Inzerillo is married to former CNN anchor Prudence Solomon . Their daughter , Helena Zakade
Inzerillo , was named by her Godfather , Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nelson Mandela .
LEARNS ALONG THE WAY Inzerillo likes to point to his early years in Las Vegas as an “ aha moment ” because he learned about the viability of combining the hotel business with entertainment , a principal he continued to apply throughout his career , especially with Morgans and Kerzner . “ In the ‘ 70s , when major brands started coming in – Hilton , Marriott , Accor – they broke themselves off into a singular industry , off into its own solar system ,” Inzerillo recalls . “ That bothered me because hotels should be a part of the entertainment world , too .”
When he opened the Four Seasons in Houston , for example , Inzerillo hired sales people who strictly focused on bringing in the touring rock and roll bands and “ devastated the Hyatt Regency there . We wiped them out with pop culture .”
At the Morgans and Royalton hotels in New York City , music videos and films were often lured to shoot there to create properties that were animated and dynamic . They extracted the energy of a nightclub and put it in the lobby with great bartenders and pretty servers in sexy outfits . “ Film , music , fashion , photography – we really brought it together and that was the beginning of the modern era of hipper boutique hotels ,” Inzerillo says . As for missteps , at first a brash Inzerillo says he had none , but upon further reflection adds he had to eat his pride a few times too often , especially when it came to working with bigger-than-life personalities like Ian Schrager and Sol Kerzner .
“ There were times in my career where I ’ d get home ,
In addition to his role as CEO of the Diriyah Gate Development Authority , Inzerillo remains vice chairman of the Forbes Travel Guide .
16 hotelsmag . com July / August 2021