Eric Danziger joined Hampshire Hotels Management in April just as the company was looking for growth opportunities as well as a dose of stability. With founder Sant Chatwal beset by legal issues, Danziger's mission is to reach development deals for more hotels under Hampshire's Chatwal, Dream, Night and The Time brands. Danziger, who's previously served as Starwood Hotels' CEO, Carlson Hotels' COO and CEO of Wyndham Worldwide's Wyndham Hotels division, spoke with hotels editor Danny King.
Q: How do you like the new job?
A: I'm infinitely more at peace with what I'm doing. I was with Wyndham for almost six years, and I traveled 200 days a year. We created a great hotel company and grew it. Now it's time to do it again. But it's very different than Wyndham. I get to live and work in New York City, which is super cool.
Q: You joined the company under unusual circumstances: Founder Sant Chatwal in April pleaded guilty to a scheme involving illegal donations toward Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. How does that impact your job?
A: [Chatwal] is a very honorable guy, despite this mistake he made. He told me about the issue before I reported to work. I've known him for 20 years, and I think he's a good man who did a bad thing. But it's not relevant to me or our company today. He's a very caring, loyal person, and ... I'm very pleased he was straightforward with me.
Q: You're coming from a company with almost 7,200 hotels to one with 13 properties. What are your immediate goals?
A: We're designing our strategy, which will include five branded and managed hotel [brands]: Chatwal, which is luxury; Dream, which is an upper-upscale lifestyle hotel; The Time, which is also upper-upscale, but a little quieter; Night, which is a limited-service product; and a new lifestyle brand that will compete in the three-star space. We should announce that name within the next two months.
We have 13 hotels now and probably 11 in the pipeline, although we have a business plan that shows several hundred hotels in our future. But I feel that brands do the wrong things if they target a number instead of targeting the achievement of great hotels. Growth will chase us.
Many hotel companies want to create a product that makes you feel at home. Our product isn't that. It should be memorable. Travel is hard.
Q: What's going on with New York's Plaza Hotel? [Hampshire manages its food and beverage program, while Fairmont oversees guestroom operations.] The property is again rumored to be for sale. Any change in plans for that property?
A: Every 13 minutes, there's an article about someone buying the Plaza. There's nothing I can add. We have a contract to go forward irrespective of ownership. We love [Subrata Roy, Sahara Group chief] as an owner, but we can't control the situation, nor do we know what his options are.
Q: You started as a doorman at San Francisco's Fairmont. What are some of your pet peeves?
A: The service should start when you hit a door. One pet peeve is when I check into a hotel, and the host asks, "Have you stayed at our hotel before?" and I say, "Yes, I've stayed with you 13 times. Why don't you know that?" Also, don't let design lead function. What can happen is that you can end up in a bathroom with lighting that looks cool except when you're shaving and you can't see yourself shaving.
Follow Danny King on Twitter @dktravelweekly.