HOTELIER Kristin Kitchen has a penchant for walking untrodden paths and uplifting those she meets on the way.
Stretching beyond the water-tight definitions of hospitality and real estate, the hospitality mogul is determined to celebrate the rich history of African Americans across the country. Through art, jazz, wine, and food in diverse and exquisite hospitality settings, Kristin knows exactly how to productively employ local residents and tap into a community’s cultural history, earning the well-deserved tag of a beacon in heritage tourism.
As founder of the Sojourn Heritage Accommodations, Kristin owns four boutique hotels, each celebrating its own bit of rich history and deep roots within the American African community.
Launched in 2014, Sojourn Heritage is known for keeping community welfare and development at the heart of its mission. The brand aims to increase economic opportunities for locals and makes sure to consider Black communities in its redevelopment plan. It also aims to create hotels focused on the history, culture, and heritage in the communities in which they are located.
Prime examples:
- Six Acres Bed and Breakfast is built on a historic site that was once part of the Underground Railroad in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was once the home of abolitionist Zebulon Strong.
- Hotel Avent on Falls Bed and Breakfast is a restored mansion in the historic district of Rocky Mount, N.C. It’s the site where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. first gave a version of his "I Have a Dream" speech.
- Morgan and Wells Bed & Breakfast in the suburbs of Charlotte, N.C. It is a craftsman style home built in the early 1900s and serves as an intimate five-guestroom inn.
- Dunns-Josephine Hotel in Miami, FL, which celebrates the history of Black music and art as well as models modern community outreach to those in need.
Hotel Six Acres, however, is most special because it’s where Kristin attended her high school graduation and later launched her entrepreneurial career. As time went by, she saw the house in ruins and decided to do something about it. She bought it, restored it and decided to run it as a bed-and-breakfast while keeping its history alive.
In 2019, Sojourn Heritage added Dunns-Josephine Hotel to Miami’s travel-destination community. Located in a blossoming, cultural garden and entertainment hub, Dunns-Josephine Hotel is an ode to both the Miami and Harlem Renaissance periods of glitz and old-world glamor. In this project, Kristin tried to bring back the spirit of a place that once catered to Black musicians and entertainers in a segregated south, when Miami Beach hotels were off limits to people of color.
The property boasts 15 guest rooms dedicated and decorated to the likes of Miami and Harlem Renaissance legends such as Josephine Baker, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Cab Calloway, Marcus Garvey, and the iconic Duke Ellington and Billie Holliday. She decided to name each suite after Black cultural icons, paying homage to artists who once frequented Overtown when it was considered the “Harlem of the South.”
Soon after opening, Dunns-Josephine gained a reputation for being a beacon of light for Miami's homeless population.
The year 2020 was projected to be a big year for Dunns-Josephine Hotel. There was a jazz festival scheduled to take place in mid-March, and the hotel was completely booked but the COVID-19 crisis dashed the plans.
However, Kristin opened her property to Miami’s homeless, thus setting a new benchmark in the world of hospitality. She contacted the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust and opened the Dunns Josephine’s doors to the vulnerable population.
It is estimated that more than 500 people have come through its doors since the onset of the pandemic, many staying between 14 and 21 days. Some were COVID-positive and were in isolation, while others just needed a place to stay. Kristin and her staff along with the Homeless Trust transformed the plush and cozy interiors into places to quarantine comfortably.
Kristin soon emerged as a pioneer. Other hoteliers started to follow her example. For her willingness to step up in a time of crisis, she was honored with several accolades from the industry as well as the community.
Another unique property developed by Kristin’s team is Morgan and Wells Bed & Breakfast in the suburbs of Charlotte, NC. It is a craftsman style home built in the early 1900s and serves as an intimate five-guestroom inn. Kristin’s team makes sure the property’s history is reflected through its immaculately polished oak and heart pine floors, 12-foot-high ceilings, and guestrooms with quaint charm.
Kristin has a background in real-estate development, having owned and managed more than 20 residential and commercial properties. Since founding Sojourn Heritage, she has gained expertise in restoring and transforming underutilized historic structures in urban communities into viable hotel lodging spaces. By blending business with history and heritage, Kristin has added new dimensions to hospitality.
In her words, she “creates jobs and entrepreneurs within each community” to make communities better and to empower the people that live there.
As a subject matter expert, Kristin lectures at various colleges and universities across the country. She has a bachelor's degree in business administration and a Masters in African American Studies.
Apart from being a groundbreaking hotelier, Kristin is also the president of Good Deeds Mission, a non-profit organization whose mission is to serve, assist with and fight for equality for urban communities around the issues of social, political, and economic justice.
She mentors at least two small businesses annually to support their growth and success. She has also developed a continued partnership with Cincinnati public schools to provide field trips at Six Acres to teach children about the Underground Railroad.
