SPECIAL REPORT
Family gathering in the Loews Regency lobby . Larry and Bob front and center ; Jonathan sitting , far left . large . “ The actions we take are intended to benefit not just ourselves ; we don ’ t want to win at the expense of others ,” says Loews Hotels President and CEO Kirk Kinsell when asked to describe the strategy employed by his boss . “ Jonathan ’ s legacy is about making the industry stronger and better for the next generation .”
Kinsell adds that while Tisch may have strong personal opinions , he is inclusive and draws out common values and beliefs . “ He is quick to say what he has learned , but he is also open and shows he can be vulnerable , which is inspirational ,” Kinsell says . “ He demonstrates the company ’ s family values all the time in the way he treats the team like extended family . He doesn ’ t try to be the executive behind the business ; he tries to be the human behind the business .”
A HOTELIER ’ S LIFE Tisch , 62 , has been around the hotel business his entire life . In fact , he calls himself “ the male Eloise ,” the fictitious character who roamed New York ’ s famed Plaza hotel .
He was born in Atlantic City , New
Jersey , where his grandparents built up a portfolio of five hotels . By 1957 , they left the Boardwalk for Bal Harbour , Florida , where the Tischs started the Americana brand , and where Jonathan met another inspiring U . S . president , John F . Kennedy . He also recalls spending many days roaming the Bal Harbour property , learning every inch of it and even helping out behind the front desk by the time he was 8 years old .
“ MANY OF THE SAME ATTRIBUTES THAT I FEEL I HAVE , HOPEFULLY PEOPLE SAY WE POSSESS AT LOEWS HOTELS .”
– JONATHAN TISCH
In 1961 , the family headed back to New York because Jonathan ’ s father and uncle bought Loews Theaters , more for the real estate to build hotels , the first of which opened in Manhattan in 1963 . By 1972 , the Tisch brothers sold four hotels to American Airlines and expanded into other businesses through Loews Corp .
Jonathan ’ s first real hotel job came at age 16 , when he worked behind the front desk of the former Americana on Seventh Avenue , and then the following summer at The Churchill in London . He went to prep school and then college before taking a job for three years as a producer at a Boston television station . During those years when not at school or in Boston , he lived at what is today the company flagship , the Loews Regency in Manhattan , where his parents had taken an apartment .
By January 1980 , he was back in New York starting his hotel career in sales for Loews Hotels , and by 1982 he was promoted to the development team , where he began to feed his passion for design . Among his first accomplishments was opening his first hotel , Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson , Arizona , in 1984 .
34 hotelsmag . com November 2016