© 2024 South Carolina Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Boutique Hotels Gaining Traction

Rita Patel and Marcus Munse
Mike Switzer/SC Public Radio

Boutique hotels continue to gain traction in the hospitality industry including in South Carolina.  For example, we recently discovered a new one has opened in our our capital city.

Mike Switzer interviews Rita Patel and Marcus Munse, owners of Hotel Trundle in Columbia, SC.

Stay Connected
After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.