HotelsMag October 2013 | Page 50

THE INTERVIEW : JOHN PRITZKER
would love to hear me say , ‘ We are going to kick their ass .’ But we are so totally different . There will be markets where we compete , and we won a hotel management agreement beating one of the Andaz efforts , and it was gratifying , but it would have been just as gratifying if it were Marriott or Hilton or anyone else . Hyatt has gotten very large and is very different from when I was there .
Hotel Vitale in San Francisco , part of the Joie de Vivre collection , a brand
Pritzker says has “ a lot of legs ”
The only commonality is that we are in the same industry , and I don ’ t think anyone at Commune feels a burning need to become a behemoth . We are in the business to create individual hotels that represent the essence of where they sit . We want to impact people in a very personal way , and that is tough to do when you have thousands of hotels . At a certain size , geographic distribution becomes the driving benefit versus the experience you create for guests . We are in this to do something different .
H : What do you make of the evolution of lifestyle hotels , and where is it going ?
JP : I can only tell you where we are going . We are focused on three brands — Joie de Vivre , Thompson and Tommie — three different brands that share characteristics : creating comfortable , interesting and exciting experiences . Some hotels take on multiple personalities such as the Thompson Toronto , which has a great restaurant , a lively bar , an all-night diner , a spa , a yoga studio . Our opportunity is to create those types of personalities across all three brands . They will be different , but the red thread that runs through all of them is an excited staff , well-thoughtout design and multiple personalities . H : What do you want to do differently ? JP : Technology has so pervaded our lives , and sometimes we don ’ t use discipline deploying it . Things like automated check-in or concierge service through an iPad , while they can be great tools … I think people really crave human interaction . At one of our resort hotels that serves Silicon Valley
THE

JOHN PRITZKER FILE

AGE :

60

RESIDENCE : SAN FRANCISCO
Wealth : Listed by Forbes in March 2013 at US $ 1.85 billion
History : Pritzker began his career at Hyatt Hotels Corp . in 1972 , and in 1984 became managing director and divisional vice president of Hyatt Hotels and Resorts . He was a founding board member of Ticketmaster and served as chairman and CEO of a number of hospitality businesses , including Mandara Spa .
Geolo Capital : The private equity firm Pritzker founded that is now the sole owner of Commune Hotels & Resorts after it closed in August on the 50 % interest held by joint venture partners , the Pomeranc
brothers , that was formed in 2011 .
Commune Hotels & Resorts : The umbrella company for the Thompson , Joie de Vivre and Tommie brands manages more than 40 hotels and resorts and is focused on international expansion , targeting locations in Asia , Latin America and Europe as well as the United States . Currently , there are some 27 Joie de Vivre hotels and 11 Thompson hotels , five of which will revert to the Pomerancs . Tommie is a new brand under development with the initial two locations under development in New York City .
Hotels coming soon : Epiphany , Palo Alto ,
California , in late 2013 ; Thompson Chicago ( the former Sutton Place ), in late 2013 ; Thompson Cabo in Mexico and Roosevelt Miami Beach coming soon .
Status : Married with three children , only one of which he says has shown any interest in the hotel business .
Personal passions away from hotels : With wife Lisa , John runs a foundation focused on children ’ s health and welfare , primarily the underserved . He is a skier and is taking up tennis again . He collects art and is in the middle of organizing a book on certain aspects of the photographic process .
48 HOTELS October 2013 www . hotelsmag . com