2005 Independent Hotelier Of The World: Roberto Wirth: Living His‘Impossible Dream’

2005 Independent Hotelier Of The World: Roberto Wirth: Living His‘Impossible Dream’

By Karyn Strauss, Associate Editor -- HOTELS Magazine, 11/1/2005

Seeing the easy elegance and relaxed know-how of Roberto Wirth as he walks around his beloved “home,” Rome’s landmark Hotel Hassler perched upon the famed Spanish Steps of the Eternal City, it is hard to imagine anyone looking more in his element. With a commanding presence, Wirth exudes a genuine love not only for his hotel but also for the business and, indeed, the art of hotelkeeping. His warmth is immediately perceptible, and no doubt it is this passion that has made, and continues to make, the Hassler a “grand dame.”

But despite the hotel’s grandeur, this is not simply a tale of a family-run hotel legacy—although Wirth represents his family’s fifth generation of hotelkeeping. Rather, it is a more complex and inspiring story of a triumph over adversity; an account of remarkable courage and determination that sets Wirth apart from other hoteliers honored as HOTELS’ Independent Hotelier of the World.

For while one could easily argue that the most important function of the hotel manager is to communicate—with staff, vendors, guests and prospective clients—from birth communication would be Wirth’s greatest challenge. Born profoundly deaf, the idea of carrying on the family tradition as the owner of the Hassler seemed beyond comprehension. Even Wirth’s mentor, his father, deemed it unrealistic because for him the most important part of his job was using the telephone.

From the outset, the cards were stacked against him, but the family’s rich hotel history dating back to the mid-1800s in Switzerland meant that hotelkeeping was in Wirth’s blood—and by the time he was 12 years old he had made his father promise to help him reach his dream of carrying on the Bucher-Wirth hotel legacy.

Family History

And what a legacy it is. The dynasty began in Switzerland in the 1870s when Franz-Josef Bucher—considered of one the pioneers of the European hotel industry—bought and developed the Trittlap area, turning a formerly remote and inaccessible area into a thriving resort destination with several well-known hotels. Bucher expanded southward into Italy and in 1890 sent his son-in-law, Heinrich Wirth, to Rome to become manager of his Hotel Minerva and, four years later, his Hotel Quirinale. Despite Heinrich’s successes with these hotels, after Bucher’s death he ran into difficulties with the company that managed Bucher’s estate. Not knowing what the future of his businesses would be, he made his son Oscar sign a partnership agreement with Franz Nistelweck, son-in-law of Alberto Hassler, the founder of the Hotel Hassler, with the purpose of reopening Rome’s Hotel Eden.

By 1936 Oscar had become co-proprietor and general manager of not only the Eden, but also the Hassler, following the death of Alberto Hassler. In 1939, he closed the Hassler for extensive renovations, but the new Hassler did not open until 1947 because it was requisitioned by the U.S. Air Force to serve as its Rome headquarters at the end of World War II.

The story comes full circle when during a trip to New York in 1949 Oscar met his cousin Carmen Bucher, great-granddaughter of Franz-Josef Bucher. The couple married later that same year, thus reuniting the Bucher-Wirth family. (After Oscar Wirth’s death, Carmen took over management of the Hassler to much success—even winning HOTELS’ Independent Hotelier of the World award in 1992—the first woman to do so.) The couple’s first son, Roberto, was born in 1950. Since the family at that time lived in the Hotel Eden, Roberto has literally grown up in hotels—and he is the first to admit that it is the only type of life that has ever made sense to him.

The family would become sole proprietors of the Hassler in 1964 when the partnership between Franz Nistelweck and Oscar Wirth was terminated with the Nistelweck family retaining the Hotel Eden, and the Wirths, the Hassler. It was around this time that Roberto joined the world of the hearing after spending his early education in Milan at a special school for the deaf. At the age of 12 he entered a hearing school in Rome for the first time, and not surprisingly, almost instantaneously lost any of the early confidence he had in his ability to become a great hotelier.

Overcoming Barriers

“I had always dreamed of becoming a hotelier like my father, who has always been my mentor, until I moved to Rome and went to a hearing school for the first time,” explains Wirth, who reads lips in both Italian and English, can sign in both languages and is able to speak clearly, albeit quietly, in both as well. “Before that I was always with deaf kids, with whom I communicated with my hands and not much of a talking voice, and this made me think positively about the future.” But, he says, his difficulty in communicating with fellow students and teachers shattered his confidence. Wirth suffered many embarrassing moments when, for example, his old-fashioned hearing aid was mistaken as a radio, and with people, even friends, ignorantly mistaking his deafness as a sign of some sort of mental retardation. “As my frustration and embarrassment increased, it confused my dream of becoming a hotelier,” he says. Although his father saw his handicap as something “impossible to overcome,” with a father’s love and a son’s determination, Oscar Wirth began helping Roberto realize his dream. The journey began in the United States, where Wirth went for more formal education.

He came to the United States in 1969 at the age of 18 to attend Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., a well-known university for the hearing impaired. It was through the superior education here that Wirth’s confidence was restored. He later transferred to the Rochester Institute of Technology, on a path that would first lead him to attain a diploma as an “Engineer of Refrigeration” in San Francisco, before landing him at the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, where in 1975 he earned a bachelor’s degree.

“During my time in college in the U.S. I took different courses not related to the hotel business such as art, photography and architecture, but my love for the hotel business never went away,” Wirth says. “I learned about Cornell from friends and was extremely happy to be accepted as a regular student. It was tough, though, because I always found it difficult to be integrated among hearing students. But I knew I was on the right path.”

Like any other budding hotelier, Wirth held several jobs—from housekeeping to the kitchen and accounting—at hotels across the United States, learning the ropes of the hotel business. He worked for Holiday Inn, Hilton, Sheraton and Hyatt hotels in just about every department. This experience was invaluable, Wirth says, because it taught him how to communicate with co-workers and to understand their needs. That is not to say it was always easy. Wirth reminisces about a particularly busy hotel kitchen in Boston where he worked as a line cook and a very impatient chef who would at times scream orders at him (rather than write them down, as was the protocol). While teaching him that more education was definitely needed toward working with the disabled, it also taught him perseverance. “I didn’t want to give up; I wanted to show I could handle it,” Wirth says. “I learned to face [such] challenges and work with people. It taught me to feel the courage to continue.”

Despite the obstacles it is clear that he would not be happy doing anything else. Wirth is passionate about his work and believes that it is his love for the business that sets him apart. If not in his office at the hotel, he most often can be found holding meetings or greeting guests in the hotel’s beautiful garden atrium restaurant. His loyal staff jokes that he is always around, even on weekends. “The hotel business is like a woman—you have to love it,” Wirth says, playfully. However, he adds, “Unlike a woman, I can never be divorced from this life.”

Wirth says he learned the hotel business “with his eyes,” as he watched his father manage two top hotels. He always loved the constant hustle-and-bustle, the atmosphere that to him seemed so alive and exciting. “Hotel is like a theater,” he says. “We always had so many interesting people staying with us—famous musicians, doctors, scientists. It was such a lively atmosphere.” What also was apparent from an early age was that Wirth liked to see people happy, and, indeed, liked the hotelier’s role in that happiness—whether it was through a wonderful stay or even just a wonderful meal. “I’ve always been very sensitive to the happiness of others,” he says with almost palpable sincerity.

So after nine years in the United States, Wirth returned to where it all began—Rome—and joined the Hassler as executive assistant manager, working alongside his mother (Sadly, Wirth’s father died in 1968 before getting a chance to see him realize his dream.) “After nine years in the States I was ready to come back home. My speech improved by talking a lot with the staff. I took speech lessons, but only for a brief period, and I asked my close friends to correct my talking occasionally, not only my speech, but my grammar,” he explains. “I always tell guests that I am deaf and that I read lips. Some of them are happy to learn about this because they may have a family member or friend who is deaf, and we share our experiences.”

Under Carmen’s guidance Wirth further learned the ropes of managing the Hassler and even was credited by his mother in her 1992 Hotelier of the World interview with bringing a sense of modernity to the classic hotel. Ringing in a new era, Wirth became general manager of the hotel in 1982 and added some much-needed technological advances to the property—including finally computerizing the front-office services. With the death of his mother, in 1998 Wirth was appointed president and general manager of the newly established Hassler Roma S.p.A, managing company of the Hassler, of which he is the sole owner.

The Hassler Then & Now

Despite its long and celebrated history, Wirth is not comfortable with sitting back and resting on his laurels. Change, though subtle, is ever-present at the Hassler to remain relevant and meet guests’ demands. As one of the few remaining truly independent hotels, Wirth enjoys the freedom to continuously evolve the Hassler to keep pace with the times. And customers’ expectations, he says, have changed since his parents ran the operation.

He smiles as he remembers his father composing handwritten notes to put in every guestroom and explains how all business was done via postal mail. “The pace of business was slower. Today, movement has become so much faster,” he says. “So I’m learning from my children [his 13-year-old twins]—they move so fast—because I know that is how the next generation of customers will be.” Another change he has noticed is that younger guests today spend more money than they did in the past. While in his parents’ time the hotel hosted mostly married couples, times have changed. Today, Wirth’s 80% American clientele is more and more made up of groups of friends and unmarried couples with ample disposable incomes. They are travel savvy and expect even a classic hotel to have all the amenities of a modern one. For example, the hotel was built as a 4-star and as a result, the bathrooms were small. But today, guests demand large bathrooms. So the hotel adapted. There also are no cookie-cutter rooms; rather, the hotel features guestrooms in several different sizes, layouts and ranges of decor, from contemporary to more traditional. “It’s very important to update the hotel based on customers’ needs,” Wirth says, adding, “I don’t like exaggerated trends. I prefer to use trendy products in an elegant way. Young people have the privilege of staying in a famous, well-run, family hotel with a nice touch of trendy.”

This ability to adapt to guests’ needs in a timely manner is aided in great part by Wirth’s talented wife, Astrid, who serves as the interior designer for the hotel. This unique arrangement will surely come in handy as Wirth says he is planning to add a luxury spa and fitness center and a private, top-floor apartment to be completed within the next five years.

Another change under way is to devote more resources to marketing. “Years ago hoteliers kept on telling me how lucky I was that I was able to save money by not having to market the Hassler because it was known all over the world, and I agreed with them. My motto was always ‘word of mouth.’ But in recent years I’ve discovered that my motto was not enough,” Wirth explains. “The new generation now communicates via the computer—decreasing direct contact between people. So I decided to change my strategy and increase my marketing efforts.” This, he says, is necessary to stay competitive, particularly in the area of F&B. With so many great dining choices in Rome, Wirth says he plans to more aggressively market the hotel’s fine-dining, rooftop restaurant, which boasts not only a top chef, but also spectacular views of the city.

The Future

Another aspect of his new marketing strategy is to highlight the Hassler’s affiliation with the International Wine Academy of Roma, which Wirth founded in 2002. Realizing wine education was becoming a trend with the type of clientele who frequent the Hassler, Wirth originally wanted to build a wine school in the hotel itself, but the logistics did not quite work. So when a four-story building adjacent to the hotel went up for sale, Wirth bought it. The academy holds classes, seminars and wine tastings with experts from around the world. It also features four elegant guestrooms and an esteemed restaurant.

As with the Hassler, Wirth takes a very hands-on approach to operations. “He is a very good businessman who wants results. But if you propose an idea, he lets you run with it. He’s very open to ideas,” says Ian D’Agata, director of the wine academy. “He likes meeting different people from all over the world and encourages me to bring in [vintners] from other countries.” On those rare days when Wirth does not stop by the academy, D’Agata remains in regular contact with him via e-mail. “Having the affiliation with the Hassler means he has to make sure this place is well managed too,” D’Agata says.

Between the Hassler and the Wine Academy, one would think there wasn’t enough time for much else. Yet another passion for Wirth is his involvement with giving back to the deaf community. He has won numerous awards and accolades from associations for the hearing impaired, both in the United States and Italy, but his major contribution for the last 10 years has been the establishment of the Roberto Wirth Fund, an international non-profit association he founded for the purpose of assisting with the education of deaf and deaf-blind children as well as helping deaf young adults find employment. The fund provides annual scholarships to deaf educators and organizes specialized enrichment courses for professionals who work with deaf children. The fund also helps parents with any support and resources they might need.

In addition, Wirth has taught American Sign Language to the heads of various hotels so as to increase the hiring of deaf people. He also has guest lectured at several universities and serves on many boards and associations for the hearing impaired as well as for his local business community. And because his success is an inspiration for those who suffer from disabilities of all kinds, on the urging of others, Wirth is documenting his experiences in a book to be published in Italy next year. His aim is to encourage people to follow their dreams, no matter how unattainable they may seem.

With such passion and generosity coupled with his success as a hotelier of one of the world’s great hotels, it is easy to see why Wirth was chosen by his colleagues as this year’s Independent Hotelier of the World. Wirth’s friend and colleague Michel Rey, managing director of the landmark Baur au Lac in Zurich, perhaps sums up best: “In spite of the fact that nature has handicapped him quite a bit, he has such charisma. He has an incredible impact on people at once. It is amazing to see how Roberto always manages that—by his friendliness, his warmth as a human being. It is easily perceptible even the first time you meet him.”

Corporate Hotelier Of The World: Sol Kerzner