THE INTERVIEW
very small group for the next generations to take over and expand . We want to keep it in the family and grow it slowly . We have no plans to sell the group . We went through tough times in Mexico with the swine flu and then bad press surrounding security , and we survived through all that .
H : How do you think U . S . President-elect Trump will affect the hotel business ?
CC : He could surprise all of us . Who knows , as we know so little about him . At the end of the day he is a businessman and he understands growth and expansion . I have a problem with the moral part of his platform and I am worried not only for America but for the world . But we have to give him a chance . There is nothing we can do now but hope for the best , and this is coming from a Mexican , not an American . I believe there are probably immigrants who are here ( in the U . S .) who are illegal and shouldn ’ t be here , but there are plenty of people who are here for the right reasons . They add value and lots of value , and those people deserve to stay and live here . I believe in immigration , giving people a chance to become better humans , and they are here for that . The American Dream is still alive . We can ’ t just stop it all of a sudden and say ‘ go somewhere else .’ It ’ s
GRUPO HABITA PORTFOLIO Grupo Habita launched in 2000 with a 40-room hotel in Mexico City . It is led by founders Carlos Couturier and Moisés Micha .
The group ’ s 15th property opened in December in Chicago – a dual branded 4-star lifestyle hotel , The Robey ( 69 rooms ), and the group ’ s first cheap chic hostel concept , The Hollander , with 20 private and shared rooms . Next up are properties in downtown Los Angeles and Austin , Texas .
A corner guest room at the new Robey in Chicago .
The rooftop lounge at Grupo Habita ' s The Downtown in Mexico City
a fresh start , and now let ’ s see how he does as president .
H : You have been at the forefront of the lifestyle hotel movement . What ’ s next ?
CC : From my perspective , it ’ s nature , isolation , tech-free resorts and getting away from it all – not just being on the beach , but being in the desert where you can ’ t be reached and people know you are going and shouldn ’ t disturb you unless it is an emergency because we all get disturbed every five minutes .
Everything is so important , so urgent . This sense of urgency is so shallow today . What ’ s urgent is someone having an accident or dying . Spending time with people without looking at our phones – this is how I grew up and I would like to give that back to the next generation . We have to enable what comes next , which is the opposite of what we see now , and we should be able to unplug and feel good about it . To me that is what ’ s next . I say this probably because I am getting old .
H : Any other thoughts on the next opportunity ?
CC : Silence – anything about silence . I don ’ t know if I am getting old , but silence . And car-less cities , biking cities , places where you can walk everywhere and not waste time in traffic . Those are the neighborhoods we want to be in .
38 hotelsmag . com January / February 2017