General Management

One of the most impactful immersive experiences has been creating opportunities for guests to move beyond being observers and become active participants in the destination. Rather than simply providing a service, we focus on creating meaningful moments that engage the senses, tell a story, and encourage genuine interaction.A particularly memorable example is our locally inspired culinary experiences, where guests can discover regional ingredients, learn about cultural traditions, interact with our culinary team, and participate in elements of the preparation and tasting.

When I became General Manager at Hard Rock Hotel New York, I wanted our arrival experience to reflect the soul of the property and the people who power it. With more than 35 years across five hotel brands, I’ve learned that the most memorable moments in hospitality come from teams who believe in a shared purpose.

Upon joining my latest property, I wanted to make the destination part of the guest experience rather than simply something guests could see from the hotel.I identified a number of exceptional local organic producers within 45 minutes of the property and developed direct partnerships with them, working closely with our Chef to integrate their products into our menus and create dishes that could only truly belong to this destination.We worked with a local goat cheese producer, a grower cultivating more than 120 varieties of citrus, an olive oil producer whose oil reaches 584 mg/kg of polyphenols, and Morocco’s only truffle producer.The objective was not simply to source better ingredients, but to give our guests a story behind what they were eating: where it came from, who produced it, and why it was unique to the region.The experience became a way of discovering the destination through taste, conversations and local craftsmanship.

A fully automated hotel is not the future of hospitality. It is a different product category entirely and comparing the two does a disservice to both. The self checkout analogy is bit construed in my opinion. Self-checkout did not evolve retail.

As a hotel General Manager, I see the human-free hotel as an evolution in efficiency, but not a replacement for hospitality. Automation can significantly improve the guest journey by streamlining check-in, room access, payments, and routine service requests.

I have no problem with hotels using more technology. Guest apps, keyless entry and digital check-in can make things easier for guests and save my team a lot of repetitive work.But a hotel with no people involved in the guest journey is different.

After more than 35 years in hotel leadership, I've seen our industry evolve through major technological shifts. I began my career as one of the youngest leaders in the hotel, and today I'm often the person with the deepest institutional knowledge and operational experience.

My first honest lesson with AI was this: the technology was never the hard part. The people were. Our earliest AI applications were practical — sentiment analysis and review response support, demand forecasting tools, and pre-arrival personalization.

As a General Manager, my biggest learning has been that AI is not a replacement for hospitality—it is an enabler of better hospitality.Our first steps with AI focused on improving productivity rather than replacing people. We have used AI to support content creation, communication, brainstorming, data analysis, guest feedback summarisation and operational planning.

After more than 35 years in hospitality across Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Courtyard, Sheraton, and Hard Rock, I've witnessed a fundamental shift in what defines a successful General Manager.Earlier in my career, the GM's role centered on service excellence, team leadership, culture, and guest satisfaction.

The tension described in this question is not a future concern for luxury GMs. It is the daily reality of the role right now. I oversee two properties within a complex institutional ownership structure with exacting financial standards.

The expectations of a luxury hotel General Manager have changed significantly over the past decade. Today, owners are looking for more than operational excellence, they expect a trusted business partner who understands investment priorities, protects asset value, and can confidently navigate an increasingly complex ownership landscape.From my perspective, however, this evolution should not come at the expense of what defines our industry.