Mac Warren is an independent hospitality consultant, creator, designer, operator, and fixer from Oxford, Mississippi, by way of New York, New Orleans, and Marfa, Texas.
With 16+ years of experience across operations, marketing, and branding to build and reinvent some of the industry’s most impactful and unique hotels, bars, and restaurants, Mac offers support across systems with a focus on people and culture to weave dreams into histories and propel businesses to thrive.
Select services:
- Operations Development & Strategy (pre-opening and opening)
- Guest and Employee Experience
- Hotel Management
- Task-force Support (remote & on-site)
- Digital Communications
- Social Media Management
- Branding & Design (menus, signage, training documents, social media templates)
- Event Programming and Curation
- Sourcing, Systems, and Training
Select clients, colleagues,
and collaborators:
Ace Hotel, ASH Hotels, Anna’s, The Chloe, El Cosmico, Hotel Peter and Paul, Hotel Saint Vincent, LeBLANC+SMITH, Oyster Sunday, The Quisby, Sylvain, The Will & The Way, and more.
Links:
-
loneroad.shop [the millenial urge to sell vintage]
- marfa.photos [a record of Far West Texas]
- misstennala.com [adventures on a boat]
- customercopy.online [all of my movie tickets]
-
Book design [ask me ]
Say hello:
mac@mac-warren.com
El Cosmico Hotel Management / Brand Management / Social Media and Marketing
Instagram Reels by Mac Warren, assets and illustrations by El Cosmico.
All photos by Alison Marlborough. I updated El Cosmico’s amenities program to offer homemade salsa and ranch waters (with agave wine) and revamped it’s beverage offerings to complement seasonal rate promotions and temporal and fresh offerings for social media and IRL.
All original assets and illustrations by El Cosmico. Combined existing brand illustrations with original video content and updated designs for Instagram stories, reels, and web.
El Cosmico is a 21-acre nomadic hotel and campground in Marfa, Texas with 47 keys. With accommodations ranging from canvas Safari Tents to vintage and restored trailers – El Cosmico provides temporary liberation from the built world. Founded as a respite for intrepid travelers and wanderers from all corners of the planet – I was brought in by owner and hotelier Liz Lambert to get the property and brand back on track.
I managed and curated all property collateral and communications across platforms – printed media, digital communications, social media, guest messaging, and email marketing campaigns and led a team of 20 to overhaul and reinvent property operations and realign and protect the brand.
I reinvented guest + employee experience protocols from the bottom up via a close analysis and inventory of processes, brand assets, resources, and systems to further the property’s bottom line and repair the operation.
Hotel Management
Brand Management
Digital Communications & Paid Social
Email Marketing
Links
Website
Instagram
All original assets and illustrations by El Cosmico. Revamped existing brand illustrations with updated animation for Instagram stories, reels, and web.
All original assets and illustrations by El Cosmico. I holistically updated and edited El Cosmico’s existing guest directory to ensure the document was useful for guests and employees, and shed light on local businesses and attractions to center the zine’s practical and carefree tone. Printing and scans by Constance Printing.
Photo by Alison Marlborough. A-frame sign design by Mac Warren, painted and fabricated in Marfa, Texas by Carolyn Macartney.
The Chloe
Brand Marketing Oyster Sunday & LeBLANC+SMITH
Artwork for The Chloe’s live music and DJ series, concepted, designed, and produced by Mac Warren at Oyster Sunday. Inspiration was taken from a design by James McCaffry for his work with Sun Ra.
Mardi Gras on St. Charles by Mo Davis / production + gif by Mac Warren
Working with Oyster Sunday and LeBLANC+SMITH in New Orleans, I managed all digital communications and cultural programming at The Chloe – a lively 14-room hotel featuring a restaurant, bar, pool, and patio. Housed in a 19th-century Uptown mansion, The Chloe’s 21st-century Southern hospitality draws from the creative culture and unique charm that make New Orleans home.
Revamped legacy Artist-in-Residence program
Created and produced three live concert and music series - Sunday Sunset Series, Sunday Summer Series, and Moonlighting, a late-night lounge show
Social Media Management
Email Marketing and Community Management
Menu design and production
Links
Website
Instagram
Photos of Sunday Sunset Series by Mac Warren
Zine designed and produced by Mac Warren for Jamell Tate and Exclave Spirits, featuring his photography and printed at Paper Machine in the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans. Copies of the zine were given out at an informal opening and fireside chat featuring his artwork in The Chloe’s lounges and lobby in the hotel’s revamped Artist in Residence program, updated and streamlined by Mac Warren at Oyster Sunday.
Hotel Peter & PaulBrand, Culture, and OperationsASH Hotels
Davell Crawford by Steinway & Sons at the Church at Hotel Peter & Paul – credits in video, partnership, facilitation, production and special thanks to Mac Warren
Instagram Reels for promotional rates, community programming, and wedding highlights by Mac Warren using Hotel Peter & Paul visual identity by Alizée Freudenthal and ASH Hotels.
Photo + audio tour production by 1504 / printed collateral, props, and digital experience designed by Mac Warren using Hotel Peter & Paul visual identity by Alizée Freudenthal and ASH Hotels.
Photo by Justin Cordova / production + styling + props by Mac Warren
Joined ASH Hotels as one of two employees in the pre-opening team to operate a 71-room property in the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans. In addition to serving as Director of Brand & Culture and Assistant General Manager, I executed and maintained all digital communications, deliverables, and printed collateral for the hotel and its food and beverage outlets, The Elysian Bar– and Sundae Best, an on-site ice cream parlor.
As a neighborhood respite, I managed 300+ community events with over 5k attendees and booked and programmed the hotel‘s 6,000ft2 community event space housed in the main chapel for arts-centered, strategic programming with local artists, musicians, culture bearers, and non-profit organizations, including Tales of the Cocktail, the New Museum, Overlook Film Festival, and local arts organizations like Prospect New Orleans, the Contemporary Arts Center, Goat in the Road, New Orleans Drag Workshop, and Dopeciety. During my time managing the space, we welcomed a multitude of musicians and luminaries like Irma Thomas, Davell Crawford, Nicholas Payton, Beck, Cha Wa, Les Cenelles, Helen Gillet, Maggie Koerner, and Aurora Nealand.
In addition, I facilitated all commercial partnerships– from film and television shoots to brand alignments– including GANNI, Urban Outfitters, and Lincoln Motors.
Hotel Management
Brand Direction & Management
Guest & Employee Experience
Wayfinding & Signage
Cultural Events and Community Programming
Commercial Photography and Production Rental
Social Media Management
Email Marketing
Links & Press
“World’s Greatest Places 2019” – TIME Magazine
“It List 2019 – 74 Best Hotels in the World” – Travel & Leisure
“The 2019 Hot List – 51 Best Hotels in the World” – Condé Nast Traveler
“Top 10 Hotels in New Orleans: Readers' Choice Awards 2020” – Condé Nast Traveler
Tumblr [Archive]
Photos by Casey Joiner, Whitney Mitchell & Morgan Hanson. Custom rotary phone plate, custom wax seal designed by Mac Warren and produced and printed in New Orleans, all using visual identity by Alizée Freudenthal and ASH Hotels.
PhotoS by Whitney Mitchell & Morgan Hanson / production + props by Mac Warren using Hotel Peter & Paul visual identity by Alizée Freudenthal and ASH Hotels.
Video and DJ Set by Legatron Prime for Couches, a monthly party by Denisio Truitt and Michael Wilson that emphasized sitting down and chilling and ends at 9pm.
The Elysian BarDirector of Brand & Culture ASH Hotels & Bacchanal
Photos by Casey Joiner. Vintage and antique furniture, fixtures, and operational equipment sourcing by Mac Warren including custom reupholstering and countertop organization systems that complement the historic and purposeful design of the Rectory Café at Hotel Peter and Paul, and other solutions.
Photos by Casey Joiner. Custom exterior wayfinding & signage, designed by Mac Warren and made and handpainted in New Orleans, using The Elysian Bar visual identity by Alizée Freudenthal and ASH Hotels.As a facilitator and collaborator between Hotel Peter & Paul and Bacchanal, owners and operators of The Elysian Bar and its accompanying café, bar, dining spaces, and courtyard, I sourced design solutions to meet operational needs – all in line with the unique and historic nature of the Rectory building, completed in 1875.
I produced, designed, and updated all signage and menus for the restaurant and bar, for day-to-day service, special events, and private parties. I also established the restaurant’s COVID-19 menu protocol with contact-minimum ordering.
I sourced furniture and objects that align with the space’s aesthetic to solve operational problems, including dinnerware, serving trays, and café service items and set and maintained brand standards for all public and guest-facing spaces in the Elysian Bar and it’s spaces.
Brand Direction, Development & Strategy
Wayfinding + Signage Production and Design
Menu Design & Producition
Social media templates
Vintage and antique FF&E sourcing
Press
“The Hot 10: America’s Best New Restaurants” – Bon Appetit
Operational equipment sourcing by Mac Warren including vintage parlor game cards and antique stands for service numbers at The Elysian Bar and its courtyard. Sundae Best Ice Cream ParlorBrand & CultureASH Hotels
Video by Fat Happy Media, production and exterior wayfinding and signage designed and sourced by Mac Warren, fabricated by Mystic Blue Signs
Illustrations by Emma Fick, logo by Alizée Freudenthal, photos by Ollie Alexander.
Production, animation design, menu design, signage design, and styling by by Mac Warren.Sundae Best is an ice cream parlor opened in the historic Convent building of Hotel Peter and Paul in the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans. This jewel-boxed sized storefront is inspired by ice cream parlors of yore, with delicate detailing and locally-sourced handmade ice cream.
After an initial brand and visual identity was established in collaboration with owner Erica Buher, ASH Hotels, and designer Alizée Freudenthal, I directed all implementations of brand identity from exterior signage and wayfinding to social media templates and guidelines.
Brand development and strategy
Exterior and interior wayfinding production and design
Social media templates
Vintage and antique FF&E sourcing
Illustrations by Emma Fick, logo by Alizée Freudenthal.
Styling, equipment sourcing, production, menu and business card design by Mac Warren.
The Will And The WayBrand Marketing
Oyster Sunday & LeBLANC+SMITH
Maps, animations, and concept created by Mac Warren for The Will & The Way’s 2021 Carnival to outline the proximity of walking parades in the French Quarter.
Directed visual identity, digital communications, social media, and operations strategy for The Will and The Way, a late-night, French Quarter watering hole that matches the warmth and conviviality that has made the neighborhood a beloved destination for locals and travelers alike.
Located around a lush brick-lined courtyard,
the preserved 18th century architecture is a testament to the countless New Orleanians who have raised toasts within our walls.
Operations consulting
Brand Direction & Management
Guest & Employee Experience
Social Media Management
Strategic Communications
Email marketing
Wayfinding & Signage
Cultural Events and Community Programming
Links
Website
Instagram
Anna’sBrand Marketing Oyster Sunday & LeBLANC+SMITH
Photos and Instagram templates by Mac Warren
Anna’s—a double-decker bar housed in a 19th-century bank building—is designed to be your home-away-from-home in the Marigny. Led by Anna Giordano and the team at LeBLANC+SMITH, I worked with Oyster Sunday on operational consulting and brand management to re-establish Anna’s as the watering hole it’s always been. Enjoy “fine diving” at its best.
Digital Brand Management
Email Marketing
Social Media / Community Strategy & Management
Wayfinding & Signage
Cultural Events and Community Programming
Commercial Photography and Production Rental
Menu Design & Production
Links
Website
Instagram
Photos by Casey Joiner, photoshoot produced and facilitated by Mac Warren