If you quickly glanced at its Phinney Ridge office, you might mistake independent hotel marketer Buuteeq for a private residence or one of the local mom-and-pops.
However, the Seattle-based start-up, started by former Microsoft executives Forest Key, Adam Brownstein and Brian Saab, has offices in Palo Alto, Austin, TX, and as far east as China.
After launching on Jan. 18, 2010, the company opened an office at 7821 Fremont Ave. N. in December of the same year because of convenience and location “close to local services,” Marketing Manager Brandon Dennis explained by email.
“We enjoy being so close to the lake and great markets and restaurants,” he added about the Phinney Ridge neighborhood. “Everyone has treated us well — especially the mail lady!”
Buuteeq’s mission is “to provide boutique hotel owners with the best digital marketing around,” accomplished through a cloud-based digital marketing system (DMS).
DMS is a platform that allows hotels to produce and run websites, use mobile and social media, manage promotions and reservations, all from a single location.
Buuteeq’s Phinney Ridge office has seven employees.
“Most live locally, and a few commute from as far away as Kent,” Dennis said.
As independent hotels struggle to fill vacancies while competing with larger chains across the globe, Buuteeq expects substantial growth over the next few years in North America, South America and Asia.
Tyler Steele is PhinneyWood’s intern. He is a journalism student at the University of Washington.
