“Any GM is only as good as his owner’s investment, and now I am entrusted with making what is a US$180 million renovation a worthwhile return,” said Hervé Houdré, general manager of the InterContinental New York Barclay, the day after a memorable re-opening party on June 15.
“We actually opened April 29, but this was our chance to show our new look to 900 of our business partners from all over the USA, and further afield,” Houdré explained. “Our own catering and events people did a fabulous job, helped by outside specialists.”
This was the opportunity to show off a sparkling new lobby with a grand staircase that had never existed before, which leads up to all the events spaces, now interconnected on the second floor (before, separate events rooms were variously sited on the first, second and third floors). Perhaps helped by the Champagnes, full bars and spectacular and copious food that flowed all evening, some guests were so enamored of the new look that a major international delegation, and, separately, a big wedding, were verbally confirmed during the evening.
As the GM said in his welcome speech, the party was to celebrate its re-opening, plus its own 90th birthday – the hotel, supervised by Harold Vanderbilt, who is thought to have called it after a favorite nephew, opened 1926 – and the 70th anniversary of the InterContinental brand (the hotel was bought by then-IHC in 1978).
“Before, we had 685 rooms and suites. Now, after our BBGM/HOK new-look, we have reduced the number of one-bedroom suites to give a total, now, of 704 keys,” Houdré added. “We will still be operating with 370 associates.”
The hotel closed September 12, 2014, and Houdré’s team did an excellent job in helping relocate unwanted china and the like. During the closure, those who wanted to return had full medical coverage. Everyone was re-interviewed, some up to three times, and once back on the job, training was helped by Forbes Travel Guide. Only 21, including engineering, security, and some management, had stayed during the closure.
“The result is our determination to add 50% to our rates,” the Frenchman Houdré declared. “Our four pillars, combined as Barclay 2.0, are to be the most international hotel in the world’s most international city, to adhere to sustainability at all times, to be quintessentially New York, and to be an ignition for arts and culture.”
On the international front, the hotel’s multilingual concierges speak Japanese, Mandarin and more. When it comes to eater-tainment, yesterday’s restaurants have been replaced by a small all-day dining space with an extensive, heavily organic breakfast buffet room, and a prominent bar with no fewer than 88 gins. “In F&B, a New York hotel only makes money from the three-Bs – breakfast, bar and banqueting,” stated the boss, realistically.
Hervé Houdré has always enjoyed re-positioning, which he did as GM of Hôtel de Crillon, Paris (working very closely with several members of the Taittinger family).
Houdré was born and brought up in a family-owned 17-room hotel in the Loire Valley, western France. “By nine I was carrying plates,” he said. “This is not so much a passion as my entire life and it has never occurred to me to do anything else.”
At 15, he started five years’ hotel school in Paris. His globally peripatetic career has also included running the Hotel Plaza-Athenée, Paris, and the Willard InterContinental in Washington, D.C., and he was COO of Kempinski Hotels & Resorts.
A devout Buddhist, Houdré believes passionately in giving back, and in responsibility. His publications include the Sustainable Hospitality white paper for Cornell University’s Center for Hospitality Research, and he co-wrote Hotel Sustainable Development: Principles and Best Practices, published by the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute.
Among his many honors was HOTELS’ 2006 Independent Hotelier of the World award.