LEGEND
NO
By JEFF WEINSTEIN , EDITOR IN CHIEF
COMPROMISE
LEGENDARY HOTELIER HORST SCHULZE LED BY FIRST LEARNING TO BECOME A MAN OF EXCELLENCE .
Listening to Horst Schulze evangelize about the beauty of the hotel business is like going to hospitality church . His words come from deep down in his heart and at 82 , he is as passionate as ever about achieving excellence the way he did for so many years , which most notably included co-founding the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co . To Horst , there is no compromise .
“ Deep down , we are hosts to people who want to feel well ,” he says with a level of conviction that makes you believe he is ready to don a suit and greet everyone who walks into any hotel . “ We ’ re creating well-being . My God , how much more beautiful can it get ?”
Even today , this modern-day Cesar Ritz — who started as a server ’ s assistant in a German resort town near his home , went on to work for Hilton and Hyatt before co-founding the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co . in 1983 , years later growing the Capella Hotel Group — still has some new ideas about what will attract guests in a post-pandemic world . But he is not quite ready to share them yet after recently working with a property owner in San Francisco , California , to create a new concept .
The German-born and trained hotelier driven by his passion for excellence that led to two Malcom Baldrige awards while growing Ritz-Carlton might also surprise you when he mentions philosophers like Aristotle and Plato as muses .
“ I love to read about the people who impacted society by thinking totally different than what society was thinking at the time ,” Schulze says from his Atlanta , Georgia , office , still busy sitting on company boards , speaking to groups via Zoom and learning how to use a computer for the first time . “ It really turns me on to read the philosophers and think , ‘ Oh . Yeah . That ’ s who I am a little bit .’ I have always been hugely encouraged and it excited me to know that I can do things a little differently as long as it ’ s good for all concerned . That was always the mission .” He was always led by , “ Is it good for all concerned ?” Once the answer was unequivocally yes , such as making Ritz-Carlton the world ’ s best hotel company , he said he no longer cared about opposition . “ It didn ’ t matter anymore . I knew this was for everybody ,” he said . “ I had to find that to feel free and , frankly , to get over my insecurities .”
28 hotelsmag . com March / April 2021