Checking In by Hotel Owner

This week we speak with Arnaud de Saint-Exupéry, Area Vice President of Hyatt UK & Ireland and General Manager of Hyatt Regency London - The Churchill. Arnaud talks about his journey into hospitality, the benefits of holding his dual role and exciting future plans for Hyatt. 

This week we speak to Mark Hills, General Manager of The Gresham Aparthotel. Mark tells us about his transition from F&B to GM roles, how The Gresham transformed a beloved Fenwick department store into an aparthotel whilst retaining its original character, and how recruitment challenges might be the single biggest change Mark has seen during his career.

On this week's episode we talk to Alex Livesey, the managing director of Brama Hotels, as well as COO of co-working space Clockwise. Alex talks about the lessons learned throughout her 25 years in the industry, how co-working spaces can benefit from the hospitality touch, and the process of building a hotel brand from scratch.

This week we spoke to Harro Dorsch, the owner of Weaverham, Cheshire based B&B, The Hive at 52. We discussed his wide ranging previous career in hospitality in both Holland and the UK, why and how he decided to set up his own B&B business, his thoughts on OTAs and his approach to social media marketing.

In this episode we’re joined by Dan Sutton, Head of Hotels at Roadchef. We discussed Dan’s unique career journey, including launching Thorpe Park's first accommodation offering, transitioning from F&B, and the key to Roadchef’s strong relationship with Wyndham Hotels.

This week we speak with Jane Pendlebury, the CEO of HOSPA (the Hospitality Professionals Association). We spoke about her career starting as a trainee duty manager with DeVere, her experience in technology companies and how it relates to her role today, and her thoughts on how the industry has changed and the challenges it faces.

On this episode of Checking In we are joined by Mario Flanagan, the general manager of Andaz London Liverpool Street. We discussed Mario’s journey into hospitality from starting as a concierge in South Africa, brushing shoulders with Michael Jackson and Michelle Obama, and how Andaz uses data to personalise its offering.

This week we're joined by David Anderson, divisional president of EMEA at Aimbridge Hospitality. He has over 20 years of operational experience leading some of the top hotel companies in the world. We spoke about his journey into the industry, adapting to senior roles and his target of doubling its European portfolio over the next couple of years.