Stolzlechner was among volunteers cleaning up El Yunque National Forest after the hurricane struck . positions at Westin , Omni and Wyndham Grand . He arrived at the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa three months before the epic storms bore down .
RIDING OUT THE STORM When Maria hit the morning of September 20 , the staff was ready . “ We had planned to wake guests at 4:30 a . m .,” he recalls . “ By 2 a . m . we were experiencing winds of 100 mph and I couldn ’ t sleep .” Stolzlechner woke the staff , who rounded up the guests . By 3:15 , everyone was accounted for and situated in a secure “ ride-out ” area .
By midafternoon , the winds had died down and staff began to assess damage . Water had ruined rooms and balconies on the top floor . Part of the lobby ceiling had caved in . Ballroom carpets were soaked . Fortunately , the hotel ’ s five generators had kicked in .
The next day , 40 staff members came to work , using chainsaws to cut through debris . Three days after the storm , more than 400 employees were clearing the beach and roads .
In normal times , there ’ s room for democracy — allowing for staff input on how tasks should be accomplished , Stolzlechner says . “ Now , it was a dictatorship . There was no time for discussion . But if you do it right , people follow because they trust you .”
As the airport reopened and guests cleared out , relief workers poured in . A haggard fire chief from New York arrived one day . “ Do you have 100 rooms left ?” Stolzlechner recalled him asking . The hotel waived the normal credit checks and
THE WORST THING IS TO SIT AND DO NOTHING .
ushered them in . Later , members of a U . S . Army unit came through .
The contractors paid a per diem rate mandated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and ended up spending 16,000 room nights at the resort . The Wyndham donated US $ 16,000 ( US $ 1 for each room night ) for the recovery of the neighboring El Yunque National Rainforest .
The hotel paid its 500 employees for two full months , whether or not they worked . About 300 continued full- or part-time .
“ Nils was intensely committed to reopening the resort to avoid having to lay people off ,” says Brad Dean , CEO of the tourism marketing group Discover Puerto Rico . There was work for housekeepers and F & B staff , but some layoffs were necessary . With the resort closed , there was little need for reservation , front office and operations managers . Some families , Stolzlechner says , left the island .
Then there was the problem of convincing visitors that the resort was open for business . Stolzlechner installed a webcam to show meeting planners that the hotel was in full operation . “ Nils sees things from the consumer ’ s point of view ,” Dean says .
In December 2017 , Stolzlechner invited two representatives of the Kentucky Highway Construction Workers to view progress ; the group was threatening to cancel its already-booked February 1 conference . “ Give us a chance ,” he told them . “ We ’ ll be ready for you .” The conference attendees — those first paying guests — checked in as planned .
ADR has seen 30 % growth , to US $ 264.18 in March versus the year-earlier period . But Stolzlechner is frustrated when he travels and meets people who believe Puerto Rico is still down on its heels . “ People look at me and say , ‘ Oh my God , are you guys all right ?’”
“ Do I look all right ?” he answers .
’ S NO DEMOCRACY DURING A CRISIS , SAYS WYNDHAM ’ S NILS STOLZLECHNER .
ANETHERE
Contributed by JUDITH CROWN
April 2019 hotelsmag . com 37