Deidre Mathis Owns A Boutique Hotel And The First Black-Owned US Hostel — Now She Plans To Train Future Independent Property Owners – AfroTech
Deidre Mathis caught the travel bug, and it led her to become an entrepreneur in the hospitality industry.
While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in graphic communication and broadcast journalism at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, she studied abroad in the Dominican Republic during her sophomore year, she told AFROTECH™. After graduation, she wasn’t fulfilled in her profession, which prompted her to return to school to earn a master’s degree in corporate communications. Then she moved to Australia, staying in a range of hostels and boutique hotels.
“I was living there, and I was just traveling around by myself, and I was staying in a bunch of hostels and a bunch of boutique hotels because those were places that were easy for me to meet people because I was by myself,” she told AFROTECH™.
“I always tell people I had my ‘Oprah aha moment’ one day when I was staying in this beautiful hotel, and it was this small, cute hotel. It had 12 rooms, and I said, ‘You know what? I wanna do this one day. I wanna go home to America. I wanna create a place where people can come from all across the world. They can build connections, they can meet friends,” she continued.
Mathis has traveled to 51 places across all continents. Her exploration inspired her to become her own boss, driven by a motive to connect people from all corners of the globe.
Mathis decided to plant her tentpole in Houston. She moved to the city in November 2014 after working as a recruiter for college students looking to study abroad. From the start, she recognized the city’s contributions to her foray into hospitality entrepreneurship. She estimated that she won almost $180,000 over the span of two and a half years from pitch competitions, along with a six-figure loan nearing $1 million in 2018, which supported the launch of Wanderstay Hospitality Group, home to Wanderstay Houston Hostel.
The venture opened in September 2018 and made history as the first Black-owned hostel in the U.S., as AFROTECH™ previously reported. It’s attracted 31,962 visitors (as of this writing), Mathis said.
Wanderstay Boutique Hotel
Under the Wanderstay Hospitality Group umbrella is also Wanderstay Boutique Hotel, which opened in 2023.
Mathis credits Houston for providing the support her businesses needed, and she also points to the late Mayor Sylvester Turner, who attended ribbon-cutting ceremonies for both locations.
“Even though we all know now that he was battling cancer, he still made time to come to my event. I hold that with such honor,” she expressed.
Wanderstay Boutique Hotel features a full-size community kitchen, a conference room, 10 themed rooms, and offers additional perks such as free parking and keyless entry, notes its website.
It is located in the city’s East End. It is near public transportation, dining areas, and boutique shops, making it a perfect destination for getaways, retreats, classes, birthday parties, wedding parties, or special events. It has also been a destination for guests attending baseball games, RodeoHouston, DreamCon, and the AFROTECH™ Conference, and Mathis plans to keep the momentum into the new year, especially in light of the World Cup in 2026.
“Our mission is just to really be the go-to independent hotel brands. When people think about independent hotels, we want them to think about us,” Mathis said.
Training Entrepreneurs Interested In Hospitality
Mathis has now been in the hospitality space for eight years. The venture remains bootstrapped, and she acknowledges that, at times, the journey hasn’t been glamorous. Still, she is grateful as she heads into the third anniversary of the Wanderstay Boutique Hotel in May.
“Your third year in the hotel industry is a big year because they say your third year is your stabilization year. A lot of hotels will fail in their first or second year easily. So they say once you’ve made it to the third year, that you’re doing something right. We want to really celebrate this year, and we really just wanna just make everything 10 times better and just welcome our people. We want to be sold out all next year. That’s our goal,” she expressed.
Mathis also plans to pay it forward to teach entrepreneurs the ropes on how to launch, fund, and grow a hospitality business, according to information shared with AFROTECH™. In 2026, she will launch an intimate on-site training class for a weekend, including a one-night stay from March 28-29, for aspiring independent property owners, valued at $800.
There will be workshop materials, a Q&A with Deidre Mathis, a resource list, a light breakfast and refreshments, and networking opportunities.
“There’s still only one or 2% of Black women in the United States who are hotel owners. That’s just [an] extremely low number … I’m excited about that because I want to see more people who look like me in this industry. And if I had something like this where I could go speak to someone who’s been doing it for a decade now and learn from them as opposed to making my own mistakes, I would’ve done that 10 times over,” Mathis explained.
