Michael Grove is the Chief Operating Officer for HotStats , a global hotel benchmarking company that gives hoteliers a 360 view of their company ’ s operational costs using dynamic reporting , data and market intelligence . The information amounts to more than 500 KPIs sourced from over 600 markets and allows hoteliers to measure the performance of their hotel with competitors on a monthly basis . It ’ s profitability data delivered in real time .
Here , Grove shares a few stories about his journey in the hospitality industry .
How did you come into hotels ?
I grew up in Llanedeyrn , an estate on the outskirts of Cardiff . When I was 18 , I finished college and I didn ’ t really know which way I was going to go with my career . My neighbour , who was the operations manager at the local hotel , said to me : “ Hey , you ' re sensible , aren ' t you ? We need someone to carry plates at Christmas time .”
I ended up working on the bar for six months , then conferences and events , and when the manager left I became conference & events manager . The hotel was quite busy — we did around 4,000 covers at Christmas — and by the age of 20 , I was our youngest manager . Although the hours were long and pay was poor , I thrived and realized the variety of growth opportunities that hotels offered .
After four years in F & B , I left for a 9-5 role , including selling beds and a brief stint as a wedding coordinator . ( I was terrible at both .)
I knew hotels was where I wanted to be , so I went back to the hotel and asked the GM for a job . I got a frontoffice position and was involved in the rebrand of the property , which became a Park Inn , part of the Radisson Group .
After two years in front office , I moved to finance , where I held multiple controller roles . I then got the itch to leave hospitality again and moved to Brazil , never planning to return .
Of course , I never sticked to that wanderlust plan and returned to Wales . When I did , I , of course , went back to hotels , this time in a regional role for Radisson in the UK .
It has been great to fall into the data corner of the industry with HotStats . I love getting to network with other hoteliers — every ounce of me is a hotelier .
Who has helped you in your career thus far ?
My neighbor who hired me originally when I was 18 ; she ' s still the most influential person in my career . She believed in me , always pushed me beyond my perceived barriers and gave me the opportunities when they came up . Most managers take their power from fear or stature , but she led from the front and had incredible people skills . She ' s an incredible character .
During the following years in operations and then finance , I couldn ’ t list the number of people who helped me along the way and still do .
Has your journey been a straightforward one ?
Certainly not . I changed direction a few times and hit a lot of bumps along the road . Over the span of 20 years in hotels , I have experienced some incredibly challenging headwinds , but looking back , each one presented me with new opportunities that I could never have planned for .
I have also taken some risks ; not all of which have paid off , but have served as a solid education .
In terms of direction , I found myself in F & B , Front Office , Finance , Sales and now as COO of a global data provider — I for sure didn ’ t plan it this way , but I would do it all over again .
What advice would you give hotels ?
Know your market and constantly look for areas of opportunity . Data and benchmarking are so important , particularly now , coming out of the pandemic . Context is key to evaluating performance and the health crisis has thrown historical trends into the distant past . Without keeping apprised of the current data trends , you are driving in the dark .
ILHA 19