TRENDING
GMs share styles FOR OPENING HOTELS
By JEFF WEINSTEIN , EDITOR IN CHIEF
Nothing is more nervewracking and then satisfying than opening a new hotel . Some gifted hoteliers spend their careers on opening teams , traveling the world to prepare properties and their teams for the big day and make the ultimate first impression .
Each hotelier has their own unique tradition to prepare for an opening – from meditation to wearing a lucky jacket or throwing a team-rallying crawfish boil .
HOTELS talked to five hotel GMs in the U . S . to learn about some of their traditions , techniques and strategies to prepare for a hotel opening .
Peter Yeung , managing director , Walker Hotels , Greenwich Village and Tribeca , New York , New York
Before opening a hotel , I like to get familiar with the new layout and space of the property . My tradition has always been sketching out a floor plan , so it is better ingrained in my mind before I take the helm and move into the hotel , so to speak .
More recently , I have made sketching a family affair by asking my two young daughters to help me and chime in on how to outfit the space with furniture . My girls feel valued , and that sketch turns into a piece of art that I hang in my office post-opening .
There has never been a hotel opening or renovation project that I have been on that has been perfect . If someone tells you that , they are lying . The best thing that you can do is to prepare , train , educate ,