MY THIRD DECADE (1979-1989)
The pizazz, the lifestyle, the late nights, a new language perfected, the larges incentive destination in the world
My arrival in Acapulco and introduction to the team was seamless. The property is impressive with spectacular views over Acapulco Bay and the Mountains sweeping down to a sea of hotels, shoulder to shoulder along the great beach. The building was spectacular
My second job in Hyatt International at the Hyatt Regency Acapulco was as 'Interim Manager' with direct responsibility for the Miss Universe Pageant and settling the senior executives by delivering on promises. It was a relatively easy experience because the employees knew their jobs and they delivered what was required. The problem was not operational, it was management or the integration of the pageant's wishes into the delivery system. They just needed attention. By the end of the first day, they were settled and satisfied. The two months of the pageant passed quickly and before long Hyatt International appointed me as General Manager. The task of transformation was just the beginning.
Anecdote. The real work at this property involved entertainment of VIPs every night for dinner with follow on visits to the most successful discos in the world at that time that were all in Acapulco. Although all discos took no reservations, there was always a dance-floor table for our guests at every disco for us.... my wife, our VIP guests and I with a bottle of Champagne ready. Disco Sally (of Studio 54 fame) was a regular dance partner for me. Julio Iglesias was our regular guest at the hotel and for dinner and late night libations and a fabulous magnet for the jetset. He became a great friend. Probably closer to my wife than I........ but anyway!!
The property blossomed. It became officially the Centre of Things in Acapulco where the famous came and where the Conventions flourished as well as anywhere in the world. These were Acapulco's finest days. Peaceful, Crime-Free, International, Glamourous, Glorious but it needed some TLC. It needed more than a renovation.
Anecdote. One of the periodic disruptions to life in hotels in Latin America are the periodic requests that come from El Presidente. Not the president of our company but the president of the country. In the case of Mexico, the calls came more frequently, not from Presidente Jose Lopez Portillo but from his wife, Doña Carmen Romano. Her 'request' came in the form of a demand for the Presidential Suite and all the rooms on that floor usually with no more that 24 hours notice. This was typically a very difficult task since as the Number One 'Incentive Destination in the World", we had back to back incentive groups that included the Presidential Suite and a large chunk of the room inventory. Our requests to move did not go over very well with the VIP guests.
The Changing of the Guard at Hyatt International in Chicago saw a new group from Asia taking over with their own favourites destined for the top positions. At the same time a change in ownership of this hotel signalled the likelihood of a management change being appropriate.
We had done the hotel proud and Hyatt was not going to sever the relationship with the new owners. We were offered Jamaica......been there, done that! No thanks....besides our Yorkie, Che would have had to quarantine for six months and that was a non-starter. We were offered Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with 'hardship pay'. We accepted!! Che was sidelined with a family in Quebec for a couple of years.
SAUDI ARABIA
My third job in Hyatt was as a Pre-Opening spare hand at the Hyatt Regency Jeddah for about six months assisting the team and the Swiss GM with their opening. It was an education! It was an introduction to the Saudi culture, the multi-national work force and a get-acquainted lesson in working and opening a hotel without any alcohol or any ladies, both of which I had thought were absolutely essential to the success of any hotel anywhere.
Anecdote. On arrival in Jeddah, I was met at the airport by my future F&B Manager, Brij Misra, formerly of the prestigious Hyatt Regency Chicago and a future close friend and great colleague in Riyadh. I was integrated into the Jeddah team headed up by Pierre Bonard, an accomplished Hyatt Swiss veteran previously very successful in Asia and primed for success heading up the Saudi operations. The Saudi launch of Hyatt was started in Jeddah and my involvement was very much superfluous but served as an essential introduction to Saudi culture, or more specifically to the multiple restrictions.
My fourth job in Hyatt was as GM of the Hyatt Regency Riyadh, a hotel under construction and not scheduled for opening for another six months or so. In the meantime, my primary task became the job of obtaining the necessary permits for my wife and 10 year old son to enter the country.
The property was far from ready so the early focus of my work was establishing the probable completion dates of the various components of the construction, the furnishing, the operating supplies and equipment that was a huge moving target. There was no schedule on paper and there was no determinable completion date for anything. The standards of site cleanliness did not exist that seemed to worsen as the project progressed.
All employees for the hotel had already been recruited by agencies in Asia and North Africa. Twenty six nationalities eventually came together to form one of the most cohesive groups I ever had the privilege of working with. My first task was to find accommodation for all of them.
Anecdote. One of my tasks was to find accommodation for all of them in a city that was almost totally under construction, cranes everywhere, sandy, dusty and daytime temperatures in the mid 40C area (100F+). To find an apartment building for rent involved a bedouin driven taxi, cross-legged meetings with bedouin owners drinking sweet tea and learning to communicate in sign language and hand-drawn sketches. After 6 weeks, I was starting to pick up some Arabic, albeit bedouin, although what was I to know until other Arabic dialects entered the scene?
Anecdote. Other than Brij Misra, no other department heads had been identified as ready and willing to transfer to this fascinating part of the world that had been designated as a hardship post by Hyatt attracting 'hardship pay', a supplement to the going salary scale. I was therefore in touch with industry recruiters in Europe who had inventories of scores of talented candidates for all the positions I needed to fill. There were all filled and nationalities included British (me), French, Maltese, American, Indian, Pakistani, Palestinian, Lebanese, Yemen, Moroccan, Tunisian, Egyptian, Filipino, Malaysian, Thailand, Indonesia, Saudi. My trip to interview candidates took me to London, Oman, Dubai.
While the recruitment exercise was progressing the start-dates would depend on the opening date. Any miscalculation could effect the cost of labour, benefits, employee food etc that conceivably cost anywhere between $15,000-$25,000 per day. I still had no firm date from the builders but we had estimated a month or two.
About the time we were ready to start assuming control of the first floors for carpeting and furnishing, a construction fire broke out on about the fourth floor and spread throughout the floor that was littered with construction waste
CANADA
Commonwealth Hospitality
Hotel Association of Canada
Canadian Restaurant & Foodservice Association
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