THE INTERVIEW : JOHN PRITZKER
JOHN PRITZKER wants to develop his line of boutique hotel brands at a measured pace , allowing him and his team to do things really well and have fun along the way .
John Pritzker considers himself a hotelier by trade . You can hear it in his voice when he speaks passionately about the guts of the business , and you can sense it in his approachable style .
Now 60 , Pritzker started in operations for his family ’ s Hyatt hotel business in 1972 and headed west in the 1980s , settling in San Francisco . He still loves the unpredictability of the daily business , and now the art of the deal .
Pritzker sold his Hyatt shares to his family in 2010 and has been building a boutique hotel business . He bought control of the Joie de Vivre brand in 2010 via his investment firm Geolo Capital , and in October 2011 Pritzker created Commune Hotels & Resorts by merging the San Francisco-based Joie de Vivre chain with Thompson Hotels of New York . This past August he took full ownership of Commune and has been assembling a team that now includes CEO Niki Leondakis , formerly of Kimpton Hotels , to grow Commune ’ s three brands . A fourth brand is in the offing , he adds .
Not long after the Commune deal closed in August , Pritzker talked to HOTELS about his plans , his point of view about the business and how he has used his background to create a company in his own vision .
HOTELS : Why do you see yourself as a hotelier instead of a real estate guy ?
John Pritzker : I grew up in operations and take pride in that side of the business . Out of necessity I have become more steeped in the real estate side , but Carmel Valley Ranch is one of my most satisfying projects , as we created summer camp for adults , and Hotel Lincoln in Chicago is the urban version of that , so I really do consider myself a hotel guy .
H : How are using your family roots to develop Commune ?
JP : The most impactful thing to me as kid and beyond came from my time at Hyatt when there was an esprit de corps that was second to none . It taught me that when the staff is engaged and excited and proud it sucks everyone in , including the guests .
When Hyatt married design ( John Portman ’ s atrium hotel with bubble elevators in Atlanta ) with personality it was really compelling . At Commune we are doing things like the Chicago Athletic Association project , which opens in 2014 — an 1893 vintage building that was the heartbeat of Chicago ’ s financial community . When we take that history and design and infuse it with an engaged staff steeped in the history of Chicago , it means in our own way we have the ability to recreate the excitement I grew up with at Hyatt .
H : What did you learn from your father , Jay Pritzker ?
JP : From a management standpoint , I learned to give your people the latitude to do what they do best . For example , Niki Leondakis was hired to be CEO of Commune , and sometimes I have to show great discipline not to barge in on a decision . If I could do it better than she could then I didn ’ t need to bring her on board , but she is a master . Hire great , smart people and give them the latitude to operate .
The other thing I got from my dad is that he had sayings like “ better to know the sergeant than the general .” It sounded like a throwaway line , but if you want something done , go to the person who is actually going do it . H : Who else was a mentor ? JP : I had a bunch and was very lucky . The older I get the more I value the time they took to guide me and teach me , and often it was kicking and screaming against my will . I think of Pat Foley , who was president of Hyatt in the ’ 70s and ’ 80s . He had charisma and leadership oozing from his pores . I almost think of him like Lee Marvin in “ The Dirty Dozen .” He took a company of relative kids with infinitely more enthusiasm than experience and transformed the company into a killer core of managers and execs . Horst Schulze came from Hyatt , Bill Rose and so on . It was that spirit that Foley imbued that seeded a number of different properties and companies .
H : Now you are competing with Hyatt . How does that feel ?
JP : I am not , really . My guess is ( Hyatt CEO ) Mark Hoplamazian is not losing a lot of sleep over us quite yet . People
www . hotelsmag . com October 2013 HOTELS 47