Kelly Roberts is tough to describe. Not only is she chief operating officer of The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in Riverside, California — a 238-room hotel that dates back to the early 1900s that she purchased with her husband, Duane, in 1992 — she has a law degree from the University of Southern California, is the visionary behind the hotel’s Kelly’s Spa and even owns a cupcake business — Casey’s Cupcakes — with her daughter, Casey Reinhardt.
HOTELS asked Roberts about the many hats she wears and how her varied experiences help her manage a successful hotel.
HOTELS: Talk about the decision to buy The Mission Inn in 1992.
Kelly Roberts: The Mission Inn had been closed for 7.5 years, and the city came to my husband about saving it. If you go to the hotel, you feel like you’re in a European castle. And the Mission Inn is the heart and soul of the Inland Empire. There was no way my husband was going to let it be knocked down and made into a parking lot. So he saved it.
My husband is the most amazing entrepreneur, and I consider myself one too. Hospitality comes very naturally to me. Our combination is very dynamic when it comes to being hoteliers. It has been fun, successful, fulfilling — every great thing you could imagine.
HOTELS: What was the learning curve of becoming hoteliers and entering the hotel industry like?
Roberts: I think because we’re experienced business owners and entrepreneurs, we treated it like any other business. We’re passionate about providing the highest level of customer service, keeping up with the travel trends and services to satisfy our guests’ expectations. I think if you take those tools, you do well.
HOTELS: So are you pretty hands-on when it comes to running the hotel?
Roberts: I’m very hands-on. I think I drive my GM crazy. I think that’s what makes it so special. We’re constantly creating and keeping up with new things to make our guests happy.
HOTELS: How does your law degree help you in running your hotel?
Roberts: A law degree gives you such a variety of backgrounds to business. A law degree really prepares you for business in every sense of the word. So my law degree has come in really handy.
Let’s take human resources. You have to have knowledge of the law [for that area]. We have over 600 employees, and you have many different legal issues. It does prepare you for all those entities.
HOTELS: It seems like you wear a ton of hats. How do you balance everything and maintain your enthusiasm?
Roberts: I like stimulation, and I like to create. I like to achieve. I do that on a lot of different levels of my life, and it’s fun. It’s challenging. It keeps life exciting, and that’s my attitude.
HOTELS: How do you escape work, at least from time to time?
Roberts: I’m a mixed martial artist. I practice mixed martial arts on a daily basis or at least five to six times a week. I do Pilates as well. Working out seems to take stress out of my life. I have to work out every single day. I have a routine, and if I don’t get my workouts in I’m not really happy.
And I’m really a family-oriented person. My family brings me a lot of joy. What else do you need?