Craig Reid just finished a bruising year, with a personal loss and the loss of a Napa Valley hotel in a fire, along with all the painful decisions and consequences of the coronavirus. But that hasn’t shaken the Auberge Resorts Collection CEO’s resolve to keep the boutique luxury brand moving forward.
Even last year, it made strides: Mill Valley, California-based Auberge saw a 30% increase in marketshare in mid-year 2020, and six properties are set to open this year, adding to the 20-hotel, mostly domestic U.S. portfolio.
Reid, a Four Seasons veteran, says he’s acting as more of a facilitator and teacher for the mix of artisans and veteran hoteliers on the team – and he wants to be sure that the “creative voices” don’t get drowned out by more traditional hotelkeeping.
“Our hotels have to be very expressive,” Reid said in the latest HOTELSLife interview with HOTELS Editor in Chief Jeff Weinstein. “They must have more of a theatrical approach to the delivery of service, and the more you institutionalize, the more you suffocate that.”
Read the full interview here, and catch up on other recent interviews with the movers and shakers of the hotel industry.
