Birthplace: Baltimore
Education: Loyola College [now Loyola University Maryland] and UNLV William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration
Career history: Westin, Fairmont, Marriott
Current: Advisor on hospitality investments to the Blackstone Group and other private equity companies
Current and past portfolio: Hilton Worldwide, Motel 6, LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Maybourne Hotel Group (Claridge’s, the Berkeley, and the Connaught), and the London West Hollywood and London NYC
Member: Cornell School of Hotel Administration Dean’s Advisory Board
Job description: As an advisor to Blackstone for the last 20 years, I’ve been involved in the buying and selling of hotels and in the repositioning of assets. We provide the vision of what we want to build, and we hire and provide inspiration to those we choose to design the buildings.
Design partners: James Looney, Alexandra Champalimaud, David Rockwell, David Collins, Thierry Despont, Tony Chi, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the Gettys Group, Barbara Barry, Adam D. Tihany, Fiona Thompson, amongst others.
Inspiring designers: Most designers are so into their work that they never need to be motivated. They want to put the play on. But they need to be told what you’re trying to accomplish. You might show them an image—not to copy, but to inspire. You hire a designer because they understand space and scale and color. And when you say, ‘Yes, this is the track,’ they go like all hell.
Satisfaction: I love beautiful spaces that people enjoy, that wear well, are functional, and light people up. When I did [London’s] Claridge’s with Thierry Despont [in 2000], the hotel was dowdy and not fun. He did an amazing job and when you saw what he did, the way the hotel was used, and the [increased] revenues—in my world, interior design is used to reposition products to make them more profitable. When I see a beautiful hotel and there’s no one there, I know it’s by a designer who hasn’t evolved.
