Joie de Vivre Hospitality's John Pritzker, who vowed last year to almost double the San Francisco-based hotel operator's property count within five years, took a big step toward reaching that goal by merging Joie de Vivre with New York-based Thompson Hotels. Pritzker, son of Hyatt Hotels founder Jay Pritzker, talked with hotels editor Danny King about the merger and his goals for the new, larger company, of which he will be co-chairman.
Q: Thompson Hotels' New York presence was obviously a major factor behind the merger. Had Joie de Vivre already made plans to build there?
A: We own one lot. We bought dirt there, with plans to build, but that's two or three years off. New York's a tough market. The prices were reasonable there for about a half-hour, and then they started shooting up again. And growing by ones and twos isn't our idea of a good time. So to have that kind of presence is just great for us.
Q: When you look at a market like Los Angeles, a property like the Joie de Vivre's Hotel Erwin in Venice is totally different from Thompson's Hollywood Roosevelt. How will the new company tie those types of hotels together?
A: There are a lot of owners that say, "We want a Roosevelt." Well, you can't do a Roosevelt in any other town. It's a pretty particular property -- you can't replicate that. The Erwin is a different price point in a different location, so they're two very different hotels, but they serve the same clientele, to some extent. Then you look at the Angeleno in Brentwood, and that's squarely, geographically and emotionally right down the middle.
Q: How will you keep the individual character of each hotel while balancing the fact that the company has 45 units and will expand beyond that?
A: I saw that situation at Hyatt. We had a very particular kind of loose and cutting-edge culture at Hyatt. And the company, and the industry, evolved as the whole hospitality environment got more finance-oriented. But I have a fervent belief, as does Jason [Pomeranc, Thompson Hotels co-founder], that these hotels ought to represent the locations they sit in. We're not trying to make these uber-serious. We want people to feel at home and be comfortable. It's easy to say we ought to be doing large-scale purchasing programs for things like furnishings. We have to avoid that temptation.
Q: But you now have a bunch of hotels with unrelated names and brands. Will that continue, or will the new company try to tie them all together?
A: We know it's an issue. That to me is a real glitch, and I've been harping on that. Chip [Conley, Joie de Vivre founder] did it for a reason, and Thompson did it for a reason, but that's not something we want to leave unaddressed going forward. It's a huge opportunity, especially for Joie de Vivre. It's a name no one can pronounce and fewer can spell.
Q: How will your experience growing up with Hyatt inform how the new company will grow?
A: My experience at Hyatt was really as an operator. My brother used to say I was the only Pritzker that could actually check someone into the hotel. Having worked at all levels at an operation, I understand what it takes to get these jobs done. Hyatt was a very small hotel company, and I watched it go from seven hotels to where it is today, and I understand the pitfalls.
We're also very fortunate that [Thompson Hotels CEO] Stephen Brandman will run the company. Stephen was around for the InterContinental-Holiday Inn consolidation, so he's the one guy that's actually seen a merger and has seen what to do and what not to do.
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