HOTELS

Adam Kirby

For 25-Year-Old Developer, A Little Ambition Goes A Long Way
February 29, 2008

The name Ben Nash probably isn’t familiar to too many in the hotel industry. But he hopes to change that before long.

The 25-year-old Nash is CEO of V3 Hotels, which just recently broke ground on its first property, a US$60 million Hotel Indigo in Brooklyn. That’s right, I said 25-year-old CEO.

While very young, Nash does have at least one industry peer—Sandals Resorts International CEO Adam Stewart is only a tad older—but unlike Stewart, whose father was an industry icon, Nash comes from more humble beginnings.

He started out selling mobile phones a decade ago, lying about his age to get a foot in the door. “I’m not proud of that, because I try to be as honest as possible whenever I can,” Nash said in a recent wide-ranging phone interview. He managed to parlay that sales job into a position as CEO of PCS Wireless, a gig he still keeps on the side.

Speaking of our interview, I have to say it was among the more bizarre I’ve ever conducted. Despite working 16-hour days seven days a week, Nash is full of energy, and he has a penchant for careening off onto tangents.

A cordial, inquisitive and surprisingly modest guy, he asked at least as many questions of me as I asked of him, with the conversation bouncing from politics to business to baseball and back. At one point, in what can only be described as a highly ironic incident, the young, inexperienced CEO offered an unprompted, passionate rebuke of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama—on the basis that the first-term senator is too young and inexperienced to be the nation’s CEO.

Nash did, however, manage to see the humor in that: “I realize that doesn’t make much sense coming from someone like me,” he said with a chuckle. But I digress.

Regarding his professional ambitions, Nash has some lofty goals for V3—more than simply amassing an asset portfolio. He talked extensively about giving back to his New York community in some very specific and inspiring ways, including offering interest-free business loans for entrepreneurs from poor backgrounds.

Nash sought out a management firm for his Indigo project that would commit to hiring and training a local workforce. He settled on Graves World Hospitality, which has pledged to staff the hotel with 70% local hires. He hopes the model provides an economic spark to the surrounding neighborhood; but more than that, he expects such loyalty to payoff with motivated, enthusiastic employees.

“When you have a company that the employees feel they’re part of, guests feel that when they walk in the door,” Nash said. “You’ll have a very, very friendly customer-oriented environment, and guests will notice that. Details are going to be paid attention to on a very serious level.”

Related story: Young Tycoon To Open Downtown Hotel (New York Daily News)

Posted by Adam Kirby on February 29, 2008 | Comments (0)