“My banking career taught me clear organization and the necessity of keeping standards up at all times,” says Alex Furrer, general manager of The Setai Hotel Miami Beach.
Like many of his compatriots, this Swiss professional had anticipated a financial future, but after six years he realized that a lifetime in banking would be, for him, nothing but a boring existence. “UBS was such an enormous organization, and I had to admit that I was really unhappy. Out of hours I was already helping out in a restaurant and I radiated towards hospitality, which led to training at Zurich’s famous Hotel zum Storchen.”
After this, thanks to its CEO Beat Sigg, he worked with Victoria-Jungfrau Collection AG, in operations at two of the company’s hotels, Hotel Eden du Lac, Zurich, and Hotel Palace Luzern, and he also had a spell in corporate sales.
“In 2010 my wife suggested traveling away from Switzerland and I was fascinated by The Setai, which in its five years of operation had already achieved global fame. Then-GM Hansjörg Meier offered me a role in guest relations, I worked my way up and in March 2015 I was catapulted, without warning, into the top spot,” he recalled.
The 88-room hotel includes a seven-floor art deco building on Collins Avenue that had opened in 1936 as Hotel Sasson on the Ocean. This is now connected to a 21st-century 40-floor block of 160 residences, of which 43 are in the hotel rental program.
The entire complex, which extends to the beach and includes three parallel outdoor pools, is owned by two of the residences’ fashion-oriented owners, the Nakash family of Jordache jeans fame and legendary wrap-dress designer Diane Von Furstenberg and her relations. “Joe Nakash, the truly visionary founder of the Jordache brand, and his nephew Ariel Nakash are my main contacts, and they are both tremendously keen to keep up the asset of this investment, and take it even further upmarket,” Furrer shared.
A year ago, a retractable cover was added to the hotel’s open-air central courtyard. “The $US1.8 million investment will pay off in no time. Our entire F&B operation was already US$12 million a year but we were able to add a further US$2.5 million from hosting weddings and other events in what can now be an indoor venue at four minutes’ notice,” the GM explained.
One challenge, as in the entire Miami Beach area, remains competition, with 900 extra rooms at luxury level coming on line in the last year alone. “Occupancy district-wide was down 4%, with June through September being specially challenging. Also, my 400-strong team, which services residences as well as the main hotel, is always attractive to others.” Like everyone in Miami, he blesses the annual Art Basel, which saw his US$980 average rate soar the first week of December 2016 to US$2,350.
“I am never scared by numbers,” Furrer said with a smile. “My banking beginning means I feel comfortable with them and I can ask the right questions, although I am worried when they are not as high as I should like.”