Bashar Wali Longing for Belonging

WEBVTT
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Welcome to Hotel Daddy.
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I'm your host, Blake Danner.
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First, I am so proud that we've been cleared for season two.
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I have to be honest, when we started this, I had no idea what the response would be.
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I didn't know we'd be listened to in 23 countries across 10 different platforms.
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So, first of all, as we start season two, a big thank you to everyone who supported us during season one, all the amazing guests we had, and of course, I couldn't do this without my amazing executive producer, Stephanie Bryant, my engineering producer, David Jewell, and of course my producer, Nelson Orti.
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Alright, kids, how about it?
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Let's go to season two.
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In today's episode, I speak with a hotel year who is reimagining the future of hospitality, Bashar Wally.
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We'll dive right in and get to know Bashar.
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Exploring his unique journey and the stories that have shaped his career hospitality.
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Expect some candid conversations, some honest reflections, and be forewarned.
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He tells me he's the contrarian.
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Now look, in season one, I got a lot of messages from you guys telling me, I don't know why, but y'all love to tell me what you do when you listen to Hotel Daddy.
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So here's the top three.
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If you're on the treadmill, turn it up a couple notches.
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If you're driving, keep those hands at ten and three.
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And most popular way to listen to Hotel Daddy, make sure that drink is either stirred or shaken.
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Alright, let's go.
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Bashar Wally is a founder, a father, and a hotel fanatic.
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He's a pragmatist, hungry to experience life, not as it's packaged and sold, but as it is.
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His vested interest in hospitality, culture, and design is cut with the curiosity of what's possible beyond the status quo.
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He is the consummate host of the Suare, ever in pursuit of a shared humanity among friends, colleagues, and total strangers.
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This perhaps is his greatest gift by bringing together a group that's more inspiring than the sum of its parts.
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As founder and CEO of This Assembly and Practice Hospitality, Bashar draws upon expertise honed over a 30-year career in hospitality.
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An expert in the lifestyle space, Bashar is known for pushing the limits in his philosopher meets hotelier kind of way.
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Whether helming the TEDx stage, hosting a global YPO event, or collaborating on LinkedIn, Bashar's message is unwavering.
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Service is what you deliver.
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Hospitality is how you make people feel.
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Bashar has done every job in the hotel from frying an egg to negotiating a deal, working for Starwood hotels, Grand Heritage Hotels.
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Prior to launching this assembly and practiced hospitality, Bashar served as president and CEO of Provenance Hotels.
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When Bashar isn't traveling to 90 plus countries or 49 plus states, he's home in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, kids, dreaming up the hotels of tomorrow.
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That's a bio.
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Bashar, I'm excited to have you here.
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Welcome, buddy.
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Damn, I'm impressed.
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I want to meet that guy.
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Who is that guy?
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Well, let's talk to him for a while.
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Really happy to have you here.
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You and I have circled each other's orbs for a long time, several years.
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We've been in the industry, we've been at the same events, we've been on some of the same panels, we've really crossed paths a lot.
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We know each other, but we've never really had a serious conversation.
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So I gotta be honest, I'm looking forward to today.
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It is my loss, and I'm delighted.
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All right, but before we start, we do something at the beginning of every episode that we like to call Who's in the Lobby?
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I'm gonna just put some rapid fire to you and you give me the first thing that comes to mind.
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You ready?
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Sure.
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What's your name?
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Basharwali.
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Zodiac sign.
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Capricorn.
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Go to karaoke song.
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Oh god, I you will never find me doing karaoke.
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I despise I have a low tolerance for kitsch, so I'm gonna pass on that question.
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Not gonna sing.
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I love it.
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No.
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Instagram or TikTok?
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Instagram.
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All right, I'm gonna stop rapid fire right here.
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Uh, we gotta talk about your Instagram, can't we?
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Oh my god, should we?
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Let's do it.
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Oh, we have two, come on.
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Let's do it.
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True story.
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You are, and I mean this, no smoke, top three Instagram feeds that I follow.
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I love, no, seriously, I love your feed.
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But I'd love to know how would you describe your feed to people that have never seen it?
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Being in the business you and I are in, I tell people I appreciate beauty in all forms, and I'm constantly looking for inspiration in a world that's kind of turned beige and gray on us.
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Oh, yeah.
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It is the PowerPoint of my subconscious.
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I don't do it for likes, I don't do it for followers.
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Sort of whatever I post this thing, you know, called Muses of the Day, Lesour.
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And it really is whatever is crossing my brain that's inspiring me.
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So it's a combination of beautiful things, beautiful people, beautiful destinations, hotels, watches, cars, fashion.
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And I like to say I have my finger on the pulse of unpopular culture because everyone sees popular culture.
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So I try to kind of go left field of that a little bit.
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And it really isn't about the reaction, it's about kind of getting in my head.
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So if you're interested in getting in that strange dark space that is my head, Instagram is the way to see it.
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I love it.
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I think it is artistic, it's sexy, it's pop culture, it's what's hot, it's clearly free form, what you're thinking.
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Keep it up, my friend.
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It's a really fun follow, and uh I appreciate it.
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All right, back to rapid fire.
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Here we go.
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Who inspires you the most?
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Anthony Bourdain.
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Easy.
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One trend that you think is overrated.
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Instagrammable moments.
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It's time to put them to death.
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I watch his ammable moments, no instagrammable moments.
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Ah, okay.
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Last one coffee meeting or cocktail conversation.
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Do I have to yes?
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The answer is yes.
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Now that come on, that was a contrary.
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That was safe.
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Ah, come on.
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How about combined?
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How about a a coffee drink?
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We can do them both.
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There you go.
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You've spent more than three decades in operations, development, acquisitions, management.
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You're a specialist in lifestyle and independence.
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But tell me how you got here.
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Like what got you?
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Before we talk about your career, what got you to hospitality?
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Honestly, it was by accident.
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I grew up in the Middle East and wanted to immigrate to the US and do it legally and the right way.
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Uh, had finished high school and I knew somebody who knew somebody that was in a city that had a college that was for hotels and kind of got me connected and applied and kind of got in.
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And day one, I arrived and have never looked back.
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So I wish I could tell you it's on purpose and it was my life goal and my life interest.
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It wasn't.
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I thought I'd do something in the political realm, maybe World Bank, United Nations.
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Journalism was an option at one point because, as you know, I'm so full of it and love to give sermons.
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Journalism would have been a layup.
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Literally got in day one and it was like, wait, you could make a career out of hosting parties and being nice to people, making people feel good.
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Sign me up and never look back.
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I can do that, right?
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Exactly.
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We have a saying where I grew up that goes, When a stranger shows up at your door, feed him for three days before you ask who he is, where he's from, or where he's going to.
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Because by then he'll either have the strength to answer or you'll be such good friends, it won't matter.
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And I sort of say, like, I went to hotel school.
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That is hotel school.
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I grew up sort of living that mantra.
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There's no stranger, you're always hosting people because that was part of the culture.
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It was more focused on people than things and shopping and all of that.
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So when I discovered that it can, in fact, be a career, I was like, wait, I I I live that way.
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Well, this is easy.
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Let's do this.
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So I love that quote again about somebody actually said that hospitality is the love of a stranger.
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And I tell people I've never met a stranger that can talk to anyone.
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I love that.
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You said twice you reference culture, and that's part of our culture.
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And you make a lot of connections between hospitality and service.
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Talk to me about the distinction and the difference of the two.
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It's super easy and simple, yet it seems so hard for our industry to get it right.
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We always focus on the service and the services.
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And those are things we deliver.
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Like I tell people, I go to the dentist, I get my teeth cleaned, they've delivered a service.
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Somebody fills in my gas, that's a service.
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And hotels do deliver a service.
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We provide you a shower, we provide you a bed, we provide you a meal.
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But if that's what we're doing and that's where our focus is, all those things are commodities, right?
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We're humans, we need shelter.
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Maslow's hierarchy of need, right?
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Shelter is at the very bottom of that.
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We provide shelter.
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It's a basic human need.
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And if that's where we end up, God, what an awful thing to be in the commodity business.
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Hospitality is how you make someone feel.
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And for now, that is exclusive to humans, not AI, not machines, not anything like that.
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And I think that the distinction must be super clear that yes, a robot can deliver you a service.
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And by the way, I go to New York, I order a towel, a little R2D2 shows up at my room with the towel.
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Great.
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And I don't need to interact with anyone.
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I'm half dressed, you know, the knock on the door or doorbell goes off and I take my towel.
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But when I come down to ask someone where I should go eat, sure, I could do it on AI and I could do it on the internet and I could do it on TikTok, but I'm not after the name of the place.
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I'm after the emotion that someone will tell me, oh my God, you're going to love this place.
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Joe the bartender is amazing.
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Ask him to make you this and that.
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And to me, that's hospitality.
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Not telling me where to go to eat because that's a service that AI can deliver.
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It's I want to get in your head and feel the feelings you feel when you go to that place, which for now a machine cannot do.
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So let's talk about that more because it's such a buzzword right now.
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And I continue to catch some grief from folks about my opinions on AI.
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Is AI ever going to replace hospitality or people in our business?
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Okay, so I am an early adopter.
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Even from my age, I am an early adopter.
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I love technology.
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I love using technology.
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I'm an early adopter to AI.
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For the time being, until we can teach robots emotional intelligence and empathy, which I'm not saying never, we might be able to.
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I don't think that robots nor AI can replace humans.
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Furthermore, until such time, and I'm not saying never, where I can lie in my bed, put a VR set on and feel the sand between my toes and smell the ocean, we need to travel.
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So I think our industry for the foreseeable future, not forever, is immune to this idea that everything will be replaced by machines and AI, because you still need to go to Indonesia and dip your toes in the water and try the food on the street until we can wire our brains to give us those same feelings and emotions.
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And you know, it's funny we talk about teens and they're on their phones all the time.
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And I say, look, we humans used to communicate by grunting when there is no language.
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Then language was invented and we used language.
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And I'm sure those who grunted when they saw language being invented, they're like, oh my God, they're ruining our world.
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We should be grunting, we shouldn't be talking.
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So I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't be going towards that.
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And maybe Snapchat is the evolution of human communication, and maybe that's where we end up.
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Now, you and I may say, oh my God, that's a world I don't want to live in where people don't speak anymore.
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But I'm not saying that that will never happen, nor am I given an opinion on whether I like it or not.
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So I think eventually technology is going to penetrate everything we do, particularly with the proliferation of AI.
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We romantics for our generation, we still want to have this idea of conversation and looking in someone's eyes and shaking their hand.
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So I think again, for the next maybe decade or two, that's not going anywhere.
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Am I telling you that in 100 years we're still traveling or talking to each other?
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I'm not smart enough to tell you, probably not.
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So look, I think the human spirit wants to travel.
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The human spirit wants to experience these great new experiences.
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So to your point, AI can't replace that.
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But here's where I get sideways with some folks.
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I don't think it's an even sum game.
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Here's what I mean.
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You and I have spent a lot of time in kind of lifestyle luxury.
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And I think been an early adopter, I think there's absolutely a place for AI in our industry.
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But if you're at the lifestyle luxury segment of the business, I think how you deploy AI is completely different than how perhaps if you're in the economy segment.
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100%.
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Talk to me about that.
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I totally agree with you.
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And again, as CP.
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And that's not classes, that's just how you respond to that customer's needs.
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The problem is we keep using one paintbrush to paint everyone in.
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Very broad.
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There you go.
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What people want are options.
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Wanting to make money, a lot of money, isn't about the money.
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It's about the freedom to choose, right?
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We love options.
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I travel a ton like you do.
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Sometimes I don't want to talk to a single person.
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I could care less.
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I want to go to the Hilton app.
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I want to check in on Hilton.
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I want to use my key to bypass the desk, go to the elevator, and go to my room.
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I want that option if I want it.
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But sometimes I want to walk up to the desk.
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I want to have a conversation.
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I want to chit-chat with someone.
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So I agree with you.
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I think it's not necessarily exclusive to luxury and lifestyle.
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I think we all have to be cognizant of the fact that people want options and optionality and let's give it to them.
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Now, what that means for a more mid-tier operator is you can have a lot less people.
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Like, think about the airlines.
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They're a perfect example.
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You used to walk up to the counter, there'd be 25 Asians there.
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Now there's two.
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So if I really, really want to talk to someone, I can go wait online and talk to someone.
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They discourage you from doing it, but you always have the option.
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They've never removed the person completely.
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Now, the only difference though that I cry foul on in that example, the airline still has you captive on that aluminum tube in the sky for an hour or two or 10, and they could still engage with you to build rapport and build a relationship with you human to human vis-a-vis the flight attendants.
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Hotels don't have that opportunity if you completely automate it.
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I mean, I have had stays literally where I've never encountered a single employee, Uber to elevator to room, back to elevator, out, and I don't see anyone.
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So I think it's a miss because then it's a commodity.
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And when I talk about commodity, like think about gas for your car.
00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:32.720
When I go to get gas for my car, I don't care about the logo, I don't care about the tagline, I don't care about anything.
00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:36.960
It's purely based on two criteria only location and price.
00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:44.559
If we make hotels such a commodity that that becomes the way we compete, it's going to be a disastrous result for us operators.
00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:55.360
And I think the way we create distinction and difference and build loyalty, the reason I will go out of my way to go back to another hotel isn't the machine, isn't the efficiency, isn't the bed, isn't the shower?
00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:57.120
Because most have good stuff now.
00:13:57.279 --> 00:14:01.279
It really is about a connection I made with someone that made me feel special that makes me want to go back.
00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:03.519
So A, couldn't agree more.
00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:13.200
But B, as the contrarian, then how do you afford for the proliferation of point-based loyalty programs these days?
00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:16.879
Okay, so that's a whole other subject.
00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:19.200
I might need to pour a stiff one for this one.
00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:19.679
Okay.
00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:20.240
We got time.
00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:21.919
First of all, let's call it what it is.
00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:28.720
If you look up the definition of bribery in the dictionary, I give you something in exchange for something.
00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:29.679
That's bribery.
00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:30.080
Okay.
00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:32.399
Blake, I have a great hotel.
00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:33.679
I give you points.
00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:34.720
You come to me.
00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:36.000
Those points are not free.
00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:38.159
The owner of that hotel is paying for those points.
00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:41.600
If I stop giving you points, are you gonna still come to me?
00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:45.440
Generally, the answer is no, by most people who want the points.
00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:48.000
So by definition, you are not loyal to me.
00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:49.120
I am bribing you.
00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:51.120
I am buying your business with the points.
00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:53.200
So let's get that out of the way first.
00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:55.360
This is not a loyalty system.
00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:57.600
This is a system of bribery.
00:14:57.759 --> 00:14:59.120
I am buying your love.
00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:00.639
I am not earning your love.
00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:04.000
Now, if you say to me, I could care less about the points, I will come back to you.
00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:05.600
You're my favorite hotel in the city.
00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:07.279
Okay, now you're loyal to me.
00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:09.919
But you would be one of the few who would actually say that.
00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:15.200
The problem with this idea of loyalty, if I am loyal to you, I use this example often.
00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:16.879
Titanium Elite on Marriott.
00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:23.679
I've stayed in hundreds, maybe thousands plus Nariads across the globe, from ultra luxury to the very bottom.
00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:27.600
I like my room ice cold year-round in any location around the globe.
00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:29.039
You and I would get along fine.
00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:29.519
Exactly.
00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:41.360
So if Marriott and I had a loyalty connection between us, they would know that and they would make sure that every time I checked into a hotel electronically, easily, they don't have to even do anything, that the temperature would be down.
00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:43.600
It's never happened once, ever.
00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:48.720
This idea of, oh, we know you, you're a customer, we're loyal, blah, blah, blah, shedding that out of the way.
00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:56.320
Now, I am not here to judge Blake, the elevator salesman, who doesn't make a lot of money, who's traveling on the road nonstop.
00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:03.279
And the only way for Blake to take his family out to on vacation to Hawaii is to go accumulate those miles to be able to do it.
00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:08.159
Blake will go out of his way, pay more for a lesser experience just for the points.
00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:09.440
I am not judging Blake.
00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:10.559
Totally respect it.
00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:13.440
Good for him being able to take his family on vacation.
00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:20.080
But don't tell me you're seeking experiences and you love these hotels and you need a brand because the points are what's holding you back.
00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:23.120
Because if Blake is after the points, he's not my customer.
00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:27.600
He should go to Hilton Garden and he should go to Hampton Inn, he should go to courtyard and get his point.
00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:29.360
So that's where the decision happens.
00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:35.519
Now, at the soft brand level, where the brands caught on to this idea and they're like, crap, we can't be a commodity just on points.
00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:37.440
We really need to deliver on the lifestyle.
00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:42.000
They've tried some better than others, and eventually those lose their soul.
00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:45.200
Because look, Blake, you tell me, like, not a rhetorical question.
00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:46.559
What is a boutique hotel?
00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:47.759
What is a lifestyle hotel?
00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:49.360
Like, what does it all mean anymore?
00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:53.360
It's been so diluted, and everybody claims it that it doesn't mean anything.
00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:55.519
So I am not against the point system.
00:16:55.759 --> 00:17:01.840
I think it has a place, but will Chateau Mormont ever, in a thousand years, get any point system?
00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:02.720
They don't need to.
00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:05.519
So a lot of these hotels that we love and admire don't need to.
00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:06.400
So we're so aligned.
00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:13.200
And here's what I'll say: somewhat similar to my conversation on AI, I don't think it's equally distributed across the segments.
00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:25.119
A luxury customer who is looking to have an experience, I can tell you, you know, I've had the great pleasure of working for some great independent boutique, lifestyle, luxury, entrepreneur-driven brands, right?
00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:26.960
I never had a loyalty points program.
00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:37.759
We had to get by on a great experience that was connected to the local market, that was a product that stood out, where people walked away, had an experience, and said, I want to go back to an in-trader hotel.
00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:39.440
I want to go back to a Cidel Hotel.
00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:40.400
And that's the difference.
00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:44.240
So point systems, to your point, are somewhat commodity-based.
00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:47.200
I think it works great in secondary, tertiary markets.
00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:50.960
I think it works great at some levels in our business.
00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:56.559
But I think as you start to get to unique experiences and the luxury segment, they're less important.
00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:02.000
And that's where we as hoteliers and as we as operators really have to deliver the goods.
00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:02.880
Totally agree.
00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:06.640
And look, people keep talking like we no longer live in a binary world.
00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:10.079
It's no longer black and white, it's no longer A or B.
00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:11.279
The answer is yes.
00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:13.519
Like there's room for everybody and everything.
00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:19.119
I just think, again, shedding the notion of the word loyalty, because to your point, Aman has loyal customers.
00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:25.200
Chateau has loyal customers, proper have loyal customers, Sadell at the time where you were had loyal customers.
00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:28.799
They didn't come back for anything else other than that they felt like they belong.
00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:30.720
And by the way, I love this word belong.
00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:34.880
I've actually trademarked the term longing for belonging in hospitality.
00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:38.079
And I kind of go a little philosophical on you here for a minute.
00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:39.119
We're tribal animals.
00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:40.799
We humans are tribal animals.
00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:42.319
We need each other to survive.
00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:44.880
And in a modern world, we're very disconnected.
00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:48.319
Likely when you leave home to go to college, you're not coming back, right?
00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:50.000
So you're sort of in a foreign place.
00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:52.640
We don't belong to religion, churches, whatever anymore.
00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:53.759
It's it's eroding.
00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:56.400
We don't belong to political parties, it's a shit show.
00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:01.039
So we we almost like our lost souls looking for our people, looking for our tribe.
00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:11.359
And I actually ascribe the proliferation of private clubs to that idea that a that joining Soho House in New York or join joining Maximes in New York now finds your people.
00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:13.599
You're like, okay, I found my people, I found my tribe.
00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:24.160
So we as hotels have a great opportunity where when Blake comes to stay with me, even for one night, if I make him feel like he belongs, like he found his people, guess what?
00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:27.599
He's never gonna go cheat on his people because his people are his people.
00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:35.200
They're gonna protect him, they're gonna take care of him, they're gonna make sure his favorite drink is at the bar when he walks up, they're going to make sure his room is at 64 degrees when he arrives.
00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:36.559
That to me is loyalty.
00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:38.000
It's earned, not bought.
00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:49.519
We earn loyalty by treating each other like humans, making us feel like we belong, which back to the AI and technology conversation, again for the time being, is reserved.
00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:52.319
I won't even say humans, by the way, it's reserved for mammals.
00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:57.839
Like you give me a dolphin in the lobby, damn, I'm coming back to pet that dolphin, or a dog or whatever.
00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:05.279
So there's something interesting about us as emotional beings, we mammals, it's less with a bird, it's less with a fish, obviously.
00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:12.000
But you think about mammals, dogs and cats and all these sort of pets that we have, we connect with them emotionally because we feel again, it's tribe, right?
00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:13.440
Like your dog is part of your tribe.
00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:16.880
And I think that's where we're missing out because we keep conflating the two.
00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:23.759
Yes, use technology, but remember, you're in the job of belonging because the minute you create belonging, you've earned loyalty.
00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:25.279
You didn't buy it, you've earned it.
00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:28.799
I love this concept of tribe and wanting to be with your tribe.
00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:30.480
And let's talk about some real life examples.
00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:33.279
So I think of the standard meatpacking district.
00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:37.279
Great property, brand new build, hot market, modern building.
00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:39.839
And then I think of the standard Miami Beach.
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:43.759
Now, let's be honest, people are staying there because it's got the right vibe.
00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:52.799
They know their tribe is gonna be there across that brand, and I'm not doing a commercial standard here, but across that brand, there's some differences in product quality, right?
00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:53.279
100%.
00:20:53.759 --> 00:21:00.480
But yet you're willing to accept that product quality in Miami because everything else is so good.
00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:03.839
And because you know your tribe is gonna be there and you want to be part of that tribe.
00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:04.960
I love that concept.
00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:08.240
I tell people often we talk about star rating and all that stuff.
00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:17.519
You may grab my attention for your looks or your outfit or your brands or your whatever, but ultimately I'm not gonna become your friend and stay your friend because of your look.
00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:19.759
I'm gonna be your friend because of your personality.
00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:23.759
So when you talk about the standard in Miami, it's the personality to your point.
00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:29.039
And once I get to like you for your personality, I'm far more forgiving of your physical ills.
00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:32.079
I don't choose my friends because their bodies are perfect.
00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:36.640
I choose them because I love them for who they are, not what they are or what they look like.
00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:43.279
And I think again, hotels miss that point because they're trying to be perfect physically when they're a disaster emotionally.
00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:51.759
And sure, I'll be attracted to you once and I'll come in and I'll oogle you and drool over your look, but that lasts five seconds and it moves on.
00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:55.279
So if there's no substance beneath it, you're dead, you're absolutely gone.
00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:58.720
And the substance and the soul and the vibe comes from the people.
00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:04.240
And just to be clear, you Said it, not just the people that work there, but the people the place attracts, right?
00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:04.720
Absolutely.
00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:07.839
So the personality you have attracts a certain kind of person.
00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:11.359
And if I feel like I belong to that tribe, that's where I want to be.
00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:12.799
Not based on their looks, right?
00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:14.000
Because looks fade.
00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:16.079
It really is their soul and their personality.
00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:30.240
You and I know, and I'm not going to name names, but you and I know properties that are in our orb that we've gone through that physically probably aren't up to par, but they bat so far above their batting average because everything else is so good.
00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:35.279
The people are good, the vibe is good, the tribe is present, and that's success.
00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:36.960
We talked about the Chateau, right?
00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:39.599
And we talk about San Jose in Austin.
00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:42.000
And we all know and love these hotels.
00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:44.880
And when you look at them physically, they're like, I've seen better.
00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:46.079
I've seen a lot better.
00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:47.119
But it doesn't matter.
00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:48.799
I don't love them for what they look like.
00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:51.200
I love them for who they are and what they represent.
00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:52.240
Those are gems.
00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:54.160
And people say, well, how do you create that?
00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:55.920
And they try to recreate it.
00:22:56.079 --> 00:22:57.680
You can't recreate soul.
00:22:57.759 --> 00:22:58.640
You create soul.
00:22:58.720 --> 00:22:59.680
You don't recreate it.
00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:01.119
You either have it or you don't.
00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:04.640
The minute someone comes up with a checklist on how to do it, it's dead.
00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:05.279
It doesn't work.
00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:06.480
There can't be a checklist.
00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:12.480
And as you know, exhaustively, as an operator, as I am, we are a business of 10 million details.
00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:18.559
Not 10, not a hundred, literally million of details that we address every day, all of which matter.
00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:21.839
And there can't be a checklist for it because it's different from place to place.
00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:26.720
So ultimately, the way you get it done right, I've never met a cool person who said, Hi, I'm Blake.
00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:27.839
I'm cool, right?
00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:32.319
Like if you have to tell me you're cool, by definition, you are not cool.
00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:34.240
Ian Traeger's fake at line back in the day.
00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:36.799
If I gotta tell them it's cool, it's not cool, Blake.
00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:37.680
Exactly right.
00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:56.640
So someone who's not cool, a blue suit from Alice or NYU that wanna create a cool hotel, the only way they are able to do it is by finding people who they think are cool, who their team thinks is cool, not just them, and partnering with them to do it right, whether it's the FB partner or the design partner or the branding partner or the operator.
00:23:56.799 --> 00:23:58.240
But there can't be a checklist for you.
00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:03.359
I called the death of boutique hotels when Curb came up with a checklist of how to create a boutique hotel.
00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:05.039
And you can imagine what's on it, right?
00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:11.920
Edison Bulb and Chevron Carpet and Walnut and Brass and that record player in the room and all the nonsense.
00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:13.680
And it's all been ubiquitized.
00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:14.960
It's all entry-level now.
00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:15.839
It doesn't mean anything.
00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:17.680
Look, if it were easy, everyone would do it.
00:24:17.759 --> 00:24:18.720
And it's not easy.
00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:27.039
And the places that are doing it right are because they've got the creative skill behind it, they've done the research, they've understood what the customer wants.
00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:29.279
It's the nuances and it's tough.
00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:30.160
It's tough.
00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:31.039
Totally agree.
00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:33.359
And it changes, and you can't be like Las Vegas.
00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:37.039
You can't go do a nightclub and six months later throw it away and start over.
00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:39.519
Hotels are an expensive endeavor.
00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:43.200
You've you want to do it for a generation, not for a minute, right?
00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:45.920
So, how do you do something interesting and authentic?
00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:49.359
And I hate that word, that doesn't mean anything anymore, that resonates.
00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:52.559
Part of the problem is, you know, too, and I've called this out repeatedly.
00:24:52.720 --> 00:25:02.240
Our industry is controlled by middle-aged white dudes in blue suits who think they have good taste, and no one around them is brave enough to say, boss, you kind of don't have good taste.
00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:04.640
So how about we don't let you pick colors?
00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:09.039
Let's go let the true people who have the taste help you create something cool.
00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:16.640
I mean, I often say, by the way, like the litmus test for a cool hotel is if it becomes good enough for any of those blue suits, it's terrible.
00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:17.440
It doesn't work.
00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:18.559
They should hate it.
00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:20.160
If they love it, it's terrible.
00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:20.960
They should hate it.
00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:22.160
I want them to hate it.
00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:26.799
I have often said, look, 12 years with the Intrager, nine years with Saddell, proper.
00:25:26.960 --> 00:25:35.759
I have often said, because we had great creative directors at all those companies, and I have often said, I think one of my best skills was being completely confident saying, Don't ask me.
00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:37.359
Don't ask me.
00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:38.960
I'm not the guy.
00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:41.599
Do you know anyone who wants to say I'm not cool?
00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:42.799
Like, I don't know anyone.
00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:45.279
People would say, Oh, I didn't pick colors, bullshit.
00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:48.000
They all want to do it because it's the fun part of the job.
00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:58.319
But if you are not objectively good at it, not subjectively, because everyone is a legend in their own mind, the best thing you could do for your pocket and for your company is to know your weakness and hire for it.
00:25:58.480 --> 00:26:03.039
But it takes a true character for someone to recognize their weakness and accept it.
00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:09.680
I mean, I know a lot of incredibly talented design and branding teams who are always fighting uphill battles because nobody will listen to them.
00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:11.039
Well, then why did you hire them?
00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:13.759
If you're hiring people to tell you how great you are, don't do it.
00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:16.799
Here's what I think great operators in our space should understand.
00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:17.920
You're an operator.
00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:24.079
And I think some of our special skill is the ability to say, my job is to operate.
00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:28.319
And my job is to understand the design ethos and protect it.
00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:32.319
I don't ever want to be the operator that dumbs down the vision.
00:26:32.559 --> 00:26:41.519
A good operator, however, hired by an owner who gives them leeway to allow them to assemble the team that they feel will deliver the mission.
00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:43.200
Here's how I describe it with the operator.
00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:45.599
You often bet on the jockey, not on the horse.
00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:52.640
So if I'm your jockey and you're betting on me, I'm your operator and you're asking me to win the race, make sure I am involved in selecting the horse.
00:26:52.960 --> 00:26:53.599
Include me.
00:26:53.759 --> 00:26:55.599
I never advocated my place at the table.
00:26:55.839 --> 00:26:57.200
Absolutely not.
00:26:57.440 --> 00:26:57.839
Exactly.
00:26:58.000 --> 00:26:59.440
But owners think they know everything.
00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:02.880
They go into it and then they say, Here, go win this race for me.
00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:04.400
Here's a Toyota Camry.
00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:07.839
And by the way, you're racing against Bugattis, Ferraris, and Lamborghinis.
00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:09.920
They're like, wait, how like what the f like?
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:11.519
How do you expect me to win the race?
00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:14.640
You did the wrong hotel for the comp set you're trying to compete with.
00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:15.759
And again, I've seen it before.
00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:18.000
And if you didn't include me, I can't help you.
00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:18.400
Exactly.
00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:19.680
They say, Oh, I love Amon.
00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:21.039
I stay at Aman all the time.
00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:22.079
Here's what I want to do.
00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:23.839
I'm like, but we're not building an Amon.
00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:26.400
We're building a four-star hotel, back the F off.
00:27:26.559 --> 00:27:29.680
Let us do what we know how to do with the team that's around us.
00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:31.839
Because you're right, the operator should not be designing.
00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:33.119
And you and I know Blake.
00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:36.559
There's commodity operators, people who know how to make the trains run on time.
00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:37.279
There's lots of those.
00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:38.400
There are dime a dozen.
00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:39.519
They all do the same thing.
00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:40.880
We do it too.
00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:49.119
But your operator should also be the person who helps guides you build the right thing at the right scale for the right amount of money with the right team.
00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:56.799
And I think that's where the magic is lost because everyone wants to interview the designer and pick it and interview the branding company and pick it and pick the name.
00:27:56.960 --> 00:27:59.039
I don't give a shit what your dog's name is.
00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:00.559
We're here for a purpose.
00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:03.839
If you're telling me this is purely for ego, I don't care about the results.
00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:06.240
I want to do this for me and for my friends, great.
00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:07.279
Let's agree on that.
00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:10.000
I've never met an owner, even billionaires who say that.
00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:12.160
And I'm going to build a performer that supports that.
00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:12.720
Exactly.
00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:17.359
And I'm going to tell you the kind of car I need to win you this race before you go buy the car.
00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:19.039
Let's talk luxury for a second.
00:28:19.200 --> 00:28:22.799
Everybody loves to say these days, oh no, we're new luxury.
00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:24.480
In your mind, what's new luxury?
00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:27.759
Well, first of all, what does luxury mean anymore, generationally even?
00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:36.880
And I tell people, and I was with Horst Trotsky the other day, you know, in our industry, I'm on stage with someone from Raffles, and he's going off and off and off and off about butlers.
00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:48.400
And I stopped a mid-sentence and I went, turned to the room and I said, okay, who in this room has ever seen a photo on any social media medium of any kind, including Reddit, about someone bragging about their butler?
00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:49.359
Crickets.
00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:53.440
Who here next to the bed has seen the button that says press here for champagne?
00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:55.039
Every hand in the room goes up.
00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:59.920
So the idea again is luxury today to me and to the world, I think broadly.
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:02.079
And again, I'm using a broad paintbrush.
00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:06.559
It matters geographically, what luxury in the Middle East is, it's different than Asia, it's different than America.
00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:08.240
We're talking about the Americas for now.
00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:10.000
I think luxury today is time.
00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:12.720
I can go to Michelin-style restaurant all the time.
00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:15.279
I don't have five hours of my life to give you for a meal.
00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:16.960
That's not luxury to me anymore.
00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:18.400
Shoot me first, by the way.
00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:18.799
Thank you.
00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:30.000
Luxury to me is going to the neighborhood browsery with incredible food, fantastic service, where people actually know me who can get me in and out, lively, full of atmosphere, my tribe.
00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:34.880
I don't want to go to three Michelin start to brag to you that I went to a three Michelin start.
00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:36.000
I don't care to brag to you.
00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:37.119
I want what's good for me.
00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:39.359
Luxury to me today is about a couple of things.
00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:40.400
Number one, time.
00:29:40.559 --> 00:29:43.680
The quote that goes, you can always tell how much money you have.
00:29:43.839 --> 00:29:45.839
You can never tell how much time you have.
00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:47.119
Don't waste my time.
00:29:47.279 --> 00:29:50.160
If I want ceremonial, give me the option to have ceremonial.
00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:53.279
If I want to get in and out back to optionality, give me the option.
00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:54.799
Don't force anything on me.
00:29:54.960 --> 00:30:00.559
So if I walk into a three Michelin-style restaurant and I say, listen, I have an hour, your answer should be done.
00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:01.440
We'll make it happen.
00:30:01.680 --> 00:30:05.200
You're not going to get the same experience, but if that's what you want, we'll make it happen.
00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:09.519
So time is our most valuable commodity that we cannot make more of.
00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:11.839
Options is the other one.
00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:15.359
And ultimately, to me, luxury is about access.
00:30:15.519 --> 00:30:17.759
In a world where access is really hard.
00:30:17.920 --> 00:30:24.640
If you're running a great hotel in New York City and you want to charge me whatever because you're luxury and I can pay you whatever, it doesn't matter.
00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:28.079
If I want to go to Carbone tonight, you've got to be able to get me to Carbone.
00:30:28.160 --> 00:30:29.440
That's what new luxury is.
00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:34.799
Listen, all of my affluent friends that call me, they never call me for a discount, they never call me for anything.
00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:35.920
They call me for access.
00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:36.640
Hey, can you get me?
00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:37.839
Welcome to my world.
00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:38.880
Here, yeah.
00:30:39.119 --> 00:30:40.319
Here, can you get me here?
00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:41.279
Can you get me that?
00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:42.640
Can you get me in this place?
00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:51.839
And by the way, Otto Mark Piget, the watch company, the guy who ran the West Coast forum, someone you and I know, his entire job was allocation, like who gets a watch?
00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:52.799
That's luxury.
00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:53.680
It's about access.
00:30:53.839 --> 00:30:55.039
People want access.
00:30:55.359 --> 00:31:00.000
You mentioned Horst Schulzing, who I think is just legend in this business.
00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:02.480
What makes a good or great leader today?
00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:06.640
Because I think he's an example of historically someone who is just a magical leader in our industry.
00:31:06.799 --> 00:31:08.640
Today, what makes a great leader?
00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:10.240
You have to lead by example.
00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:13.279
The days over do as I do, not as I say are gone.
00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:14.000
Number one.
00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:15.680
Number two, empathy.
00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:16.880
Absolutely empathy.
00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:24.559
I will never give Marriott credit except for the following quote: Take care of your people who will take care of your guests who will take care of you.
00:31:24.720 --> 00:31:26.000
We kind of have it backwards here.
00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:27.839
We keep saying guests first, guests first.
00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:28.559
No, no, no, no.
00:31:28.640 --> 00:31:29.519
It's employees first.
00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:30.640
Without them, there is no guest.
00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:31.359
It doesn't matter.
00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:34.160
So I think a great leader today is in tune with their workforce.
00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:37.759
They are focusing on the emotional well-being of their workforce.
00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:41.759
The market has been democratized, like pay and benefits, they're largely the same.
00:31:41.920 --> 00:31:47.920
In fact, a new quote I'm working on trademarking is don't tell me where to stay, tell me why I should care.
00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:51.599
So generationally now, people are interested in why should I care?
00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:55.119
And again, don't tell me where to work, tell me why I should care.
00:31:55.279 --> 00:31:56.880
There's hotel A and hotel B.
00:31:57.039 --> 00:32:01.359
They pay the same thing, they're both equally cool, they both have the same benefits, they both have the same hours.
00:32:01.599 --> 00:32:05.359
Back to belonging, longing for belonging, I'm looking for my tribe.
00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:09.680
People hate the word cult because it has negative connotations to it, and it does.
00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:13.279
However, the word cult is the root word for culture.
00:32:13.440 --> 00:32:14.880
And I think I use this example.
00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:16.319
I say Apple is a cult.
00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:18.000
I belong to the Apple cult.
00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:23.119
If Apple tomorrow made toilet paper for$20 a roll, I'm buying it.
00:32:23.359 --> 00:32:31.839
Now, it better deliver, it better be on par with my expectations of what Apple should deliver, because if they don't, they'll fall flat on their face.
00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:34.559
Hotels are cults, brands are cults.
00:32:34.799 --> 00:32:39.599
To be a good cult, you need your believers to believe, drink the Kool-Aid.
00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:48.400
And the way you make your people believe is you lead by example, you treat them right, you take good care of them, you provide for them, you make them feel safe.
00:32:48.559 --> 00:32:49.839
And think about government, right?
00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:54.960
Like that's the job of government is to make its citizen feel safe, take care of them, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
00:32:55.119 --> 00:33:02.319
But I think we've lost that because now we say, oh, guests first, or Instagrammable moment first, or I want to win a design of work first, and that's where we fall flat on our face.
00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:03.839
So very long answer.
00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:10.799
I'll I'll shorten it for you and say luxury today is about time, options, and access.
00:33:11.119 --> 00:33:12.960
Time, options, and access.
00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:14.000
I love it.
00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:18.880
I I want to double down on something you said about leadership, which is lead by example and be empathetic.
00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:26.799
You know, I mentor a lot of folks, like I think you do, and my leadership style comes into focus, why I've been a successful leader.
00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:30.720
And if I were to boil it all down, Usher, I think you nailed it.
00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:37.519
If you're empathetic, if you understand what you're asking of your team, I had some old school bosses say, ah, empathy, I don't need that.
00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:38.319
No, no, no.
00:33:38.480 --> 00:33:40.000
Doesn't mean you accept less.
00:33:40.079 --> 00:33:42.880
It doesn't mean that you don't hold people highly accountable.
00:33:43.039 --> 00:33:44.559
I can hold someone highly accountable.
00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:48.480
I can be a driver, I can push, but I can still be empathetic.
00:33:48.720 --> 00:33:50.720
I have very low tolerance for nonsense.
00:33:50.799 --> 00:33:55.519
And you know, generationally now we're talking about what's happening with Gen Z and work ethic and all of that.
00:33:55.680 --> 00:33:57.599
I get all of that and I'm all about it.
00:33:57.759 --> 00:33:58.480
Empathy.
00:33:58.640 --> 00:34:00.960
But yeah, at the end of the day, this is a business.
00:34:01.119 --> 00:34:04.160
We are not a charity, we are not here as a hobby.
00:34:04.319 --> 00:34:05.359
There are expectations.
00:34:05.440 --> 00:34:09.519
But you'd be amazed at how part of the problem, by the way, is we assume they should know better.
00:34:09.679 --> 00:34:10.960
Often they don't know.
00:34:11.199 --> 00:34:14.159
So we blame them for not delivering on something they don't know.
00:34:14.239 --> 00:34:18.639
So I think a big problem we face in the industry is the expectations aren't always clear.
00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:23.920
And by the way, expectations are not just about the budget or the performa or the star rating.
00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:25.119
It's about where are we going?
00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:26.159
Like, why are we doing this?
00:34:26.239 --> 00:34:26.880
What is our goal?
00:34:26.960 --> 00:34:28.400
Again, give me a reason to care.
00:34:28.559 --> 00:34:32.400
By the way, again, for a lover of trademarks, give us shit ability.
00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:34.480
Hashtag give us shit ability.
00:34:34.639 --> 00:34:38.239
Why should I care about doing what the thing that you want me to do, boss?
00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:44.239
If they don't believe in the mission of what you're trying to do, beyond profit, because by the way, people always say profit.
00:34:44.320 --> 00:34:45.199
No, no, no, no.
00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:47.679
Profit is the byproduct of doing good work.
00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:51.280
If profit is your only motivation, you're gonna fall flat on your face.
00:34:51.440 --> 00:34:53.599
Do good work and the profit will come.
00:34:53.840 --> 00:34:57.920
Be nice to the guests and they will come back and they will make create you profit.
00:34:58.079 --> 00:35:01.599
Make a good product and it will sell like hotcakes and it will give you returns.
00:35:01.760 --> 00:35:03.760
Don't tell me I'm gonna sell a product to make money.
00:35:03.920 --> 00:35:08.400
No, I'm gonna make a fantastic product that people can't live without that will then make me money.
00:35:08.639 --> 00:35:09.440
Amen, my friend.
00:35:09.519 --> 00:35:12.000
I tell our sales teams all the time keep shaking the trees.
00:35:12.239 --> 00:35:13.440
Leaves will fall.
00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:15.440
Bashar, how did this go so fast?
00:35:15.519 --> 00:35:16.400
I can't imagine.
00:35:16.639 --> 00:35:23.360
Before we go, give my listeners one thing that you're really focused on right now in pop culture.
00:35:23.599 --> 00:35:24.239
Oof.
00:35:24.639 --> 00:35:37.920
For a long time, I have abandoned looking at hospitality for inspiration because I think we have become we drank our own Kool-Aid too much, as it were, and we think we know everything about everything, and we're falling flat on our face.
00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:43.360
I am really, really focusing on retail and what's happening in retail, including high fashion.
00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:46.320
And it's funny because there's a lot of intersection between the two.
00:35:46.480 --> 00:35:51.519
You see couture brands obsession with hospitality and wanting to do pop-ups and hospitality.
00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:59.599
And retail was on the verge of collapse, as you know, and they had to reinvent how they do business because necessity is the mother of all inventions.
00:35:59.679 --> 00:36:02.159
I tell people I'm in Portland, Oregon, home of Nike.
00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:06.960
And Nike knows when you walk into their store, you're not there to buy a pair of shoes.
00:36:07.119 --> 00:36:10.239
You're gonna look at them, you're gonna kick the tires, you might try them on.
00:36:10.400 --> 00:36:12.480
If you can press a button, get them delivered to your house.
00:36:12.559 --> 00:36:13.360
You don't have to carry them.
00:36:13.440 --> 00:36:15.760
If you live in a tax-free state, why pay tax?
00:36:15.840 --> 00:36:17.360
Why lug it with you, et cetera?
00:36:17.519 --> 00:36:18.719
And why leave your house?
00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:28.719
But when you walk into their store, their goal is to make you a loyal fan of the brand by doing activations and experiential things because they want to build loyalty with you.
00:36:28.880 --> 00:36:36.880
What I'm focused on in popular culture now is how retail is evolving and how retail brands, legacy retail brands are evolving for inspiration for our business.
00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:38.079
I am so with you.
00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:38.719
You know, it's funny.
00:36:38.800 --> 00:36:46.639
I was on Cindy Navati's podcast recently, and I made the exact same statement that you just made, which was tell your team, take an hour off.
00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:52.800
Go find the hottest, coolest retail spot in the city, and do me a favor, go spend some time on the clock there.
00:36:53.119 --> 00:36:57.440
Observe, see what they do, because they're doing some stuff that probably we should be doing and we could do better.
00:36:57.920 --> 00:36:58.480
I love that advantage.
00:36:58.800 --> 00:37:02.400
Buck Mason, LA brand, they're in Nashville, their store in Nashville.
00:37:02.480 --> 00:37:05.119
I wish any of my hotels could be as cool as that store.
00:37:05.280 --> 00:37:07.039
It is better than any lobby I've been to.
00:37:07.199 --> 00:37:10.400
There's a Porsche in the store, there's a coffee shop.
00:37:10.559 --> 00:37:19.039
They have a guy at a corporate level who goes around and buys vintage books, beautiful vintage books, highly curated, and they sell them essentially for what they bought them for.
00:37:19.119 --> 00:37:21.760
There's not like a, they're not stupidly expensive.
00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:23.519
And they have this incredible collection.
00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:27.760
And they know that when you walk in the store, they want to build loyalty with the brand, they do it that way.
00:37:27.920 --> 00:37:30.320
The coffee shop doesn't make them any money, obviously, right?
00:37:30.400 --> 00:37:31.199
To have it manned.
00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:32.480
But they want you to grab a coffee.
00:37:32.559 --> 00:37:35.679
They have a lounge seating area, you sit there, they welcome you to come and hang out.
00:37:35.840 --> 00:37:40.559
Retailers know that you have to see an item three times, I think, is what the math is before you buy it.
00:37:40.719 --> 00:37:42.719
So they want to encourage you to come back to the store.
00:37:42.880 --> 00:37:45.519
So if you happen to be near a Buck Mason, go look at them.
00:37:45.599 --> 00:37:49.280
They're a great example that really inspired me to rethink our lobbies again.
00:37:49.440 --> 00:37:50.719
We have a great opportunity again.
00:37:50.800 --> 00:37:52.159
Retail meets hospitality.
00:37:52.320 --> 00:37:56.400
Why don't we go partner with Buck Mason and make them make our lobby bar of their store part?
00:37:56.639 --> 00:38:01.039
And you see some of that happening, not at scale yet, but I think that's where the future is headed.
00:38:01.119 --> 00:38:04.880
Is the lobby should not be just a sterile waiting room anymore.
00:38:05.039 --> 00:38:12.159
It should be a dining room, it should be a retail center, it should be a rave party at night or a coffee, whatever, music or a poetry reading.
00:38:12.320 --> 00:38:13.360
I think that's what people want.
00:38:13.519 --> 00:38:14.079
Optionality.
00:38:14.159 --> 00:38:17.760
Again, don't stick me in a beautiful lobby that does nothing but be pretty all day long.
00:38:17.920 --> 00:38:19.440
I want it to have a personality.
00:38:19.679 --> 00:38:21.599
Kids, take that note.
00:38:21.760 --> 00:38:22.960
What a great place to end.
00:38:23.119 --> 00:38:27.280
Blashard Wally, thank you for being my guest today on the Hotel Daddy.
00:38:27.440 --> 00:38:27.920
Delighted.
00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:28.960
Thanks for having me.
00:38:29.199 --> 00:38:33.360
Thanks for listening to Hotel Daddy with your host Blake Danner.
00:38:33.519 --> 00:38:37.440
Be sure to like and subscribe wherever you get your podcast.