PROFILE
Individual Taste
CRAIG REID LEADS AUBERGE RESORTS ON DISTINCTION .
By DAVID EISEN
Coffee . According to Craig Reid , the president and CEO of Auberge Resorts Collection , choosing a luxury hotel stay comes down to coffee . Not how you take it , but where you get it from . Today , there is a cacophony of caffeinated choices . Not too dissimilar from the panoply of hotel brands to choose from — and when it comes down to a travel decision , Reid , an avid coffee drinker , makes the comparison .
“ It ’ s the difference between : Do you like your coffee from a Starbucks ? Or , do you like your coffee from the local coffee spot ?” The former is fast , reliable . The local , selfmade shop is unique ; it has a story behind the business and the beans .
In Reid ’ s world , the hotel world , his business boils down to chain versus independent . It ’ s a binary that Reid knows better than most : prior to his lead role at Auberge , he was 14 years with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts , most recently as president of hotel operations , Americas . Four Seasons is a luxury paradigm , prestige for its property owners , stature for those who make it a habit of staying in one . Like Starbucks , they are about as dependable luxury as one can get . Quirk , story , however , are not words typically employed in describing one .
The hotels and resorts within Auberge have those qualities , and developing and expanding on those is something Reid revels in ; it ' s something he can also draw experience on . Prior to Four Seasons , Reid worked for the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants , which included such London luminaries as Claridge ’ s , The Berkeley and The Connaught . It was there that he observed not only the competitive nature of these hotels , but also their distaste for sameness .
“ The GMs would never have bought sheets from the same place or use the same stationery ,” Reid said with a hint of nostalgia . “ The richness of the individualism of each property was great .”
A GROWING LEGACY A sense of bespoke is what ultimately drove Reid to Auberge Resorts , a now 27-property collection with five more in the pipeline . The hotels and resorts all carry individualistic distinction , from design down to the name . Like the landmark Hotel Jerome in Aspen , Colo ., and White Barn Inn in Kennebunk , Maine ; the oceanside Esperanza in Los Cabos , Mexico ; and the freshly opened Bowie House in Fort Worth , Texas . In fact , one of only two properties within the collection that carries the
Auberge name is Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley , Calif . There ’ s an explanation for that : The hotel opened in 1981 as Auberge ’ s first hotel , back when the company was called Auberge du Soleil .
Auberge Resorts Collection ( née Auberge du Soleil ) was founded in 1998 by Bob Harmon and his son , Mark . The elder Harmon opened Auberge du Soleil with his business partner and friend , Claude Rouas ; in fact , it was a restaurant before guest rooms and a spa were added . One could say , with confidence , that Harmon and Rouas were part responsible for the food and wine uber-destination that Napa Valley was to become , a contemporary of such standouts as The French Laundry . Harmon passed away in 2017 , but the Harmon imprint on Auberge is indelible , said Reid , the more informal , “ feet-in-the-sand " type luxury .
In 2014 , the Harmon family began to cycle out of Auberge , selling a stake to Friedkin Capital Partners , which today is known as The Friedkin Group and led by billionaire Dan Friedkin . By 2018 , Friedkin owned all of Auberge Resorts , a company that sits beside other Friedkin holdings , including Italian football club A . S . Roma , Congaree golf club in South Carolina and film studio Imperative Entertainment , whose credits include the Martin Scorsese-
Jan / Feb 2024 hotelsmag . com 49