SBM just poached a Four Seasons hotel manager to run its iconic Hermitage in Monte Carlo, and the move reveals a leadership development playbook that works at every level of this business. The question most operators should be asking isn't about Monaco... it's about who's ready to step up at their own property.
The Park Hyatt Canberra just installed a retired bomb-sniffing dog as its permanent "ambassadog." Sounds like fluff. It's not. This is a masterclass in earned media that most GMs can't replicate... and shouldn't try to.
IHG just opened a 33-story, 529-room Kimpton in the most iconic square footage in Manhattan, backed by a $220 million construction loan and four restaurant concepts. The views are stunning. The question is whether the brand promise can survive a Tuesday night in Midtown with union labor costs about to spike.
Hyatt just renewed its celebrity tennis partnership and sponsored a culinary event at Indian Wells. The real question isn't whether this is good marketing... it's whether the properties delivering the "experience" can actually execute what headquarters is promising 64 million loyalty members.
Park Hyatt Tokyo just spent 19 months and untold millions renovating a 30-year-old property... and the smartest thing they did was decide what NOT to change. There's a lesson in that for every GM staring down a PIP or a renovation budget.
Hyatt's first Italian address sounds like a milestone. It's really a confession about where they aren't — and a test of whether Regency can mean anything in a city that already has an opinion about hospitality.
