LAGNIAPPE
THE FUTURE ACCORDING TO
BASHAR WALI
By JEFF WEINSTEIN , EDITOR IN CHIEF do anything with it … We don ’ t brag about it . We don ’ t tell people about it — that they are contributing to the wellbeing of these incredible humans that work behind the scenes . … The whole idea is about really bringing the humans to the core of what we do , to the center of what we do in a living organism that ’ s part of the bigger community .
“ My timing is either impeccable or horrendous ,” says Bashar Wali , who stepped down as president and CEO of Portland , Oregon-based Provenance Hotels in May . He ’ s stepping back to consider — and then create — the next evolution of hotels . One critical element : emotional intelligence .
HOTELS : What does the hotel industry need to change ?
BASHAR WALI : It seems like we ’ ve all gotten too preoccupied with , ‘ can I do more art than the last guy ? Can I do bigger sculptures than the other guy ? Can I do more shock and awe items in my hotels to provide for those Instagrammable moments than the next guy ?’… Although we deliver service , I say hospitality is how you make people feel through human interactions . I want to feel the energy of your hotel and the positive service that your people provide .
H : What do you think that looks like ?
BW : I ’ m trying to figure out . But listen , I ’ m a capitalist and proud of it . I think that ’ s the system that works in our country , but there ’ s a way to do better by our people , to do better by our employees … If you spend US $ 100 on a hotel room , today already 40 % of it goes to labor , the employees . We don ’ t celebrate that idea and we don ’ t
H : What will be the key for your next concept ?
BW : Emotional intelligence . We ’ ve talked about it for a while . It hasn ’ t really been practiced that much . I think that becomes paramount to what we do … It ’ s about how I make you feel .
I ’ ll give you an example . When someone mystery shops , traditionally they have a checklist of 100 items . Now we alternate them with emotional-based shops . There is no list . We send the shopper in and ask , ‘ How did they make you feel ? Did they make you feel welcome ? When you had an issue , did they care enough to fix it for you ?’
H : What needs to change ?
BW : On the operations front , again , aside from cleanliness beyond COVID , just generally speaking as a way of life going forward , I think we ’ re going to see more efficiency because it is becoming hard . We want to pay our employees good wages , we want to make sure they have good lives , yet the guests aren ’ t going to pay us the kind of rate we need to make the business model jive . So you ’ ll probably see a lot more of what I call almost like the fastcasual movement in restaurants … giving people really good service , really quality ingredients , quality product , but without all the fluff and the noise .
64 hotelsmag . com July / August 2020