It’s one of the many strengths of the hospitality industry that there are periodically success stories of hard-working and ambitious young hoteliers, working their way up to head some of the world’s largest hotel groups, and becoming a source of inspiration of all those that work for them.
One could certainly argue that some of the world’s biggest banks and multi-nationals would be better off if the people in charge had the kind of education in frontline service that comes so naturally to hoteliers.
One such success story is that of Sofitel Worldwide CEO Robert Gaymer-Jones, who developed a career from working in a hotel kitchen to leading the operations of a multi-national luxury hotel chain.
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Having graduated from university with a degree in hotel management, Gaymer-Jones began his career as a chef, and worked for a range of Michelin starred restaurants and hotels across the UK.
“I loved being a chef, and I loved being involved in the operation of running kitchens in hotels all over the world,” he explains. “However, eventually I began to feel that the creativity I was using in the kitchen was just as important in the back of house operations, so to speak. I began to think that I might want to try running a hotel myself, which is what I was able to do. And in the end I enjoyed running a hotel just as much as I ever enjoyed running a kitchen.”
Having made his move out of the kitchen as an F&B manager, Gaymer-Jones moved to assistant manager and general manager positions, before eventually ascending to the role of the vice president of European operations for Marriott International.
“Running a hotel is very much like running a kitchen, in that you’re ultimately in charge of every guest, just like you’re in charge of every plate of food. And those similarities continue to exist as you move into senior roles, where you are looking after hotels and looking after owners, and giving them the same level of attention as you would when preparing a fabulous meal. And I got a buzz out of that.”
Out of the frying pan
This rebranding of himself from a successful chef into one of the most senior hotel operators in Europe became a useful starter for the next part of his career, when the French hotel group Accor offered him the opportunity to head up the repositioning of its Sofitel hotel brand.
“Accor were looking at Sofitel, which at that time had around 206 hotels, and asking themselves ‘what are we going to do with this brand. Are we going to sell it or keep it?’
“Eventually, Accor decided to re-position the Sofitel brand in a similar way to Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton, to create a distinct luxury hotel brand which would help to elevate the profile of the Accor group as a whole”.
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