WE ’ RE SELLING TO MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE , SELF-AWARE AND CURATED TRAVELERS .
PROFILE
The Gleneagles ’ Little Glen , for its youngest guests
“ The Gleneagles Hotel brand ’ s message has to be that our values are the same as its customers in terms of environmental priorities ,” he says . Singleuse plastics will be eliminated soon , and a collaboration with environmental agencies has resulted in the planting of over 1,000 trees .
Then there is the driveway surfacing , made with melted-down carrier bags . “ We were really excited to be a test case for a product like this ,” O ’ Leary says .
Social impact is another big issue . The hotel ’ s maintenance team helped renovate a nearby six-room shelter . O ’ Leary and his colleagues are talking with local prisons and the armed services about setting up training programs to help meet ’ s the staffing demands of the hotel ’ s 1,000-member team .
Introduced to the industry as a 16-year-old weekend pot washer while pursuing his studies , O ’ Leary is well aware that “ staff ” are also customers .
“ Some of the staff were very cynical when I first met with them , and rightfully so ,” he says . “ We did the big things such as reviewing pay grades and the small things like introducing ice cream popups and pumpkin-carving contests . But the most important action for getting buy-in was to replace managers who couldn ’ t adapt to this approach .”
IMPROVING INTUITION On course to meet “ high EBITDA and profit goals ,” O ’ Leary is turning toward the successful launch of The Gleneagles Hotel ’ s first sister property , Gleneagles Townhouse Edinburgh , a 43-room hotel with a private membership club slated to open in summer 2021 . “ We have to know what our customers want from bed mattress to linen to room setup ,” he says .
One thing that ’ s certain is that even 5-star travelers are time poor . “ There are no long forms to complete . We kept the rooms low tech because too much tech can cause more frustration ... However , technology is a big priority behind the scenes . We ’ re using it to become more data rich on what people spend on , how much they ’ ll spend and why . That gives us many ways to cut and slice data so that we can be more intuitive .”
Those are some of the things O ’ Leary tackles during his mind-clearing walks over the moors with a cocker spaniel named Rolo . Long term , he ’ s thinking a CEO role could be the goal . One caveat : “ I wouldn ’ t work for anyone for who didn ’ t mirror my purpose .”
Even a 24 / 7 thinker has to power down . That ’ s where his wife , Ilana , and 7-month-old daughter , Eadie , come in .
“ We ’ re a unit , fortunately ,” he says . “ We ’ re lucky to be out of the city right now . We wouldn ’ t be feeding swans during our walks if we were in a gateway . When I do leave work , it ’ s wonderful to come home and try to figure out how to make my daughter giggle .” True to form .
WE ’ RE SELLING TO MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE , SELF-AWARE AND CURATED TRAVELERS .
34 hotelsmag . com April 2020