What Happens When You Insist Work Should be Anything But Boring?

How much money would you give up to make your job a lot more interesting and fun? A few thousand dollars? Tens of thousands? For Atit Jariwala, the answer might be millions.

Atit is the founder and CEO of Bridgeton, a real estate company that creates and manages distinctive properties, including boutique hotels. Each Bridgeton property starts from scratch: a new concept, a new location, and a backstory that informs countless decisions.

The effort and resources Bridgeton puts into a single building could easily produce three or four cookie-cutter branded hotels that reliably generate revenue. But Atit thinks that’s boring. And he’s convinced the 1,500 people who work at Bridgeton to do things the hard way—or, as he sees it, the fun way.

He spoke with Lionel Foster and Camber Creek General Partner Jeffrey Berman about why it’s worth it.

The transcript has been edited for clarity.

Jeffrey Berman: Let’s jump right in. For people who don’t know you, give us a quick background—who you are, what you do, and then we’ll get into Bridgeton, Erithmitic, and everything else.

Atit Jariwala: If I’m being high-level, I do things I enjoy and find interesting. I’ve intentionally built businesses where I’ll keep doing the work as long as I enjoy it. I’ve found that I’m good at the things I enjoy, and the moment something becomes a chore, I stop doing it well.

Practically, that means working on interesting real estate projects—mostly boutique hotels in places I personally enjoy being. Hospitality includes the restaurants, cafés, and bars within those spaces.

We also own apartment buildings and office buildings in locations where I want to spend time. Our office buildings are in Silicon Valley. We were the first landlords to OpenAI and Stripe, and we’ve worked with several large venture firms. We just bought a building in Palo Alto a few days ago and hope to make it one of the best buildings in the city.

Everything I do has a creative lens. 

I also founded a startup called Erithmitic, a tech-enabled lender focused on commercial real estate debt, now primarily using insurance capital. I make angel investments, often alongside Jeff, and sometimes support founders by letting them test ideas at our hotels or buildings.

That’s the nutshell version.

Jeffrey Berman: Bridgeton was your original baby. Where did the name come from?

Atit Jariwala: Bridgeton comes from Bridgeton, Missouri, where I grew up. My parents managed an Econo Lodge motel there. My brother and I grew up in that motel—cleaning rooms, running the front desk, driving guests to the airport. I haven’t been able to shake that experience.

The name also sounded elegant. “Bridgeton” felt special and distinctive, and people didn’t really use it.

Jeffrey Berman: How big is Bridgeton today?

Atit Jariwala: We started about fifteen years ago. Today we manage a little over $2 billion in assets across roughly 60 properties, primarily in the Northeast and California. We’ve exited most of the Midwest and are focused on high-barrier coastal markets.

Jeffrey Berman: You draw a distinction between boutique hotels and independent hotels. What’s the difference?

Atit Jariwala: A boutique hotel isn’t just interesting design. It’s the full experience: how staff are trained, how guests are welcomed, how the space feels, and whether there’s a point of view.

An independent hotel might hire a designer and look nice, but without a cohesive experience, it’s just another hotel you forget the moment you leave.

We create a “soul” for each property. That means some people won’t like it—and that’s intentional. If you try to please everyone, you dilute the experience.

We use different designers depending on the property. Early in my career, I tried using the same designer everywhere, and everything started to look the same. That killed the individuality.

For example, at Walker Hotel Tribeca, we designed the basement bar, Saint Tuesday, to feel like a hidden speakeasy discovered behind a wall. The building dates back to the 1890s, so we worked with a designer who specializes in Victorian-era design. We even sourced reclaimed wood from an old barn in upstate New York for the floors.

It takes more time, more thought, and more money—but it creates something memorable.

Jeffrey Berman: You’d probably make more money building Hiltons everywhere. Why not do that?

Atit Jariwala: I would. Absolutely. But I wouldn’t enjoy it, and I’d ultimately fail because I wouldn’t pay attention.

I’m a rifle hunter, not a shotgun. I focus on individual properties, not buying markets at scale. If I tried to do twenty of the same hotel every year, I’d lose interest and stop executing well.

Jeffrey Berman: How do you train staff across so many properties?

Atit Jariwala: We centralize training. Managers come to our corporate office in New York. Revenue management, e-commerce, and sales are handled at the corporate level.

We’ve learned not to expect general managers to be superheroes. Some are great at guest experience but bad at budgeting. Others are excellent with numbers but less front-facing. We hire based on what each property needs and layer in support accordingly.

Early on, I thought smart people could do everything. I learned that people can be brilliant but not necessarily at the job they happen to be in.

Jeffrey Berman: Hospitality has massive turnover. How do you handle it?

Atit Jariwala: Industry-wide turnover can be 50% to 100%. Ours is much lower, especially at senior levels. Most attrition happens in the first year. If someone makes it past that, they often stay five or ten years.

We try not to fire people abruptly. If it’s not a fit, we help them land somewhere else. We’re kind, but we also care deeply about excellence. Poor performance hurts everyone.

Jeffrey Berman: Walk us through how you stand up a hotel—maybe using Dawn Ranch as an example.

Atit Jariwala: Many of our projects are what I call “Mission Impossible.” They’re hard to finance, hard to entitle, and hard to execute.

Dawn Ranch is a resort in Sonoma on the Russian River. Sonoma used to be a major destination before Napa became dominant. Over time, Napa absorbed most investment, and Sonoma declined. About ten years ago, Sonoma started coming back—more vineyards, more tourism, more demand.

We bought Dawn Ranch when it was mostly a wedding venue doing about $2 million in revenue. After renovation and repositioning, we’ll do about $12 million this year and are projecting stabilization around $16 million.

The property dates back to the early 1900s and was originally built for lumber workers after the San Francisco earthquake. We leaned into that history, built a spa, elevated the food program, and expect the restaurant to earn a Michelin star.

There isn’t a clean process. We discover properties first then build the concept around them.

Lionel Foster: How do online travel agencies fit into this? They make everything look the same.

Atit Jariwala: We have a love-hate relationship with OTAs. They’re expensive but necessary in some markets and seasons. We use them sparingly—mostly during low-demand periods.

In high-demand markets like New York or the Hamptons in peak season, we don’t need them.

Atit Jariwala: One idea I’m exploring is having staff think of themselves as playing a role—like actors in a play. At Disney, everyone is “on,” regardless of their day. Guests don’t care if you had a bad morning. They’re paying for an experience.

Hospitality is a privilege. People trust us with weddings, celebrations, and vacations. That matters.

Lionel Foster: What about experiential ideas—like a White Lotus-style murder-mystery hotel?

Atit Jariwala: It’s a cool idea. Maybe not a standalone business, but a fun experience. We already do things like immersive plays at our hotels. Some make money, some break even, some lose money—but they generate PR, energy, and uniqueness.

Jeffrey Berman: Let’s close on Erithmitic. Why start a lending company?

Atit Jariwala: I noticed how inefficient lending was as a borrower. Even with the same lender, every loan felt like starting from scratch.

The idea behind Erithmitic was to use technology and AI to streamline underwriting and decision-making. We started before ChatGPT launched and quickly realized we didn’t need to build everything in-house.

It scratched my operating itch and let me build something entirely different from hospitality.

Lionel Foster: Atit, this was great. Thank you.

Atit Jariwala: Thank you. This was a lot of fun.