15-Minutes with Tiffany Turner, CEO of Adrift Hospitality: An Insider’s Look into a Visionary Hospitality Brand

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By Kind Traveler • Posted on Mar 05, 2024

For some people, doing the right thing for their community and the planet is simply in their blood. It comes naturally without requiring a great deal of soul-searching or hand-wringing.

Tiffany Turner is one of those people. The CEO of Washington-based Adrift Hospitality, Tiffany, and her husband, Brady, are the visionaries behind a group of six hotels (as well as three restaurants and a distillery) located across coastal Washington and northern Oregon.

It’s a vibrant and thriving hospitality business that puts its values front and center. Or as Tiffany is fond of saying:

“We wear our hearts—and our ethos—on our sleeve.”

For Adrift Hospitality includes operating as a Social Purpose Corporation, a certified B Corporation (businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance), and being an early participant in Kind Traveler’s Every Stay Gives Back program.

“The Kind Traveler program has been a very significant way that we have been able to give back to our local community. We are very proud that we were able to pilot this program and ecstatic with how much it can support our local youth and future workforce.”

{Here you can find Adrift Hospitality's LIVE impact report with Kind Traveler's Every Stay Gives Back community impact program. In just over a year, nearly $85,000 has been donated to Dylan Jude Harrell Community Center, which has helped to provide more than 12,000 hours of educational programming in its after-school program. This effort helps to fulfill a desire that up to 97% of travelers have to see how their travel dollars can support local communities while also helping to advance sustainable and regenerative tourism principles in the destinations Adrift Hospitality serves.}

More recently, under Tiffany’s guidance, Adrift has also begun piloting The Surfrider Foundation’s Ocean Friendly Hotels program, an important top-to-bottom environmental effort focused on eliminating detrimental single-use plastics from all levels of business operations.

“Sustainability is pretty ingrained in our DNA,” explains Tiffany. For us, it’s about everything from finding the most local producers we can find—farmers, fishermen, or local distilleries—to repurposing as much of the construction materials we use as possible.”

But, as Tiffany quickly adds, sustainability is a pretty weighty word. It has evolved to mean many things in recent years and has taken on many forms.

And that’s when the true depth of Tiffany’s uniquely caring leadership becomes even more apparent.

At Adrift Hospitality, sustainability is also heavily focused on building resilient communities and doing the right thing for the company’s staff at every turn.

It’s not a newfound effort. It has always been that way for Tiffany and Adrift since the couple began their hospitality journey years ago back in 2004.

A former middle school teacher, Tiffany has a degree in Family and Consumer Sciences and an elementary education certificate from Seattle Pacific University. But she left education to join her husband in building their hospitality business when she realized how much positive impact she could have on her community through responsible business practices.

"With every decision we make, we focus on what’s the right thing to do for our employees, for our community, and the earth,” explains Tiffany.

That effort began in the fall of 2004 with a single property, the Inn at Discovery Coast, in Long Beach, Washington.

Six years later, another Long Beach property was added to the collection—Edgewater Inn, which is now the Adrift Hotel. In 2015, Ashore Hotel in Seaside, Oregon, was acquired, followed a few years later by the purchase of the historic Shelburne Hotel in Seaview, Washington.

Just a few years ago, in 2020, the Adrift Hospitality collection grew yet again to include Boardwalk Cottages, and then most recently Adrift opened its second largest property— Bowline Hotel, in Astoria, Oregon.

Today, Adrift Hospitality employs 170 people across six properties. And Tiffany takes the company’s responsibility to its employees and the community very seriously. It’s another part of what she considers sustainable operations.

“Sustainability is also about taking care of your workforce. There’s a lot that we do intentionally to ensure that our workforce sticks around and that they can take care of their families and not have a grueling work pace,” continues Tiffany. “Taking care of our workforce is critical not only to our success as a business but also to the strength and resilience of our community.”

Inn at Discovery Coast

Shelburne & Pub, Seaview, WA

Adrift Hotel + Spa, Long Beach, WA

Ashore Hotel: Seaside, Oregon

To that end, Adrift has thoughtfully implemented a variety of policies and measures that, while they may be fairly common in corporate America, are simply not all that common among hospitality employers.

For instance, Adrift employees are entitled to a month-long sabbatical after seven years of employment. The company’s staff are also given paid time to volunteer in the community.

And while excessively long shifts or workweeks have historically been the norm throughout much of the hospitality industry, Adrift Hospitality works to ensure that’s not the case for its staff.

“Hospitality is known for its grueling schedules. But we expect the people who work for us to have lives outside of work, and we really focus on keeping it to a 40-hour work week,” says Tiffany.

A few years ago, when Washington state was navigating the potential passage of a comprehensive paid family leave program, Tiffany and Adrift Hospitality were also very vocal in advocating for the measure’s adoption.

It’s yet another example of the type of thoughtful leadership that sets Tiffany and Adrift Hospitality apart.

The company is simply not afraid to speak out on issues that will benefit its workforce. Adrift is also not shy about living its values or operating in a manner that adheres to those values.

As the Adrift website points out, Adrift is a company actively engaged in the health and heartbeat of the communities it inhabits.

It’s also a company that aims to have a positive impact that stands the test of time.

“I definitely see it as one of our goals as a company–to model the fact that we can do better for our communities as an industry. And the fact that we can have sustainability at our core still turn a profit,” says Tiffany.

Photo Credit: Adrift Hospitality, DJHCC, Kind Traveler, Surfrider Foundation

Author Bio: Mia Taylor is an award-winning journalist and editor. She has been writing and editing professionally for 20 years and holds an undergraduate degree in print journalism and a graduate degree in journalism and media studies. Her career includes working as a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Fortune, Better Homes & Gardens, Real Simple, Parents, and Health.

15-Minutes with Tiffany Turner, CEO of Adrift Hospitality: An Insider’s Look into a Visionary Hospitality Brand

For some people, doing the right thing for their community and the planet is simply in their blood. It comes naturally without requiring a great deal of soul-searching or hand-wringing.

“We wear our hearts—and our ethos—on our sleeve.”

“The Kind Traveler program has been a very significant way that we have been able to give back to our local community. We are very proud that we were able to pilot this program and ecstatic with how much it can support our local youth and future workforce.”

“Sustainability is pretty ingrained in our DNA,” explains Tiffany. For us, it’s about everything from finding the most local producers we can find—farmers, fishermen, or local distilleries—to repurposing as much of the construction materials we use as possible.”

"With every decision we make, we focus on what’s the right thing to do for our employees, for our community, and the earth,” explains Tiffany.

“Hospitality is known for its grueling schedules. But we expect the people who work for us to have lives outside of work, and we really focus on keeping it to a 40-hour work week,” says Tiffany.

“I definitely see it as one of our goals as a company–to model the fact that we can do better for our communities as an industry. And the fact that we can have sustainability at our core still turn a profit,” says Tiffany.

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For some people, doing the right thing for their community and the planet is simply in their blood. It comes naturally without requiring a great deal of soul-searching or hand-wringing.

“We wear our hearts—and our ethos—on our sleeve.”

“The Kind Traveler program has been a very significant way that we have been able to give back to our local community. We are very proud that we were able to pilot this program and ecstatic with how much it can support our local youth and future workforce.”

“Sustainability is pretty ingrained in our DNA,” explains Tiffany. For us, it’s about everything from finding the most local producers we can find—farmers, fishermen, or local distilleries—to repurposing as much of the construction materials we use as possible.”

"With every decision we make, we focus on what’s the right thing to do for our employees, for our community, and the earth,” explains Tiffany.

“Hospitality is known for its grueling schedules. But we expect the people who work for us to have lives outside of work, and we really focus on keeping it to a 40-hour work week,” says Tiffany.

“I definitely see it as one of our goals as a company–to model the fact that we can do better for our communities as an industry. And the fact that we can have sustainability at our core still turn a profit,” says Tiffany.

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