Hospitality Design: What I've Learned

Cofounder of his namesake development company, Keith Menin has spent his career building an eclectic portfolio in his native Miami with such notable openings as the Sanctuary South Beach, which he conceived when he was only 23 years old. Included in those buzzy projects is the redo of the Shelborne South Beach Hotel, and soon, the 51-story Natiivo Miami. The residential-hospitality-lifestyle hybri...

Robin Staten started her career in higher education but pivoted to hospitality in 2018 when she wanted do something that contributed more significantly to the world. Enter Tiny Urban Escapes. Launching in her native Indianapolis, Staten repurposes shipping containers into idyllic getaways that act as a welcome respite from city life.  Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find...

It seems there’s nothing Marquise Stillwell and his New York design and research firm can’t do. His projects promote inclusion and equity, rethink the norm, and bring people together, seen in forward-thinking concepts for Black Girls Code, the Lowline, and the DC public library. Stillwell is also a film producer and co-founder of Urban Ocean Lab, an organization focused on developing policy soluti...

Larry Traxler joined Hilton in 2009 as senior vice president of global design, where he's helped double its portfolio to 6,500 hotels and overseen brand launches and refreshes that have transformed Hilton into a global powerhouse in nearly every segment. Traxler's thoughtful approach to his career and life is what makes him stand out in this industry. “It’s better to be lucky than good,”...

This week, we spoke with creative director and principal of her own studio Nicole Hollis. A master of both hospitality and residential interiors, the renowned designer got her start in Manhattan studying at FIT before packing everything up and moving to San Francisco without so much as a job offer. It was the right move. She first became part of the team that conceived W hotels, and then cut her t...

An unabashed free spirit hailing from Texas, president and CEO of EDG Jennifer Johanson walks us through her unplanned entry into the hospitality world, her evolved managing style thanks to COVID, the importance of collaboration, what she loves about restaurants versus hotels, and her secrets to success with an inspiring matter of fact approach. Her illustrious career spanning decades, our convers...

Since she was a child growing up in Detroit, Kimberly Dowdell, the former president of NOMA and principal in the Chicago office at HOK, saw how the built environment can improve the quality of urban life, leading her to pursue degrees in both public policy and architecture. This summer, amid Black Lives Matter protests and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, NOMA—with Kimberly at the helm—addressed the...

Prolific designer and architect Jeffrey Beers grew up traveling the world with his parents, which instilled in him a love of hospitality and design—a skill he honed under a who’s who of mentors, including Dale Chihuly, Oscar Niemeyer, and I.M. Pei. For the self-described rebel entrepreneur, his passion for the industry is as present today as it was more than three decades ago, cementing his legacy...

On this week’s What I’ve Learned podcast, hoteliers Alex and Carrie Vik of Vik Retreats discuss their properties, primarily found in South America, and sustainably immersing guests into their natural surroundings. In this illuminating conversation, the couple details how they first fell in love with Uruguay on family vacations and holidays before building properties there. They also speak to their...

Long-time friends and partners at Toronto-based studio DesignAgency, Allen Chan, Matt Davis, and Anwar Mekhayech, discuss their beginnings working in restaurants and designing hotel branding before taking on sizable projects such as The Generator and Momofuku. Our extensive conversation puts their energy and kinship on display as they detail how they came together, their studio’s ethos, and what’s...

Among her many accomplishments, the tennis superstar has found time to launch her own design firm, V Starr Interiors, as well as start her own fashion brand, EleVen. Unsurprisingly, Williams is driven by a competitive spirit that has made her a noteworthy contender on and off the court.    This episode is brought to you by Global Allies . For more information, go to globalallies.com . Thank you fo...

London born and raised designer Tara Bernerd’s sprawling career spans leaving school at age 16, a stint at Vogue magazine, and invaluable industry experience at London firm YOO before setting off to build her own firm. She credits her greatest inspirations and mentors as journalist Jane Mulvagh, design legends John Hitchcox and Philippe Starck, as well as her father, who she says taught her her gr...

Though born in Ohio, award winning chef and restauranteur Andrew Carmellini’s Italian roots have pervaded much of his storied career, which includes New York City mainstays new and old, from Locanda Verde, The Dutch, and Bar Primi to across the East River with Leuca and Westlight in the new William Vale. The James Beard and Michelin star honoree talks through his foundational trips through Italy a...

Sheldon Scott is an artist of many disciplines based in Washington, DC who is bringing attention to the crucial issues of racial inequality and systemic racism through his work. In fact, he was among the inaugural finalists in performance art for the Smithsonian’s 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, for which he kneeled on a burlap sack and hulled rice for six days straight as a tribute to...

Industry legend Roger Thomas, the designer behind such iconic Las Vegas mainstays as the Wynn and the Bellagio, details his entire career from first meeting Steve Wynn to taking his work across the globe and starting his own product line. Full of anecdotes from his stories history on the Vegas strip and beyond, the endlessly charming Thomas reflects on his career while offering sage advice for the...

Inspiring architect Danish Kurani is not only rethinking the design of our educational institutions, but innovating the entire concept as well. A true disruptor, Danish has a simple mission to build projects with empathy and humanity by abashedly challenging the status quo. Whether he’s spearheading and enriching designs for Google’s Code Next Stem Lab in Oakland, California, Black Girls Code in N...

In a previously recorded episode, the iconic Ian Schrager joined editor in chief Stacy Shoemaker Rauen for a fireside chat during HD's Elevate conference held in October in New York. During the hourlong discussion, Schrager was candid about his Studio 54 days and his friendship with longtime business partner Steve Rubell. No matter the role, he says he's always striving to push experienc...

Chef Daniel Boulud is known for his career-defining time at Le Cirque and the award-winning Daniel. The success of the fine dining institution led to his growing food empire, but Boulud's influence reaches outside of the kitchen. Beyond Michelin Stars and James Beard Awards, he considers cultivating young talent one of his greatest accomplishments. While the industry may have to be reimagined...

Hong Kong-based designer and architect Joyce Wang made a name for herself with the career-defining Ammo and Mott 32 restaurants in Hong Kong. She continues to impress with notable launches like the spa and wellness component of the inaugural Equinox Hotel in Hudson Yards New York. The space embodies her skills as a designer: She takes time to understand the context of the project and then, she say...

Richmond International's Fiona Thompson started her career at the London-based firm in the 1980s and returned once again in 1992 as Richmond was entering a new chapter. In the last 30 years, Thompson has been integral in helping the firm grow its hospitality practice, designing notable projects like the Langham Chicago and the Four Seasons Budapest. In her tenure, she has taken a design-first...

Not only a prolific chef and restaurateur, Marcus Samuelsson is the author of a number of cookbooks, including The Rise, which celebrates contemporary Black cooking through the lens of the most influential Black chefs in the field. It embodies his mission to reclaim Black culinary traditions while energizing a new generation of chefs.  Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, fin...

Partners in business and life, the Tel Aviv-based Alon Baranowitz and Irene Kronenberg's design philosophy is centered on a deep, contextual, and narrative-driven approach that has helped create lasting partnerships, including with W hotels and hotelier Liran Wizman’s Sircle brand. At the end of the day, they say, a successful project comes down to the people—watching them connect, exchange i...

Jim Looney's journey to founding one of the most prolific hospitality design firms in the industry started with a chance meeting with Trisha Wilson. Six weeks later, he moved to Dallas to work with her. It was a formative time for Looney as he had a front-row seat to see the industry transform into what it is today. In 1995, he launched Looney & Associates, which has offices in Dallas, Ch...

Rachel Gutter is a pioneer in the green-building movement. Now, as president of the IWBI, she is implementing standards that embody a holistic wellbeing approach. If we continue to find the intersection of purpose and profit in our own lives, she says, then we will not only be much happier as individuals but the planet and society as a whole will benefit as well. This episode is brought to you by...

Jacobs is a pioneer in the wellness movement, making it a hallmark of the brand. He has hired the best and brightest minds—from sleep scientists to wellness experts—to deliver transformative experiences for guests. His story is equally compelling. He speaks six languages, went to college in Paris, studied art history in Florence, and has lived in nearly a dozen countries. It’s a storied career tha...