Angelica Espiritu and her partner, Savina, went on a life-changing trip to Tuscany in 2023 that sparked the idea for their most ambitious project yet—buying a hotel. Captivated by the charm and warmth of a family-run agriturismo in the Tuscan countryside, they returned home inspired and eager to recreate that kind of meaningful experience. Their journey eventually brought them to Bali, where they discovered the opportunity to purchase Hotel Sages.
Despite some challenges, Angelica and Savina’s combined expertise in real estate, shared vision, and passion for hospitality drove them forward. In an exclusive interview with Travel Noire, Angelica opens up about the triumphs and setbacks of their acquisition journey and shares actionable tips for aspiring hotel owners. Their story is a powerful reminder of resilience, vision, and the beauty of transforming dreams into reality.
TN: What inspired you and your partner to enter the hospitality industry and pursue hotel ownership? What sparked the idea for Hotel Sages?
AE: Savina and I were vacationing in Tuscany in May 2023. We stayed in a charming bed and breakfast (agritourismo) on the countryside hills and enjoyed wine and charcuterie while soaking up the Tuscan sun. We later learned that the bed and breakfast was owned by a family originally from New Orleans.
That’s when the seed was planted. We thought to ourselves, ‘We can do this too’ and began thinking of locations where we’d want to retire. When we returned home, Bali was first on our list of destinations. Savina began our search for the perfect Bali villa. Initially, we wanted to purchase a three to five-bedroom villa that we could live in while we were in Bali and rent on Airbnb when we weren’t. Then Savina happened to stumble upon the commercial listings, and that’s when we found Hotel Sages was for sale.
For the average person, an acquisition of a commercial property may seem daunting, but we are both in real estate, Savina as a realtor and myself as an investor. Coming across the hotel investment opportunity, instead of doubting our counting ourselves out, it was natural for us to explore the possibilities.
While Savina and I do not have formal experience in the hospitality industry, we love to curate travel experiences for ourselves, and this has extended to our friends and family. Customer experience is always top of mind when we curate our experiences and we recognize the touches that take an experience from ordinary to extraordinary. Additionally, Savina is in the healthcare industry and previously managed the largest primary care practice at UCSF Health so her skills and expertise with HR management and strategic operations have helped us seamlessly transition managing our hotel staff.
My background is in tax and accounting and this experience has proven valuable as we transition the back office operations of the hotel to make our reporting and compliance more efficient while having increased visibility into our financial health and revenue potential. As a travel creator, the aesthetics of Hotel Sages immediately inspired my creativity and ideas began to flow on how to curate moments for our community to experience the magic of Bali. I’ve been excited to tap into my creative side with the social media and marketing initiatives we’ve created.
TN: The acquisition process can seem daunting to many. Can you walk us through how you found and secured Hotel Sages? What were the most important lessons you learned during that process?
AE: We began our property search online. While we didn’t know where to start, we went to Google and typed our keyword search – ‘villas for sale in Bali.’ There are many Bali property management companies that also list villas for lease and sale. After reviewing several listings and understanding our buying power, how much space we could get, and at what cost, our next step was to reach out to the realtor.
These are the same steps we would use in the U.S. when searching for investment properties. At this point, it wasn’t too daunting or overwhelming because we were already familiar with the homebuying process in the U.S. The main purpose for reaching out to the realtor was to understand the buying process in Bali (i.e., are loans available, does Bali use an escrow or title company to hold deposits and funds, typical transaction timeline, etc.). Although different, there were a lot of similarities with the U.S. buying process.
The only major difference was that financing wasn’t going to be available to us – from either Indonesia or the U.S. As non-Indonesian citizens, we didn’t qualify for lending so we pitched our business plan to traditional U.S. lending institutions and the consistent feedback was the risk was too high due to the project being a foreign investment. This was the most important learning lesson for us during this process. We realized that we needed to raise our own capital through a mix of our own funds and leveraging private investors.
I have experience in real estate rehab projects so raising money and securing investor funds was a familiar space. We got creative with our financing options and were able to secure the funds needed for the business acquisition.
TN: Working alongside your partner to achieve such a significant milestone must have its unique challenges and benefits. How did you navigate the partnership dynamic? What advice would you offer to others working closely with loved ones in business?
AE: Ultimately, Savina and I have a shared vision about the life we want to live. The shared vision of our dream life is what connected us and what continues to motivate us. It’s a beautiful thing to nurture and pour into that dream, and when you both are intentional and powerfully aligned, you can later look back on what you created together in pure awe and amazement. We have leaned on each other’s strengths throughout this process.
Our communication and patience has been challenged but we use that as a learning opportunity to connect and understand how to show up for one another. Our advice would be to ensure that you and your partner(s) have a solid foundation built on trust, communication, and a shared vision. Be specific in defining roles and expectations based on experience and expertise and communicate if that needs to change. When things get tough, remind yourself of what brought you to this point in the first place and remain grounded in gratitude.
TN: What are your plans and vision for Hotel Sages? Do you see yourself expanding into more properties, or perhaps exploring other areas of hospitality?
AE: Hotel Sages will be a global brand! We plan to expand the brand across the globe and have already started thinking about the concept for our next location with a continued focus on luxury and wellness. And in the midst of our growth and expansion, this journey will never be just about us. We are intently focused on sharing our journey and expertise to encourage people to dare to dream their wildest dreams.
This article has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
