The InTervIew : Tina Edmundson
Tina Edmundson filE
TiTLE Global brand officer , luxury and lifestyle hotels , Marriott International |
UNdEr HEr cHArgE Edition , Autograph Collection , Renaissance , Moxy , The Ritz-Carlton , Ritz-Carlton Reserve , JW Marriott and Bulgari Hotels |
PiPELiNE Some 200 hotels reflecting more than US $ 15 billion of investment by the company ’ s owners and franchisees . About 75 of these projects should be completed within the next two years , representing US $ 6 billion of investment .
FOcUS Elevating the presence of Marriott ’ s luxury and lifestyle portfolio , which stands at approximately 450 properties .
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iNSPirATiONS Retail from a design and on-site merchandising perspective . Nimble restaurants that exude a certain cleverness in a noncapital-intensive way . |
Nikolas Koenig perspective and from an attention perspective — and for making sure we are very focused on them . Edition has two hotels , but Edition is a very , very important brand , and we want to make sure we give these brands individual attention .
H : What other types of projects have you been working on ?
TE : A design strategy for Renaissance is an initiative we are almost done with and will be ready for rollout pretty soon . And with something like that we do work with consultants , and then we go out to designers that do work on our behalf and
The London Edition ( Berner ’ s Tavern ) is about to be followed by a key North American opening in Miami Beach . do design charrettes to make sure that how we ’ re thinking about the brand and its physical manifestation really comes to life in a meaningful way , and that it is adaptable in different parts of the world .
We ’ re doing a similar exercise for The Ritz-Carlton , which is a little bit different because you want to make sure you never have a cookie-cutter mentality . How you actually manifest the brand in a resort environment is quite different from an urban environment or a downtown location . Then the sensibilities for that level of luxury customer are quite different locally and culturally . Trying to weave all those pieces through is a bit tricky and requires a lot of focus and attention because this is what will set up the next three or four years ’ worth of projects .
H : Where do you go for inspiration ?
TE : Retail is a very easy answer because it is everything from design perspectives to onsite merchandising . Being able to tap into consumer needs is always inspirational . The translation of the retail inspiration to our space is the trick .
Beyond that , I think restaurants , again , which are much more nimble . Smaller businesses tend to do things in a really clever , not very capital-intensive way , which allows for the quickness and the nimbleness .
Where people are going now and what people connect to these days is something a bit more authentic . So , you ’ re looking for what feels right — not necessarily what looks very polished and put together . When you ’ re looking for inspiration or trying to think of how you might translate things to your business , if it doesn ’ t come from a really authentic place , it can be very applied . H : Who are your mentors ? TE : I don ’ t have any formal ones , to be honest . I have friends that work in cosmetics , in retail and in real estate . It can be talking to a friend who is doing a shopping complex and listening to what they ’ re trying to do to attract the right brands into their space to create this
50 HOTELS September 2014 www . hotelsmag . com