budgets must be phenomenal.
"We chose artists to work with us. Choose an differentiating factor and focus on that.
"Focus on internet marketing, social media marketing, do your numbers properly and have fun. If you have fun and put energy into what you create then guests will feel it and it will be part of their experience."
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