5 Minutes With Jim Treadway, On Taking Boutiques Global

Jim Treadway has been working in the hotel business since he was old enough to walk.

By Staff -- HOTELS Magazine, 11/1/2007

Jim Treadway has been working in the hotel business since he was old enough to walk. A third-generation hotelier, he grew up doing chores around the Treadway Inns his family managed in New England. After graduating from Cornell University, he joined Westin Hotels & Resorts in 1972, eventually ascending to North American Division president. After Starwood took over Westin in 1995, Treadway founded Seattle-based MTM Luxury Lodging, for which he currently serves as chief executive. In 2003, he helped form sibling company FST Asset Management. MTM counts nine hotels in its portfolio, while FST has seven, and is expected to announce five more before the end of the year.

HOTELS: Is MTM about where you thought it would be at this point in terms of size and prestige?

TREADWAY: I was recently looking at the original business plan we wrote in 1996, and comparing year 11 to where year 10 was. It was a 10-year plan, and it talked about one property a year. It didn't address asset management at all. We currently have seven asset-managed properties under contract, soon to be 12. And we figured by year 11, MTM would be managing 11 properties. Clearly, we're too selective, as we're managing only nine.

HOTELS: What are some of the challenges of taking a regional company national, as you are doing with MTM?

TREADWAY: You spend a lot of time on airplanes, so the challenge is trying to get upgraded to first class from coach. No, the major challenge has been evolving from a 'mom-and-pop' management company to a highly sophisticated, systems-based company, while keeping the small management organization and culture in place, along with our very strong sense of family.

HOTELS: When you hunt for management contracts, what do you look for in a given property?

TREADWAY: We have very tight criteria. We only want to deal with hotels that are or will be at the top of the market they serve. They must be unique and different, competing with the highest quality hotels in a market. Words like memorable, personal, interesting, and provocative come to mind. Do we want to stay in them ourselves at US$300-plus per night? And most important, can we add value to the project or existing hotel?

HOTELS: What are guests looking for from the high-end boutique sector?

TREADWAY: They want personal recognition and service, and amenities tailored to their specific needs, not just those of a segment. They want their needs to be anticipated, and they don't want to be segmented and labeled 'business traveler' or 'group attendee.' And when they return, they want the room to be as they left it, with the thermostat set at whatever it was, the music they like playing, the artwork on their LCD screen as they like it, etc. They want to be welcomed back by name by all employees, not just the front desk. It is our job to understand the purpose of their trip and tailor our services to facilitate it. That is very personalized.

HOTELS: Will there ever be a time when boutiques outrank the big brands in public consciousness?

TREADWAY: I don't think so. I don't think we are for the mainstream traveler who really only cares about a clean room, a good bed and a good bathroom. Our target audience is much smaller: it is people who really want to be pampered, who demand the finer things in life and are willing to pay for it, and who don't want to be commoditized. Our goal is to stay fiercely independent and indigenous to the market. If we are going to do something in Boston, for example, it is going to be iconic to Boston, which The Liberty Hotel is.

HOTELS: With FST, you do have a few branded properties in your portfolio. Is there anything about brands that you prefer?

TREADWAY: The power of a big brand is the brand itself, and what brands have that boutiques don't have are very powerful frequent guest programs. That's pretty good stuff. They are easier to operate, although often are much larger. And they don't, as we do from time to time, reinvent the wheel very often, because we're trying to be so independent. Getting a new, branded hotel up and running is easier and requires shorter staffing lead times.

HOTELS: You had a long history with Westin-what are your thoughts on how that brand has evolved under Starwood?

TREADWAY: I think they really screwed it up the first several years they had it. They dismantled it and turned it into just a Starwood-managed brand. They didn't focus on the quality and uniqueness of the brand. Eventually, Starwood got it right. Branding key product attributes, like the bed and shower, was brilliant, as was tightening the brand standards and developing an attitude and ambiance for Westin-brand hotels.

HOTELS: What can we expect from MTM in the future?

TREADWAY: Growth by ones and twos, and the most spectacular portfolio of managed properties in the industry. In every one of the markets we are in, I would put each of our properties up against any competitor. We have no hotels that aren't singularly spectacular. In addition to great properties, I believe our people, top to bottom, are second to none.

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