The next generation of hotel leadership is here, and its members are engaged,
passionate and optimistic – and they have a healthy dose of skepticism
regarding traditional management approaches.
What do these next-gen leaders care about? HOTELS is interviewing rising stars in hospitality about career fulfillment, what makes a good leader, who inspires them and where the industry should go next. Look for frank and sometimes surprising answers from a diverse group of young leaders, all under age 40, to be featured over the next few months.
Today, we start the series with Inés Miró-Sans, whose Casa Bonay boutique hotel is making a splash in Barcelona. Miró-Sans, at 34, is the founder and co-owner behind Barcelona’s eclectic Casa Bonay. More than a stylish hotel, it’s a collaborative gathering place with 67 imaginatively furnished guestrooms, a local coffee roaster, bookstore, Southeast Asian restaurant, tapas and cocktail lounge, Spanish-made shirt shop, design store and rooftop beach-themed barbecue spot — all in a restored 1869 mansion.
HOTELS: How effectively do you think the industry has been responding to disruption?
Inés Miró-Sans: People are finally seeing that it’s not enough just to offer a space. In Spain, most of the brands are without any soul, any kind of connection, which is crazy when you think about it because you’re responsible for someone’s experience. You can’t just have 100 beds and not care about or pay attention to what’s going on downstairs in the lobby. I think that’s changing; people are realizing this is not enough and they need to go a step further and offer something more.
H: What trends are you seeing in boutique hotels, and what fads?
IM-S: We are seeing that many new hotels have a design element, even with the big chains, but also in independent hotels. There is more thought behind it, whereas before you couldn’t see it as much. And I think boutique hotels are being positioned to a higher-end niche.
Every year customers get more spoiled. They have higher expectations. There’s no ceiling, and with all the technology in the industry everything is changing. But we believe authenticity and personality are the keys to success. It’s not enough to have the nicest coffee shop or restaurant — you have to understand why you put it there. There has to be a reason behind it.
H: How have hotel industry opportunities evolved for young people?
IM-S: In Spain, more brands want to hire young people who aren’t stuck in a rut. There are so many really nice brands growing in the cities, and they provide a lot of opportunities. Fifteen years ago in Barcelona, there were not a lot of brands that I would be inspired to work for.
H: What are your priorities as a leader?
IM-S: For me the most important thing is to always know that we are positioning ourselves to grow. But we don’t want to grow just to grow and have points on the map. My main need is to keep us committed to Casa Bonay, making changes to make sure it is always evolving. We also don’t want to forget our commitment to excellence and service. You can always buy the design, but we don’t want to forget that in the end we have people coming in and they don’t just want a nice hotel and restaurant, they want someone to treat them really well.
H: What keeps you up at night?
IM-S: There’s a lot of work that goes into the restaurant side… Especially because of turnover. Many employees are just looking for a temporary position.
H: What are some things you try to do every day, and why?
IM-S: Yoga, because it gives me a lot of balance. I try to get away from the hotel for at least one or two hours — even if I have a lot of work to do, I stop. That gives me perspective. Weekly, I try to work with the managers, and at least once a month with everyone else. I think it’s important to hear all the concerns, achievements and thoughts, from the bottom to the top.
H: What do you think we’ll see in the boutique segment over the next year?
IM-S: I expect to see a lot of new, small, very high-end hotels. Maybe as small as five rooms, with very personal spaces, possibly even in former homes.
H: What’s in your future?
IM-S: We are working on developing a small group of properties — we are looking at Madrid, elsewhere in Spain, Portugal and Italy. They will be similar but not copies of Barcelona because they will share the personality of the city. But they will
probably be a little more high-end.