It’s no surprise that Mark Harmon is the founder of Auberge Resorts Collection, a small group of ultra-luxurious hideaways that are at one with their idyllic surroundings. His father was a lawyer-turned-real estate developer—and co-founder of the original Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley, which started as a restaurant in 1981 before adding rooms in 1985—and his mother is an “ardent environmentalist, Sierra Clubber,” he says.
A Northern California native and self-proclaimed lover of all things outdoors, Harmon followed his father’s footsteps and went to law school, but only lasted in that profession for six years before turning to commercial real estate development. But “something kept drawing me to restaurants and hotels,” he says, and in 1998 he formed management company Auberge to grow the family business by both developing and managing new properties, as well as managing other companies’ hotels.
Those nine properties include Esperanza in Los Cabos, which recently underwent a massive renovation by HKS after being destroyed by Hurricane Odile; Calistoga Ranch, crafted by Darrell Schmitt Design Associates and SB Architects, set on 157 acres in a private canyon in Napa Valley; and the legendary Malliouhana resort in Anguilla, which re-emerged last year under the Auberge umbrella from an $80 million renovation by TAL Studio.
Next up: the debut of Auberge’s lifestyle brand VieVage, which is set for resort locations—Los Cabos (with architecture by Glazier Le Architecture and interiors from BAMO and Gulla Jónsdóttir Architecture & Design) and Napa Valley (featuring AvroKO and CCID-designed interiors) are first in 2017 and 2018, respectively—and potentially urban markets down the line; Auberge Resort Sun Valley in Idaho; and resort living offering Auberge Beach Residences in Fort Lauderdale designed by Meyer Davis Studio.
Here, Harmon discusses finding meaning in travel, why Auberge is entering the lifestyle space, and his dislike for long hallways.
On what luxury guests want today
When I started the company, it is something that we’d already been doing for awhile, which is creating one-of-a-kind properties. That was the time that brands, which were reliable and consistent, were king, but we wanted to have personality, to be different from every one of those properties. There were people doing that, but we were a bit of an outlier at the time. Now everybody’s saying, ‘We want to be different, we want to be special, and we don’t want to be homogenous and just another look-alike.’
I’m an aging baby boomer, so I have watched that demographic change from people working really hard and having less time to play to getting to the point where they can take advantage of the things they’d created—their family and wealth. They’re looking for more meaning in travel—before they may have been looking for a getaway to unplug, and today they want to engage much more. So we provide more adventure and more learning and experiences that enrich the guests. Because that’s me. I don’t sit still when I go on vacation. I can’t sit in the chaise in the sun. Let’s go skiing, let’s go mountain climbing, let’s go mountain biking, or let’s go learn in the kitchen.
On launching VieVage
The brand is a little younger in spirit, although we’re not necessarily aiming at a younger demographic. You feel younger when you’re there, because it’s clean and it’s contemporary and it’s fun—a little more approachable.
We were known for the romantic hideaway, very couples-oriented. That’s our DNA. But out of personal experience, I wanted to bring the kids along, or I wanted to go on a biking trip with some buddies, or my wife, Kimberly, wanted to take some girlfriends along. That romantic hideaway with a king bed doesn’t quite work. So I said, ‘What will we do?’
Hotel pet peeves
The most important thing to me is that sense of scale in a place—that you come in and you feel comfortable. I like that sense of intimacy. I hate long hallways. For a long time, we never had any hotels that had guestroom hallways. I like individual cottages. Short hallways are better if you have to be inside.
Outlook for 2016
It looks good because we’re in that very high-end, special niche. But financing is getting more difficult as people are getting nervous—this is one of the longest sustained recoveries since World War II. So we are cautious. Yet I believe going into these cycles is a healthy thing. It tends to weed out the marginal projects, and it’s a good time for finding properties because they will begin to get more reasonably priced. I don’t mind things quieting down a little bit so it’s not as frothy—but no bubbles, please.
Designers—the ones you really want to work with—become more available and not so busy. That’s a good thing, for us. And when there’s change like that, it usually sparks a lot of creativity. People go off on their own or start off in a different direction. They look for something new to get people excited. I think we’re in for a bit more stirring up in the next couple of years.
On expanding the company’s wellness offerings
There are many myths out there about what you should eat, what you shouldn’t eat. It turns out that, by and large, [wellness] is very individual. We’ve been working with the Aspen Club over the years, and I want to integrate the idea that you should have a crafted program that comes with you, and that you can take with you. Either we help you develop it, or you’ve brought it and we accommodate it at the properties.
On trying resort living in Fort Lauderdale
There’s an incredible spa, restaurant, fitness center, and beach club—the core things that we do—and 171 condominiums, but all set on five acres, so it’s really expansive. The idea was to live life more fully in this resort environment, since people in South Florida tend to live in these tall glass boxes.
What we’re seeing there, and it’s a trend that you could see in other markets, is a lot of the residents are empty nesters wanting to move out of the big house into a place that’s got some life to it. I think it’s the way a lot of people want to live.
Why he loves hotels
They have personalities. They have soul if you do them right—they become alive. One of the most gratifying things is creating opportunities for people in the hotels, creating rewarding work and jobs.
I really like coming up with, hopefully, some great ideas—collaborating with designers to create very special places. I look at myself as someone who’s trying to contribute to people’s happiness, to their welfare, and to their enjoyment.
