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Ocean House GM: ‘It’s all about communication and growth’

As a fourth-generation hotelier, Antonia Korosec says she can’t imagine doing anything else. The newly minted general manager at Ocean House in Westerly, Rhode Island – she started her new position in January – has been with the “mothership” for 10 years, something that surprises her, too. The triple 5-star Ocean House Management Collection runs four properties, three in Rhode Island and the newest one in Lennox, Massachusetts, affiliated with Relais & Chateaux. While technology is an important part of the guest experience, the 39-year-old says being able to get guests to disconnect from their phones, reconnect with each other and feel a sense of place is a key part of the luxury experience.

Korosec is one of 20 rising stars (all 40 and under) HOTELS interviewed for our May feature. All shared their insights about their lives in the business and thoughts about some of today’s challenges and opportunities. In a Wall Street Journal-sponsored series, read Korosec’s responses to our questions and click here to link to the full list of interviews with HOTELS 20 Next-Gen hospitality leaders.

Antonia Korosec, general manager, Ocean House
Antonia Korosec, general manager, Ocean House

Contributed by Megan Rowe

HOTELS: What do you think needs to be updated about company culture to ensure that younger professionals are attracted to the hotel industry?

Antonia Korosec: It’s all about communication and growth. It’s what gets me moving and gets my team moving. If you’re hiring a young manager who’s smart, they want to grow with you. And if they go away, I’ve had it happen here, they do come back. Especially if you’ve had that great connection and they’ve had the support.

Get them involved. We do a lot of cross-training, not only in the different hotels, but in positions. When I talk to my boss (Daniel Hostettler, president and group managing director) and we talk about the other great individuals we have with us, or who have come back to us, it’s because we kept growing and opening new hotels, it means new opportunities opened up. Where we’re successful here is that we involve the younger managers, getting their opinion. They might be wrong, or they might say, I don’t know. But we involve them and get them around the table, asking their opinion.

H: Why are people getting into the hotel business?

AK: I feel like it’s caring for people. I’m a strong believer hospitably is the best job in the world. You take care of people, of their family, whatever challenges they have. You try to get them comfortable.

H: What about the business keeps you up at night?

AK: The hardest part for me is staffing. Keeping my team happy and challenged and cared for. As much as my first passion is my guests, I definitely spend most of my time brainstorming on how I can help my team do the best job they can.

H: What’s your best advice to next-gen hoteliers? What would you tell people entering the industry now?

AK: I think that you have to have a passion; you have to have your heart into it. If you come in in the morning and you don’t want to come to work, you’re never going to be happy. We’re in an industry where we take care of people. I don’t think that you can take care of people if you don’t love what you do. 

H: Describe the things that you try to do every day, and why you do them?

AK: I try to make sure that I have a personal connection with one of my team members every day. It doesn’t matter which level. I try to ask how they’re doing, their personal life, how is the job. It’s also important to understand what’s going on at home. And if they need any help, so they know we care about the individual and not just the job they’re fulfilling.

I’m an early riser. One of my favorite parts is in the morning to walk the grounds before the hotel gets busy, like walking the stage before a show. I love going through it making sure everything is right and remembering how beautiful the property is. I have a meeting at 8:30 a.m. with everyone, with all the departments. Everyone is lined up and ready. I like the regrouping for a couple minutes before what’s coming for the day. And saying thank you. I try to teach every individual at the property, doesn’t matter where they are, to stop a minute when there’s an associate who’s leaving at the end of the day, and thank them for their work. Sometimes we run a million miles an hour and we forget.

H: You’ve been at Ocean House for 10 years. What’s kept you there?

AK: This property was built in 1868, and unfortunately had to be torn down in 2008. And we were extremely lucky that the owner wanted to rebuild the original building. I love that we created something from scratch. I remember the day before we opened the hotel. Daniel and I were talking and he’s like, well, this is a one-off project. We’re going to create something here and we’re going to make it a luxury property. We’ve got to make it a 5-star, but we’re going to go above and beyond. And I remember the amount of people around us, they were like, you’re crazy. It’s never going to happen in the middle of nowhere.

Because we believed in it and we believed in the individuals who were successful with us, I think we created an unlikely team of leaders and leaders at every level, in every department. We kept on building a team and now knowing we’re triple 5-star (Forbes’ ranking in hotel, restaurant and spa), only one of a few in the world. And when I think about it, 10 years ago there was nothing then. That’s amazing.

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