Vom Türsteher zum Direktor: das Playbook der Gastfreundschaft

"The Future Of Hospitality (00:00) bit once I click stop recording is going to kind of be uploading. So let's let's wait until it's uploaded and then. Awesome. Thank you. Hello everybody. Just really excited about the conversation today. ⁓ And I have here as a guest Ramon Reyes. He's the managing director at the Omni Centennial Park and is just an amazing leader. Ramon Reyes (00:07) Okay, not a problem. Not a problem. The Future Of Hospitality (00:28) really an amazing person as you're gonna be able to get to see it. And I couldn't be more excited. So thank you for the opportunity and ⁓ yeah, welcome. Ramon Reyes (00:39) Well, thank you. Thank you for having me. Thank you for the kind words. I look forward and taking part in the conversation. The Future Of Hospitality (00:46) Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So as we open up, I don't know if many people know, but you know, you actually, have a twin brother that happens to be in the hospitality as well. ⁓ But we won't tell him that, but you're the better looking one. Just want to go on the record. Ramon Reyes (00:56) Isn't? Yeah, look, we're identical twins doing the same thing. But yeah, I like to say I beat him by six minutes getting into this world because I'm older by six minutes, which I claim. And every now and then I'll say I look better than him. The Future Of Hospitality (01:17) Yeah, that is awesome. Yeah, and I had the opportunity, actually, I don't know if you know this, but I had the opportunity of working a little bit with him ⁓ when he was ⁓ at a property. I know he's still in New Orleans, but he owns the property. ⁓ I actually forgot right by the Superdome there and ⁓ he's just an amazing person as well. So, yeah, enjoyed collaborating with him. Ramon Reyes (01:36) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, awesome. Yeah, no, it's funny. Obviously being identical twins doing the same thing. We've never worked together. ⁓ We've worked with the same company previously, but never worked together. We've had ⁓ some folks that have worked as part of my team and essentially worked as part of his team at times as well. They say we're alike. I don't know that firsthand, but they say we're pretty much identical in every way. The Future Of Hospitality (02:07) That is awesome. Well, that's a good compliment, I guess. You're both amazing people. So, as we want to get started, and I was thinking about our conversation, and we spoke briefly right before we start recording here. You have an amazing journey, right? I think you have one of those journeys where... I don't know if... Ramon Reyes (02:11) Yeah. Well, thank you. The Future Of Hospitality (02:35) We don't hear as often today, but it's really the, know, prototypical, ⁓ you know, Cinderella story in a way, right? On your career progression, how you got started. So would you mind sharing a little bit about, you know, your background, what pulled you to this industry and how you kind of got started? Ramon Reyes (02:47) Right. Yeah, certainly. And again, I appreciate the opportunity. I always tell people I hate talking about myself, but I will when it comes to sharing a story and with the hopes that someone takes it and uses it as ammunition or a potential recipe for themselves, even though everyone's path is different. But when they use it to move their career forward and hopefully find something to do that they love, that they truly love. And that's what hospitality is for me. I really, I first off considered my purpose in life to serve others and I'm fortunate to work in an industry where that's what I do every day. I serve the people that work within this building every single day by trying to create the right culture for them and cultivate their skills and develop them into the person that they want to be relative to their career. And certainly do it for our guests as well by opening our doors and making everyone feel as if we're welcoming them into our home. so I consider my purpose in life and I was One of those lucky people that identified that early on and candidly when I was in high school knew that I wanted to do this and was fortunate to have a great mentor and a high school teacher that drew me into the hospitality program, the travel and tourism program ⁓ at my high school. And so my senior year took part in that, took part in an internship and I haven't looked back. mean, it took me a while to get in. You know, I was My first position was that of a doorman in our industry, but I tell people that back then, you know, getting a job, especially as a bellman or doorman, I mean, it was like back then getting a job at the post office, you had to know someone. And so I remember, I recall, you know, every day faxing my resume, because back then we obviously faxed you know, faxing my resume to the same five hotels about three times a day. And was fortunate to get a call from one of them because I had no experience in the industry. was fortunate to get a call from one of them and be interviewed. Her name was Ernestine Sims, the director of HR. And she essentially said, you know, I had to call and give you an interview because either my fax machine was going to break, I was going to write on paper or whatever. So I had to give you an opportunity. And so that was my entry because I honestly had no experience. ⁓ You know, I had a little bit of charisma maybe, but no experience in this industry and was able to come in in a position of a doorman where I was probably the shyest doorman in the city of New Orleans. But what motivated me was certainly the desire to serve people and make money. Because I did pretty well as a doorman slash bellman and subsequent to starting there. I remember walking up to the general manager one day and I told him, said, look, I'm making really good money. I enjoy what I'm doing, but I really don't want to do this for the rest of my life. I want to cross train, want to grow, I want to be in your chair one day. And his exact words were, for it. And, you know, from that point forward, I began this journey of cross training. And so I would not only eventually bring them in as a doorman, I would jump behind the desk and check them in and then I would take them up. And sometimes if they ordered room service, I'd be the one to deliver it up as well. And so I just had this relentless approach of learning and growing and You know, really what was in it for me was that it wasn't about the money. What motivated me was this desire to, to, to build my skills. And eventually it can't, you know, candidly make myself indispensable. I wanted to be someone who knew what I was doing. I knew that I wanted to be in leadership. I wanted to be able to, to say once I got into that chair of that general manager that I was speaking to that day, I wanted to be able to say that I've done everything and I've touched everything and I can, I can, I feel confident. and not only providing the right leadership, but the right management to those individuals to help them be successful. so through the course of that, right, Dorman cross-trained and eventually became a front office supervisor and eventually ended up supervising everyone who trained me, which was a very unique time period, but one where I really, I tell people that where I appreciated leadership and what change management looked like was in that phase of my career is to be able to really one be groomed by them, but then eventually provide leadership to them and have them respect me because of that leadership. so subsequent to that became I was working for W hotels, became a whatever, whatever manager, you know, back then and worked for that brand for a long time. I worked in the same building for 10 and a half years and ultimately, you know, worked through Dorman, Bellman, cross trained everywhere and worked as eventually my first. for office supervisor position and whatever, whenever manager. And then eventually became a director of front office and then director of housekeeping in that same building. And just really appreciated that journey. Eventually transitioned here to Atlanta the first time around and became a director of rooms, still for W hotels. ⁓ after ⁓ spending some time there at the W moved up to DC and worked for Denahan hospitality as a director of ops. And then subsequent to that joined ⁓ Omni, was director of operations and then subsequent to that general manager. now, you know, fortunate and blessed to have this be my fourth hotel to serve as general manager, now managing director as of, you know, as of earlier this year. And so it really has been a truly ⁓ fantastic journey. And I tell everyone that the main thing that I've been guilty of throughout that entire journey is Surrounding myself with people that make me look far better than I should right and in building the right team because at the end of the day my success is their success and I'm fortunate to be in a position where now I can do what that general manager did for me when I had that conversation with him which is open doors for them and really Is one of the things that I tell everyone when I sit down with them during orientation their first day So look I want you to raise your hand and tell us that you want to move up if that is what you aspire to do, but most importantly, show it in your work and make us feel obligated to give you that shot to open those doors for you. The rest is on us. And selfishly growing from within, as we call in our brand, know, our garden. I mean, that's the recipe for success. If we do that, everyone's happier. That person that we've grown is happier and essentially our culture is maintained, our guests are impacted positively by it. And so it's a ⁓ recipe that's worked for us for many years. It's certainly It's what makes it so easy for me to work for a brand where that mindset, that culture begins at the top and certainly ⁓ it is synonymous with my own values and culture as well. The Future Of Hospitality (09:48) Wow, that's amazing. Thank you. Wow, it is amazing, know, Ramon. I mean, really a lot here, right? You know, what an opening. I think that the podcast can just be beyond this because it's interesting, you know, lot of things resonated and came to mind. you know, the first observation ⁓ Ramon Reyes (09:50) That's a long answer to your question. Mm-hmm. The Future Of Hospitality (10:18) It's easy to see the why of your success. think you're clearly smart, very charismatic, and truly a humble person. I think that's a combination that is extremely powerful and makes people gravitate towards you, both from that first GM. New Orleans when you approached him and said, you know, I like my job, I enjoy it, but I want to continue to grow, you know, for him to give you that support and, you know, see that, you know, immediately. And then also to your point, just surrounding yourself with amazing people from leaders to now your team, right? That you guys work towards something ⁓ together, right? And help each other out. ⁓ But yeah, it was interesting. I wrote a couple of notes here. So a few things that really stuck with me is one is like your success is also definitely, I love the perseverance, right? Of you like sending three faxes a day to the five hotels in New Orleans because, you know, it's hard to stay motivated when you're not getting. either a response, a knowledge, or when you get rejection. As humans, the first thing usually we tend to do is like shield ourselves, right? It's like, cause it's not a great feeling. And I think it's a great lesson for people, not only in this industry, right? But life in general is like, listen, just if you want something, right? Just go and stay on it because that's how opportunities and doors will open. ⁓ And then also the, you know, to be in a building for 10 years and grow, right, and have, you know, two big leadership roles in a hotel with housekeeping and front desk, which is really the heart, right, of the hotel ⁓ in many ways, that also speak about like the trust, the... Ramon Reyes (12:31) Alright. The Future Of Hospitality (12:40) Yeah, really, I think the trust, That for people to stay and follow you, because it's hard sometimes to progress in a hotel because people may see you as your original job and to earn that respect, trust, it speaks a lot about how you carry yourselves and your leadership side. Ramon Reyes (12:54) Mm-hmm. No, thank you. You know, I think when I think back to that time and certainly still something I try to do daily here and honestly something I look for in others, you mentioned perseverance, that relentless ⁓ just approach to everything we do and trying to be the most perfect version of ourselves. I, you know, when I, and I'm fortunate right now to lead one of the largest hotels in our organization. And when I think about finding the right talent, people that we want to bring into our culture, to our environment, you know, I look far less at their experience and more at that passion, right? That passion to do what we do. you know, that for me is what took me far because I, you when I became a director of housekeeping, I had worked a little bit in housekeeping, but I never led housekeeping, but I knew leadership. When I worked my way up through front office, You know, again, there was, I don't think there's ever any time I could say I've ever known everything there is to know about any department. But the tenacity is always there. The relentless, relentless approach to learn and to grow is always there, always seeking to learn something new and, and hopefully build my acumen. And so that, that approach that I mentioned earlier about really making myself indispensable, indispensable, that is still, that still lives with me today. I want to learn, I want to grow, I want to contribute. And I remember my first three months as director of housekeeping in that building we were talking about. And ⁓ I didn't even step foot in my office while there were people there. Those first three months, my time was on the floor and I wanted to work every single position. I wanted to work as a room attendant, a houseman, laundry attendant, you name it, everything I wanted to work. And I would tell every single one of the associates over those three months that I had an opportunity to work with. said, look, I want to do this. Because I want to know what you experience. I want to know what the good, the bad, and the ugly is that you encounter through every day. Because I can't lead you unless I understand those things. I can understand the technical side of the job and certainly some of the steps of service and those types of things. But until I understand exactly what you do, I can't lead you. And most importantly too, in those times, where, you know, when we were in the thick of it and everyone had to, it was all hands and everyone had to be involved, then I wanted to be able to work alongside them and do it at a level that they respected and appreciated. And so there were times I remember in that building, there were 23 floors, 23 rooms per floor, there were times where I had to give a room attendant for a variety of reasons, an entire floor, I would assign them. And if I assigned them an entire floor, I would assign myself an entire floor. And I said, ⁓ I can't ask you to do anything that I wouldn't do. And the reality is I was a lot slower than they were. And secondly, I never had to clean the whole floor because throughout the day there would be different room attendants who would come up to me, Ramon, you don't have to do that. Come on, give me some of your rooms. They would take them from me. And while I would have cleaned the rooms, it certainly was... through my journey of leadership and becoming the leader that I feel that I am today and still learning, still growing, that was refreshing, right? That someone, that that team doing one of the most difficult jobs in the hotel would overburden themselves and come to me and take those rooms away from me. And that is, I think back to my journey in hospitality and leadership. That's really where I cut my teeth and really learned what change management looked like, leading by motivating others. And I am a servant leader. I wanna make sure that I'm there and to think of it with them. And my sole purpose is to make sure that they're successful. I've gotta be smart at what I do, but certainly that was at the core of my role. it still sticks with me today. And I think that... you know, people underestimate the importance of that and, you know, and certainly make their jobs a little more challenging when they do underestimate the importance of that. But that, you know, was working in a department, whereas one of the toughest departments in a hotel environment, you're motivating people to do a job that most people aren't motivated to do. And so much so that they come and they ask for more than you know, you've won in some areas. There's always more improvement to be had. But, you know, I... I truly appreciate that part of my journey, probably the most out of any, just given the dynamics and the complexities of what I had to do within that role. The Future Of Hospitality (17:51) ⁓ As you're talking about your experience and doing the floor cleaning rooms, ⁓ I remember my first job in a hotel was in 1998, was still in Brazil, and was room service assistant, busboy, ⁓ overnight in in-room dining, but then I did pretty good training. And I spent a week with housekeeping and like to your point, the respect for the housekeeping team is unbelievable because I mean it is real hard work. And to your point, right, I don't know they clean nowadays, I'm not sure exactly, but 16 or 13 or depending on the state square footage. Ramon Reyes (18:36) Yeah, it is. The Future Of Hospitality (18:48) I mean, my respect was immediate. Like when I could barely help with one room, I said, wow, you know. Ramon Reyes (18:56) It's a tough gig. will say might have been slow, but my beds were always perfect. That's right. That's right. But you know, just truly, ⁓ you know, we're celebrating International Housekeeping Week, obviously. you know, one of the things that I shared with the team this morning was just how appreciative we are of them and what they do every day, because we frankly can't The Future Of Hospitality (19:02) Yeah, yeah, it's low but perfect, right? Ramon Reyes (19:21) can't run this operation without them. And they just have such an important role, such a tough role, but they do it with grace. So we're appreciative of them. The Future Of Hospitality (19:28) Yeah, yeah. And you're right, especially from a guest satisfaction, opportunity to have repeat business, repeat guests. That role is arguably the most or one of the most important, right? Because like the impression of the cleanliness and the experience when you come in is tremendous and you're exactly right. I think a lot of times, ⁓ may be hard for them to comprehend the huge impact that they have ⁓ in the operations. yeah, it's a great week to celebrate them. And I'm sure you and Tim are doing a great job. Yeah, yeah, awesome. And talking a little bit about your career, by the way, at the W Hotel, did you work with Mary Louise or who did you? Ramon Reyes (20:01) Mm-hmm. Yeah, certainly. Yeah, thank you. Mary Louise Fitzgibbon. So yeah, Mary Louise Fitzgibbon, I worked with her here in Atlanta. Obviously, once I transitioned from New Orleans to Atlanta, I had an opportunity to work with her for about a year, if I'm not mistaken, a year or two. The Future Of Hospitality (20:33) Yeah, I learned so much from her. She was my GM when I was in the W Fort Lauderdale years later. ⁓ And yeah, great deal of respect for her and to your point how she can motivate the team, how efficient she is with meetings and navigating. Yeah, yeah, that's funny. Yeah. Ramon Reyes (20:39) yeah. Yeah. So. Mm-hmm. Yeah, definitely, definitely. It's a small industry, right? We've all crossed paths with someone or either each other or someone that knows that's closely acquainted from a business standpoint. So it really is a small but big industry. The Future Of Hospitality (21:07) Yeah, that's what I love about it. And then talking a little bit about your progression, like with Omni now, because you are GM of like very different type of assets and also not only different assets, but also different life cycle, right? So you are the pre-opening GM and the battery right here in Atlanta by Truist, the Braves Stadium, which is an Ramon Reyes (21:10) Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. The Future Of Hospitality (21:35) Unbelievable hotel. love the hotel. Sometimes when I'm commuting between I could stop there just to do work. It's just an amazing vibe. ⁓ So you did that. And then which was their second one? ⁓ Ramon Reyes (21:43) Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, well, my journey actually began, so I was interim general manager at the Royal Orleans in New Orleans for about 11 months in total. then I, yeah, well, that was, we own that one. I'm sorry, we, it's always been an Omni or it's been an Omni for a very, very, very long time. And then the rebrand was actually at the Omni Riverfront, this across the street from the convention center. So I was part of that transition team and then subsequently became general manager of that property. The Future Of Hospitality (21:58) New Orleans after the rebrand, right? Ramon Reyes (22:20) And then as you mentioned, pre-opening, so there for construction and opening of the battery and I ran it for a few years and then transitioned here to downtown Atlanta. I've been here for about four years and you're right. mean, each one of those is very, very different and unique in many ways. The type of hotel, certainly the type of business that each one of those hotels cater to, but also the structure. mean, some of those were I had local ownership in New Orleans, local ownership here, you know, ⁓ once transitioned to Atlanta, the ownership there, obviously 50 50 partnership with the Atlanta Braves. And so that was a ⁓ unique structure and certainly a ⁓ memorable time in my career. And I don't know how many how often I'm going to say I'm able to work with a major sports organization that was fantastic. And then here where we own this hotel, full right, full out in downtown Atlanta. So all very, very different, unique in size and type of business and structure and certainly the relationships that each one of those hotels involves. But I've appreciated every single one of them. You New Orleans, you think about the Royal Orleans that is in the heart of the French Quarter and just embodies the character of a true French Quarter hotel and the stories. that you just essentially by the look and feel and the staff in that hotel, it all speaks to New Orleans and southern hospitality and where the doormen that are there, both of them at the time that I was there, Leroy and Marty know everybody. They know everybody who's walking in the hotel. They know everybody's walking past the hotel. It's what has this, ⁓ you know, you know, culture ⁓ and feel that really is representative of everything that New Orleans represents in Southern hospitality and truly special. I grew in appreciation coming from W hotels going there, grew in appreciation for a traditional hotel there in that building where, you know, there's so much character there. And I remember one of the best parts of my day, I would walk to hotel every day to interact with associates, but also inspect what I expect and just see things and correct things. And the best part of my day every day was walking outside that hotel. and catching the street musicians as part of my walk on the corner and seeing, you know, whether it's drummers and singers and just everything that culturally and, you know, just from a character standpoint that that French Quarter Hotel has to offer. And then you transition over, when I transitioned over to the Omni Riverfront, you know, that hotel used to be a rice mill. And so, you know, to be able to walk in this building every day that has such rich history of what it was and see what it had become. you know, looking at the archways of the windows and appreciating that at one point in time they were drawing harsh, they were horse-drawn carriages that were pulled into those openings to be filled up and it was part of commerce and that port of New Orleans, was just so much character there that was part of that. But then the business dynamics were different. We had, right across the street from the convention center. So we're serving the conventioneers and also the cruise market there, which is fantastic. And the ports right across the street. shopping at the Riverwalk Mall and people that are truly there just to enjoy the French Quarter too. So we got a little bit of everything there and just different dynamic, different business. then, fortunate to go to the Braves where, or the Battery Atlanta where it was all baseball. It was all baseball. And so everybody's just truly there to have a great time and enjoy an American pastime like baseball and really take it all in. so for... So those customers, whether it be groups that are staying there or transient, you know, businesses coming there, they were all looking to experience all that the Battery Atlanta had to offer and certainly taking a game every now and then. And so from a design standpoint, a look and feel, how we service everyone there, it was baseball, but baseball at a very upscale level and bringing them into that environment and creating that experience for them. I think was truly a special time for me. then, know, transition here to downtown where, you know, this is the largest hotel by room count in our company. And so just under 1100 rooms. And we're fortunate to welcome people from really across the entire world here. And that's the story of Atlanta. And so I'm so fortunate to be here. the older I become, the more I appreciate history. But to think about Atlanta and Terminus and you know, this world bringing commerce together through rail many, many, many years ago and now, and then transitioning to that to bring people from across the world together here. And this, this is where it all began for our brand and was referred to as the Omni International at one point, bringing people together from across the world, providing them an experience in a very elevated way and how we do things, certainly how we do food and beverage and how we create and cultivate, you know, a great experience for him. All that stuff. holds true here, but we're fortunate to have the group guests that are coming here that are inside the hotel, the conventioneers that are next door at the Congress Center, whether it's a concert or sporting event at State Farm Arena or Mercedes-Benz, we welcome all of them here. And so the dynamics here are super interesting. And I think about it, I think of it as bringing together all the experiences that I've had at all of the hotels, not just within Omni, but even before Omni. bringing it all together here and really truly creating an experience that is memorable, even in the midst of days where we have 700, 800, 900 check-ins here. Like how do you have these folks leave here saying nothing but great things and saying, would visit if I'm coming on leisure, I want to visit that hotel again. And that's a testament because we do it. It's a testament to the people that we have here and what they do each and every day and the passion that they have to deliver service in a very special way. The Future Of Hospitality (28:23) Yeah, wow. That's pretty amazing. I remember my first job here in Atlanta was in 2001 and was hotel down the street from you. So I remember your hotel very well, even before the second tower and, you know, all the amazing expansions. ⁓ So yeah, it's a very, very special place, a landmark, right, in the city. to your point is in the heart of a lot of the history and a lot of what happens in the city, right? It's very important. ⁓ Ramon Reyes (28:51) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think of it, you know, we're to your point, we're part of history building the convention market here. We were one of those first hotels here next to the Congress Center and was part of cultivating this market that now has just become fantastic for our city and for the Congress Center. And, you know, so much so to the point you just made where we built the second tower and there's so many different sort of iterations or ⁓ parts of the journey, memorable parts of the journey for the CNN Center. or what was CNN Center where it was, you know, the indoor amusement park historically in there and the ice skating rink and then CNN Center. And now to see what CP plus is doing with it. This is now the evolution and the next level where it's going to be just fantastic ⁓ and bring to the downtown space something that we haven't had in a very long time, right within our building, not to mention Centennial yards and South downtown. Those are certainly going to compliment everything. I think all of it coming together is just going to be truly fantastic. I'm fortunate to be part of it and hopefully part of building this or contributing to the evolution in this pivotal point that we're at right now. The Future Of Hospitality (30:09) Yeah, that is amazing. And then also as you look in your three GM experiences with Omni and to our discussion, you know, they're very unique and different sizes, markets and all that. Did that impact or change your leadership at all or how would you describe your experience as a leader in these, you know, different assets? Ramon Reyes (30:36) Yeah, I hope not. I would say no, that it didn't change. I think that there are two different things. think that leadership has remained constant in being a servant leader and at the core of that, like all the principles that are true to that and making sure that, you know, again, if I will say it forever, like the only thing I'm guilty of is surrounding myself with the people that make me look better than I should and and having that right team and listening to them and having them contribute to the conversation. So where I would say that it hasn't changed the leadership or I haven't changed my leadership style, I have changed my management style because there's certain things that are required in every environment requires something different. And especially, know, fast forwarding to where I am today and having more leaders within or across the hotel than I ever have prior to this. know, phase of my career. You know, there are certain things that, you know, I've learned and I think it's important as leaders to be vulnerable and say that you've made mistakes. I think we all have. But the most important thing is that we've learned from those mistakes and learn how to do it, you know, differently or better next time. And I think that's really where some of those management changes have come for me is, you know, as I've grown, as I've increased my acumen, as I've worked with different people, you know, what best practices have I developed from each one of those experiences where there has been failure to do better next time and continue to level up, continue to level up and continue to level up. And I think that's where, where there has been sort of evolution and, and, you know, I don't know that that's a process that ever ends. I think that we always should be ⁓ mindful of where we've, where we've, where we failed and, and where we could have done better, even if we didn't truly like fully fail, like what could have done, what could have gone better, what could we have done better to produce a better outcome, whether that's a faster outcome or a better outcome, and make sure that we're learning and we're adapting. And I try to do that every day and reflecting and whether that... And sometimes those learnings are in leadership too. I there obviously are mistakes along the way, but I would say most of that evolution and changes, most of those have been in the management. sort of arena as opposed to in the leadership arena. ⁓ Although there's probably been some in both, yeah. The Future Of Hospitality (33:08) Yeah, that is great. Thank you. Yeah, very. I made some notes here, some good learnings for me. I love like, I don't know how many times you mentioned, but you mentioned servant leadership a few times, brought the conversation and just speaks volume, Of really is ingrained as part of who you are and love that. That is amazing. ⁓ I had a question here that I... Ramon Reyes (33:20) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. The Future Of Hospitality (33:34) put down before we started. So you already answered, you know, why you got the awards that you did. That is clear. People can clearly see why, but I know you don't brag about yourself. So what awards did you get there from Omni that ⁓ your leadership and teamwork helped achieve? Ramon Reyes (33:43) Mm-hmm. You know, I. Yeah, mean, I accolades are important. I don't necessarily focus on them too much. And I think of them as team accolades and team awards. And so I was fortunate to ⁓ win General Manager of the Year based on my time over at the Battery. And certainly, although I was the one receiving that award, think those numbers and the metrics that they read out and used as a ⁓ part of that announcement had more to do with the team that I was surrounding myself with. I didn't achieve the rev par on my own. I didn't beat the pro forma on my own, right? We didn't, you know, put up a great associate opinion survey scores on my own. Like that takes everyone. And so, you know, there've been accolades like that, that received over the course of my career and, you know, service executive of the year, those types of things. But I've always, Again, looked at those as team awards and usually when I bring it back, I celebrate with them and I'm not one that likes to be celebrated. I want to celebrate with them and make sure that they're given the kudos because at the end of the day, again, I'm just, I may be the face sometimes and the person, you know, having these conversations, but at the end of the day, there's no way that any of these things are achieved by one individual. The Future Of Hospitality (35:20) Yeah, well said, congrats. ⁓ Couldn't agree more, but certainly very well deserved. And I got to see an experience this in real life ⁓ June, right? You hosted the Alahai team there, our entire all staff meeting. ⁓ yeah, I felt that, right? I felt through ⁓ team members that I knew Ramon Reyes (35:22) Okay. Yeah, that's right. The Future Of Hospitality (35:49) from years ago that are with you now and experience the food and beverage experience, the warmth of the service. And to me, kind of like grew up in the convention side of hotel business, it's very easy in a conventional hotel to kind of do kind of standard experiences, right? And kind of boring in a way, ⁓ kind of if I'm saying, Ramon Reyes (36:05) You Yeah. Yeah. The Future Of Hospitality (36:19) correctly here, but I mean, I remember the experience of the reception and then the little lunchbox, right? It wasn't a lunchbox because you decorated an entire room with little fun things, know, a station, live station. So that's something that usually, you you made something that is pretty standard and actually blah, you know, so boring. Ramon Reyes (36:20) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes. Mm-hmm. The Future Of Hospitality (36:47) made into a memorable experience that people are still talking to today. Ramon Reyes (36:52) Like that's an important part of our brand, how we do food and beverage, how we create these experiences. What we want you to do, right? What we want for all of our guests, group attendees, guests, is when you walk into one of our hotels, that you don't lose sight of what city you're in and what that city represents, the story of that environment. And so when you come into our hotel in Atlanta, like what, you know, you should feel it. Not only, you should see it through design, certainly. Those aspects are important, but you should feel it in terms of how we deliver service. And then you should taste it in relative how we execute our food and beverage. And so what we aim to provide when you and your group were here was that, like, is Atlanta? there's such a strong culinary scene here, and there's so many pockets, right? Tree in the forest, right? But just a great environment in general, aesthetically. But then from a culinary standpoint, there's a lot. that the city has to offer. And we've got Michelin star rated ⁓ chefs in restaurants and recommended restaurants. And we want to make sure people experience a little bit of that as they come into our environment, whether that's in a group setting like you were in or any of our restaurants and outlets. And so I'm glad you and the group had an opportunity to experience it and for us to give you a little taste. As I mentioned, there was some international flavor there because again, Omni International bringing people together and part of our stories at the fabric of our story. Football, like college footballs are the fabric of our story. And so we, those are a few things out of the many that we embody and we like to make sure that we showcase for everyone that comes through our hotels. you know, we, you know, refer to it as local color, local flavor, right? Those types of things that you look, feel, and taste as you come into any of our hotels. The Future Of Hospitality (38:43) Nice, yeah, well, job well done. I know we're coming on time, but I have two, I'd love to touch on two points. One, I wanna make sure that I touch because I really, well, I was a fan before, now I'm like a super fan of yours. But one thing that I always admire even before I got to know you was your engagement with community. Ramon Reyes (38:47) Thank you. The Future Of Hospitality (39:13) giving back, invest in the young generation, because it's easy to see that you truly care about it and you do it from the heart. And I think that you can see that within in your ⁓ leadership style, Your servant leadership, but I don't know, can you speak a little bit about that? How you got involved in giving back? What speaks to you? Ramon Reyes (39:38) Yeah. Yeah. Well, look, I think the best way to summon, but I mentioned this earlier already, is that, you know, I consider it my purpose in life to serve others. you know, really, because that's my purpose and I'm fulfilled by that purpose, I look for opportunities to do that in this hotel and certainly outside of this hotel. I think, you know, I was one of the my most Where I'm involved in the most these days is an organization called Ser Familia. And it's a local nonprofit. We have five offices here in Georgia. It started, the organization started in Puerto Rico, five offices here. We also have now an office that's reopened in Puerto Rico. We did a grand opening for that last year, but serving victims of domestic violence, and aiding in the community ⁓ in an effort what attracted me to that organization. I was introduced to them by the Atlanta Braves. But what attracted me to the organization certainly was their mission, their purpose, and moving these families from crisis to thriving. But also at the core of that is breaking cycles, right? Developing, bringing these individuals to a point where they can contribute in society, but also then their kids can contribute and not allowing a cycle to be created there. Being from the Dominican Republic, right? There's just, I think of my own story and there being so many opportunities and doors that were open for me. I feel an obligation to open them for others, but I could have deviated and been part of one of those cycles that didn't bring me to a career, to the path that I landed on and by through that path, the career that I ended up having or have right now. And so I work intentionally to help curb those cycles that they exist and hopefully avoid them if we can. so work through that organization. I've also in the past done work with developing youth with the same mission in mind. In my time in New Orleans, I was president of the Dominican organization there. it was, you know, in my time that we started to work with families and youth and said, hey, look, you let's help you develop leadership skills. Let's help you grow. And we did that through education fairs, career fairs, different things of that nature. So giving back is important to me. And it's important because I've been fortunate and blessed to have, again, as I mentioned, all these doors open for me. I want to help others be able to do the same and hopefully find joy and passion in whatever they do such that it helps them go further. you know, there's so many ways we could do that. I'll give you one more example. Here at the hotel, we have our career closet, which, you know, one of our associates came. ⁓ We were having a conversation about, ⁓ you know, really the state we were in, I think three years ago, and helping our associates not necessarily be judged just by the way they look, but more so by their merits, their skills, the quality of work that they did. And so we started a career closet so that every single one of our associates that they wanted could come through this career closet. And this is three years ago now, and it's still going to this day. They can go in there and get anything they want for free, a business suit, belts, whatever it may be. such that if they were preparing for an interview, if they were going to church for that matter, or going to anything, doing anything that was for the good of themselves, then we wanted to equip them with that. But internally, with relatively the interviews, I wanted all these associates to be judged by their merits, again, and their skill set, and not the way they look. And so we took that off the table. Like, okay, we're gonna help you out here. And we even, I'm so fortunate to again be surrounded by so many great people. ⁓ You know, one of our the managers that was just vital to the launch of that program and still runs it today. You know, she even helps, you know, those associates with interviewing skills. You test them before they go anywhere and says, let's make sure that you're fully ready. Not only did you look the part, but let me help you. Let's let's bounce some things off of each other. And so it was an intentional approach, again, going back to one of those core missions that I have of breaking cycles, helping people further. and not necessarily let even self-esteem sort of get in the way, like let's build you up and equip you with everything that you need to move further. And so there's so many things that I'm fortunate to have a ton of people here that are believers and supporters of that help make these things come to life and ⁓ be actioned in such a special way. ⁓ But yeah, I think just going back to your point, my point, You giving back is important at the end of the day to selfishly like we do this and we help these people internally. They grow. They look good. We look good too. I mean, at end of the day, we're building talent. We're building bench. I would love for that bench to be for us, but I'm okay with it being for the industry. And I know that we're cultivating talent for the rest of the city as well with what we're doing and for the rest of the industry. And that's I'm perfectly fine with that. As long as they're moving on to bigger and better things, I'm happy for them. And that's again, That's checking that box, that purpose box for me anytime we do it. The Future Of Hospitality (44:50) Yeah, wow, that's amazing. Yeah, thanks for sharing. I love the investment on the team, you know, and of course, the work that you're doing on breaking the cycle, that's so important, right? Because that's really key. Because, you know, I've experienced, you know, addiction cycle that, you know, as of now, I broke it and was truly committed on staying there. Ramon Reyes (45:17) Awesome. The Future Of Hospitality (45:20) ⁓ But that's the thing, right? One thing is helping people. Another thing is like helping break the cycle because really that's the trajectory has changed and hopefully we'll improve all the generations to come. yes, well done there. And talking about generations to come, I don't know, what's your take on... Ramon Reyes (45:36) That's right. Yeah. The Future Of Hospitality (45:47) know, the future of hospitality, you know, you've seen as a leader, you know, the hospitality progressing trends and I don't know what do you see ⁓ in the next few years. Ramon Reyes (45:57) Yeah. I think the future is bright. think, you know, we're we are fortunate to live in a time where technology is advancing at a great clip, right? I mean, we're seeing it move a mile a minute. And as long as we utilize that technology to our benefit in the right way, I think we're well positioned. I think back to my time with Starwood and there was a training that we used to administer or facilitate ⁓ where we talked about ATM machines and ATM machines when they were launched and created and everyone thought that it was the end of the bank teller, right? There would be no more bank tellers. we're taking jobs away from them. There will be no more bank tellers. And you fast forward and it ended up being that bank, were, were a ton of ATM machines that were throughout the entire United States and there ended up being more tellers than, than there were, than there were prior to the ATM launch. And I think What that says is that there will never be a replacing of that human connection and what we do in our industry of making sure that everybody who walks through our doors is made to feel like they're welcomed into our home. I mean, that's truly our goal for everyone to have that feeling that we're welcoming them into our home. I tell all of our associates during their first day, new hire orientation, I said, we might not hug and kiss everyone that walks through those doors, but we want to make them feel the same way. And we want to, you know, we clean up, we stock up, we do all the same things you do at home and show people that you really appreciate them be there and you love them. And so I think, you know, when I think about where we are and that example in technology, I think we are at a stage where we're going to be able to utilize all these great tools to help cultivate this experience that's unique to each guest. ⁓ If we do this the right way and we use this tool. to personalize every single person's visit in the best way possible and truly make them feel like we appreciate them as an individual and not just a number, especially, and that's a tall task, right? Even for a hotel like mine, almost 1,100 rooms, how do you do that in that environment? But it's possible. It's not easy, but it's possible. And I think it's easier given some of the technology that we have today. And so think that, I think from a guest service standpoint, that's what stands out to me the most. When it comes to... the associate piece, think we're, look, we're, we're, we're still working to cultivate talent and bench post the pandemic. And, ⁓ you know, we're, I think as an industry being intentional about it, I think there's more we need to do there in that space of finding people that truly have a passion to serve other people that people that, you know, find joy in bringing a smile to someone else's face, right? That those people are out there and we need to grab them and then teach them the rest. Like that's the most important part. And so I think as an industry, we're intentional about it. We're doing it now. We have more work to do in that space so that we can now continue to elevate our industry and move it to the next level. ⁓ We're certainly doing it as as certainly as a hotel and as a brand and focusing intentionally on how do we, how do we execute service just really at a high level. but in a very unique way and not have it feel robotic and not have it feel like we're handing over any power to technology and automating things. Because as I mentioned earlier, there will never be a replacement for that human connection and what that means and how that makes people feel when they come into our space. There's always going to be certain people, We can be all things to all people, right? There going to be some guests that just want that and want to run with it and don't want the human interaction. We need to be smart about how we identify those. But I would say the overwhelming amount is going to want the true luxury experience that we aim to deliver. The Future Of Hospitality (49:54) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Good observation, yeah, thank you. ⁓ Wow, Ramon, you know, thank you. Thank you so much for your time, for this opportunity. ⁓ I'm sure that there's gonna be a lot of great information people take away and hopefully, you know, you're gonna have some people reaching out to you, connect and hopefully join your team and be part of an amazing ⁓ leader. ⁓ Ramon Reyes (50:19) Thank you. The Future Of Hospitality (50:23) And you know, before I wrap up anything that I didn't touch or anything that I missed or, know. Ramon Reyes (50:30) No, no, look, I appreciate you. I appreciate the conversation and look forward to just continuing it. You and I will share stage here pretty soon and hopefully speak to some local folks, but I appreciate you and your time. The Future Of Hospitality (50:44) Yes, sir. Thank you again. And it's been an honor. Ramon Reyes (50:48) Thank you, honor's mine... "