James E. Moore III is general manager of the Havana Cabana, a boutique hotel in Key West, Florida. Here’s his story.
I always found myself in the kitchen, and during the summers when I was smaller, I would stay with my grandmother who basically taught me how to cook. I found myself cooking at the Olive Garden. That was my first job working the line. I loved it. I love food, I enjoy eating. I enjoyed putting a smile on a guest’s face when they really enjoyed their meal, when they had their first bite.
It just came natural to me, putting all the pieces together, executing it. When someone told me what they wanted, I envisioned exactly what they were saying and brought it to life.
After I did the free-standing restaurants, I found myself wanting to get more into the hotel aspect. My first hotel job was the Holiday Inn in Philadelphia in the historic district. I started as the restaurant manager and worked my way up as food and beverage director.
I mastered that. And then I moved over to the rooms department. I didn’t know that aspect of the hotel and at the time I spoke with my hotel manager I said, ‘You know what, I think I want to learn the other side of it. I’ve never done it before, but I always love great challenges.’
And she looked at me and she said, ‘James, are you sure? Usually F&B people don’t cross over to the dark side’ (laughs). And I said, ‘I think it would be a good challenge for me to go and know the whole of it. So that way it’s not just one side. I have a complete understanding of how the whole operation works.’
My first GM job was actually in Parsippany at the Hampton Inn in New Jersey. I was AGM at the Embassy Suites in Center City, Philadelphia first. I was with Hilton for quite a while, different properties, different brands within the Hilton umbrella.
And then I saw an opportunity in Key West. So I relocated in 2017. I started down here with the Hilton, right before Hurricane Irma, and that was actually my one question on all of my interviews with them. I said, ‘Can you tell me what plan you have in place for a hurricane?’
And then of course, that first year it happened, but we were able to execute very well. We were the first hotel that actually opened back up. No damage, but we opened back up because we were supporting the first responders, the police department, things of that nature. We had power, we had electricity. So, we housed them, we fed them and we took care of the community.
And then I saw this opportunity here at Havana Cabana and I always told everyone, I want a boutique hotel. I don’t want a super-size hotel. That just wasn’t what I was looking for. I’ve done some of the larger hotels, but the smaller hotel aspect, I believe that is the right fit for me. Like a tailor-made suit.