PERSONALITIES
H : How are your previous experiences serving you right now ? FM : I guess accumulated patience is about the best I can refer to . Good things take a long time and life throws a lot of curveballs . So , it is about patience and acceptance of bigger forces at play , combined with a tenacity to never stop moving .
H : What are your biggest learns from COVID that have been actionable ? FM : Stay informed , stay flexible , think about guests as non-monolithic .
H : What innovations need to take place for the industry can come back stronger than ever ? FM : Cost of sale / distribution needs to come down . There are too many middlemen . Labor needs to be reimagined , not just more efficient / productive , but better work in better conditions , and tech needs to play a much bigger behind-the-scenes role .
H : What is the biggest opportunity right now ? FM : Making places really hyper local , which kind of contradicts the branding stuff . And by the way , just because I ’ m not a big fan of brands doesn ’ t mean I doubt their strength …
But to me , the biggest opportunity is sort of for small guys . I think the big opportunity now is for independent hoteliers to wake up and embrace innovation and technology , to embrace the creative elements , to become more hyper local – whether that ’ s urban or resort – to really focus on the experience … It is still sort of like the Rosewood approach , which you can count on it being really , really good . But you can ’ t count on it all being the same . That ’ s what you hope for .
H : What industry trends do you like , don ’ t like ? FM : While I am a big fan of revenue management , it lately seems to have crossed a line into how badly can we gouge the customer in a high demand situation . I think that is long-term dumb . One of the silver linings of this crisis is bringing people together with a shared sense of community – the lodging business has been pretty good on that .
H : What and who is inspiring you at the moment ? FM : Restaurateur Danny Meyer ( a friend and high school classmate ) is brave and original and a
Artwork is a centerpiece and inspiration at The Ameswell
New York City restaurateur to require guests to be vaccinated for entry ).
H : Will business revert back to “ normal ” or has COVID changed it forever ? FM : Zoom and its peers and future iterations has forever and finally changed the way people meet … But I believe in the absolute necessity of face-to-face interaction , so Zoom will take about 20 % share of the traveling meetings business , give or take . That is a big change and will take the lodging business years to adjust to .
H : What is the biggest opportunity as a developer , owner right now ? FM : To creatively and somewhat accurately anticipate the post-COVID future where travel intersects with health , politics , technology , a changed labor environment and a hunger for interesting experiences . Same old , same old is a loser .
H : What is your message to the hotel world , your contemporaries ? FM : I am no preacher , but I would ask that as we all strive to do well for ourselves and our constituents ( families , friends , partners , lenders , colleagues ), we also apply increased consciousness to how our actions affect the broader community and world … We are all in this together .
90 hotelsmag . com November / December 2021