What Luxury Hotel Guests Really Want

Glenn: [00:00:00] Hey everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of No Vacancy Live. I’m Glenn Haussman, your host, along with the awesome, incredible, fantastic doctor producer Suzanne. How are you today?

Suzanne: [00:00:13] I am doing well, but I feel like your land or your ocean, your water is far superior to mine in terms of that color. So I am super excited for what today is going to be.

Glenn: [00:00:27] Yeah. That’s because we’re going to be speaking to a hotelier that’s far superior to my hotelier abilities here at the resort pool club and smokehouse, so it should be good. You know, obviously we’ve been talking a lot about mainstream hospitality market, but we’re not paying enough attention to what’s going on in that luxury segment. Luxury segment is transforming. It’s becoming huge. And meanwhile, at the Windjammer Landing down in Saint Lucia, they just did like $40 million reinvention, changing the way they’re doing luxury and introducing a really cool new concept over there called La Belle Hélene. It’s a former royal retreat turned private estate. Sounds just like the sort of thing they won’t let me into, but let’s find out and bring on Almando Rigby, general manager over at Windjammer Landing. Great to meet you. How are you today, sir?

Almando: [00:01:17] It’s ditto. It’s great to meet you as well. I’m. I’m wonderful. The Glenn. Of course you’re invited, man. You’re welcome.

Glenn: [00:01:24] Thanks. I really appreciate it. Look at this, man. You get to work here. Yeah.

Almando: [00:01:29] Oh, I I can’t believe it myself.

Glenn: [00:01:33] Yeah. No wonder why you look so so happy. So tell me, tell me a little bit about before we get started on the property itself. What what ignited your love for being in the hotel business? And when did you say, oh, I gotta be a GM one day. This is my future.

Almando: [00:01:50] Oh my gosh, that’s a great question. So I’m, I, I was born in the Bahamas. But I’m from Turks and Caicos.

Glenn: [00:01:58] Oh, cool.

Almando: [00:01:58] Right. And so, so I, I, my, my, my parents, grandparents, all of my generations from Turks and Caicos. I was born in the Bahamas, grew up in the Bahamas, went to high school. And of course you’re in the Bahamas. The Bahamas is hospitality, the Bahamas is tourism. And so you, you learn hospitality very early from your grandmother. She told you how to make your bed and. And she always had a table set at the at the house. You couldn’t sit in her living room because it was always made up and set. It was made up and set for guests when guests come over. And so very early you, you got into knowing how to take care of people. And then of course, I, I then went home to Turks and Caicos and there’s another country where hospitality is. That’s all we do. And so very, very early in life, growing up in those two countries, hospitality was always in my face. I, I had to be a part of hospitality.

Glenn: [00:02:52] And it’s also, I would say for most Caribbean places, It’s really an area of financial opportunity and a place to build a very strong career as well.

Speaker 4: [00:03:02] Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Almando: [00:03:04] Exactly. And and, and, you know, like with countries like the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, we have great proximity to the United States. We have, of course, beautiful beaches. And so yeah, it, it made it easy to be a part of hospitality. So how’d you find.

Glenn: [00:03:19] Oh, sorry. Go on, Armando, please continue.

Speaker 4: [00:03:21] I know you.

Almando: [00:03:22] Would cost me or got me into wanting to be a general manager, and I like that. I like that question because in my hospitality journey, I’ve been in various departments. But housekeeping was the one that I think prepared me the most to be a general manager.

Speaker 4: [00:03:36] It’s the hardest.

Glenn: [00:03:37] Job, first of all.

Speaker 4: [00:03:38] Oh for sure.

Almando: [00:03:39] I, I, I used to be an assistant executive housekeeper as well as executive housekeeper. And one of the things that I would always tell people about housekeepers is nobody who’s a housekeeper wants their child or children to follow them.

Speaker 4: [00:03:52] That’s right.

Almando: [00:03:53] Nobody says, you know, I would like for my son to take over my job as a houseman or housekeeper. But that never stopped those people from taking pride in their work. It didn’t stop them from wanting to do a good job and being proud of doing that job and, and, and, and looking at it at the end of the day and saying, wow, I’m, I’m happy about what I’ve done. Even though it wasn’t a luxurious job, it wasn’t a luxurious position. It wasn’t a position that you would wish that someone who related to you have is still dealing with pride. And that that that said a lot to me because it’s easy to do a job when you’re in the front of the house, you wear a nice uniform, everybody can see you and want to be good. But what about the job? When you have to clean and you have to get dirty? And so I think that prepared me the most because the, the mindset and the attitude that that person have to have every day to want to come and do that job. I think that.

Glenn: [00:04:40] That do their, do the right thing, even when no one is looking pretty.

Almando: [00:04:44] Exactly, exactly, exactly.

Speaker 4: [00:04:46] That’s Suzanne.

Suzanne: [00:04:48] That is a very strong path to go in towards being a general manager. So in this new experience that you have elevating yourself from those roles, how have those roles helped you in being a general manager that adds value to your team?

Almando: [00:05:08] Oh, that’s, that’s amazing. So yeah, like I said, being in Turks and Caicos, Turks and Caicos, I, I’ve worked in a lot of luxury resorts, great resorts. Rocco’s, I left Rocco’s came here. And so I’m very familiar with, with, with luxury resorts, but I think it is, it is people who, who can afford to go to a luxury resort can afford to go anywhere in the world. If they can go to borrow, borrow, they can go to Turks and Caicos, they can go to Saint Lucia. It is the people that that, that you come back for. It is, it is, it is the island, it’s the culture. And and for me, working with people, I, I’m, I, I, I believe in people. I, I believe that, that, that we need to develop people and people are going to be that, that, that magnet that brings the guests that you want to come back into. Just working in those areas, though, I tell you about working in housekeeping, I. I also work in engineering department, I, I worked at the front desk. I worked as a night auditor. And so a lot of areas around the hotel and just getting to work with people and, and seeing how people take pride in, in, in, in what they do, even without luxurious positions. Has helped me tremendously.

Glenn: [00:06:19] I bet it’s also helped that you did work all those jobs so people know that you’re, you, you act the, you know, the way you talk. You’ve done it. You’ve been there.

Speaker 4: [00:06:29] Sure. It definitely helps.

Almando: [00:06:31] It definitely helps. I, oh, every, every time I tell people like, you know, I, I, I worked in housekeeping and I worked as an engineer and I worked at the front desk. I worked as a night auditor. Like what didn’t you do in the hotel? I, I worked as a busboy. I, I mean, I, I put in some work.

Speaker 4: [00:06:47] Yep.

Glenn: [00:06:48] Yeah. For sure. So now you’re, now you’re in a beautiful resort. Absolutely incredible. It’s part of leading hotels of the world. It’s for Forbes travel guide recommended this year. We love our friends over at Forbes. So anytime I see that I get, I get happy. So what is it today that you think the luxury customer is looking for that gets them to want to stay with you instead of the billion other luxury experiences they could have on planet earth?

Almando: [00:07:21] So I remember, I think all of us remember the a time we don’t want to talk about it. That’s Covid. Yeah. Right. And so coming out of Covid, people wanted privacy.

Speaker 4: [00:07:32] That’s right.

Almando: [00:07:33] People wanted an experience that didn’t bring them in close contact with people that wasn’t in their circle. And they still wanted all of the bells and whistles of a luxury experience, where there where there is, you know, your public service. You want it, you want it full. The full amenities of of all that you could get, but not in this big resort with around a million people. And I think for, for Windjammer in particular, with LaBelle we, we have, we have. We have. Oh, I’m so sorry.

Speaker 4: [00:08:10] That’s okay. Yeah.

Almando: [00:08:12] So what we have with we’ve offered with LaBelle is an ability for someone, for people to travel come to Saint Lucia, which is a beautiful destination and has this iconic pitons. And LaBelle sits in the middle between the two pitons. And there’s, there’s like, I’ll tell you around Saint Lucia. I don’t know if you can see this view anywhere else. It sits smack dab in the middle of the two Tetons. It gives you the beautiful panoramic view. It offers all of the privacy that you you could want. It offers offers all of the upscale luxury. In terms of all of the touch points that you you could want, but it also allows you to be a part of like you just talked about a hotel that’s connected to the Forbes Travel Guide. The only leading hotel property of the world that is in Saint Lucia. And so it’s a very exciting thing. People who travel who, who know about Forbes travel guide, who knows that the properties that are connected to Forbes would they have to offer Windjammer and Helen has all of that to offer?

Glenn: [00:09:14] Yeah, absolutely. Beautiful. Plus, what I really like is you have different types of accommodations that that create different types of experiences. So I could have a wholly new experience each time I go. I could be with my family one time in a, in one type of property, you know, more of a traditional room in another or a la Belle Hélene in another. So that’s, that’s pretty awesome in itself. How how do you think about the accommodations versus private residence club versus everything else that you’re doing over there.

Speaker 4: [00:09:48] And I think.

Almando: [00:09:49] I think, as you said, you have you offer so much different accommodations in terms of if you come with your family one time and Windjammer offers.

Almando: [00:09:58] Big is if you have 64 acres, over 64 acres for your, your, your family to come in and explore it. It is, it is, it is such a unique property and it’s on, on a beach that that allows you to relax with your family. The, the pool is beautiful. The, the, the kids town. The kids club is beautiful. Every day there’s, there’s tons of amenities or tons of activities on, on the property and then Windjammer, then with the with the addition of La Belle, we we offer you something that no other resort can offer you in, in all of Saint Lucia, and that is that not the South. Combination. And so you can come and you could spend a couple of days at La Belle at our private luxury villa, and you could spend a couple of days there, enjoy time with your family, enjoy time with your friends or whatever. And then you can come on on a boat that we have, we, we, we also have a, a, a luxury boat that can bring you from the north to the south. You don’t have to drive. Take that drive up, come over and spend some time at Windjammer. You could take your kids to the kids town so they could be around other kids. And, and they could, they could spend the day. We have four restaurants here that you could enjoy. And so it, it, it’s, it’s an offering that is not available with any other property in all of Saint Lucia.

Glenn: [00:11:18] So how do you communicate that to the world when you’re thinking about marketing and, and, and stuff? Because again, it’s, there’s a lot of noise out there and you got to cut through that clutter.

Speaker 4: [00:11:29] Yeah.

Almando: [00:11:30] That’s a, that’s a very good question. So our, our sales and marketing team, of course, are, are, are definitely recording this.

Glenn: [00:11:37] My guess is they’re probably at Virtuoso in Las Vegas.

Almando: [00:11:40] And you. You understand? Yeah, that would be a good guess. That would be a good guess. So. So you’re beating every bush. You go into all of the la W events, all the virtuoso events. We will have LA Miami. We’re getting prepared to go to the iltm. We, we, we going to, to can, you know, all of these events, you, you’re going to go to, you’re going to eat the bush and you’re going to let the get the word out, let people know.

Glenn: [00:12:04] Yeah. Do you do Imax as well?

Almando: [00:12:07] Yes. Yes, exactly.

Glenn: [00:12:10] I got to go to the reason why I’m asking these questions. I’ve now gone from interview to I want to know more about this stuff. So maybe I should go check some of those events out because I don’t.

Almando: [00:12:17] You gotta check it out.

Glenn: [00:12:19] Yeah. I was at virtuoso last year. I thought it was it was pretty awesome. And I’d like to check more out in the future.

Almando: [00:12:24] So our team is on all of these events. We’re trying to get this the, the news out. Get the story out, let everyone know. And, and like I say with, with la Belle Helen, we, we’re so excited about that North to south combination in Saint Lucia. Anybody who’s been to Saint Lucia knows that when you land in the airport, the international airport is at the south of the island and sometimes, well, to get to the north of the island, it’s a drive. It’s about an hour drive or hour and a half drive. And with with us having the the boat and having the Belle Helen, you could land in the south, get to the to the the villa quite quickly. This is in the south of the island. And then when you want to come up to experience north of the island, you can get here on the boat in, in a couple of minutes, 45 minutes you’re here. You don’t have to worry about the drive up. It is super exciting. And so like I said, our sales and marketing team are beating the bushes, letting everyone know about what we have to offer here.

Glenn: [00:13:16] So does your sales and marketing team actually need to know anything about sales and marketing, or do they just go, hey, look at this picture. Thank you very much for your business.

Almando: [00:13:23] I mean, the the picture helps, you know, I, I mean, the pictures to start. Yeah, that’s definitely got to know.

Glenn: [00:13:31] Yeah. So

Suzanne: [00:13:33] That’s great. Get to that. Next question. I want to talk about your business segmentation.

Glenn: [00:13:37] Of.

Suzanne: [00:13:37] It. You threw out there Emacs as one of those. And that’s a little bit more on the meeting side. And you’ve mentioned that you’ve got a lot of family opportunity and and kids club component. How are you attracting the business client or the meeting client? And what are the amenities that your location has to offer those folks?

Almando: [00:13:59] Oh, so we, we’ve doing our renovation. We talk about a $40 million renovation. During our renovation. We, we upgraded our meeting facilities. Our conference room was part of that upgrade. And so we, we do offer packages that can, can attract that. And then we have, we, we have so many room options that will allow for, for, for meeting in mice. Yeah, opportunities here at the property. And so yeah, our, our, our renovations took in, in mind that, that type of thing.

Glenn: [00:14:30] Yeah, I was recently at a

Suzanne: [00:14:31] I just want to clarify what he means by mice because I don’t want them to think that that there are rodents running around.

Almando: [00:14:39] Thank you very much.

Suzanne: [00:14:41] So that’s going to be your meetings and your conventions and your exhibitions.

Speaker 5: [00:14:48] So that’s incentive.

Almando: [00:14:50] Incentives.

Speaker 5: [00:14:51] Yes, yes. Yeah. Right.

Almando: [00:14:53] I appreciate that.

Speaker 5: [00:14:54] The incentive.

Glenn: [00:14:55] Thing is kind of like rewarding people and all that for those young folks who don’t realize that. So I was recently at a resort that had like a, a nine bedroom home and I was there for family stuff. But I was talking to the, the president of the resort and she was saying that they’re really focused on groups too, and that that’s got to be a great little niche for you to bring people together in some of these these villas and stuff, for example, to do some high level meetings, but everyone still has their personal space but can meet in a real casual environment. What percentage of meetings or is it even just a growing part of your business? Do you think.

Almando: [00:15:32] So? I think it’s a growing part of our business. It’s a. It’s a part of our business that we we actually we’re going after. It’s, it’s growing. It’s not a huge percentage. Not now.

Speaker 5: [00:15:42] I think it’s like an emerging.

Glenn: [00:15:43] Category of opportunity right now.

Almando: [00:15:46] Yes, it is, it is. And in Solutia is becoming more and more popular people. People are. We we’re getting more and more airlift. And, and of course, we we we’re going after getting even more airlift to, to the, to the destination. And I think it’s, it’s, it’s like you say it’s emerging. It’s growing.

Glenn: [00:16:03] Yeah, that airlift thing is always complicated. I can’t speak to any, any hotel here from the Caribbean without mentioning that airlift issue because you’re so tightly tethered to that. So how do you build relationships with airlines and stuff like that? And the government, in order to make sure that you’re chosen by the the major carriers and stuff.

Almando: [00:16:25] So, you know, one of the things, one of the things with any resort, we, we, we have to know that we, we exist within the island that we are. We are part of. So we are part of the country. And so what we want to do, we work with the the, the tourism Association that’s here hotel and Tourism Association. Here we, we want to be in those rooms. We want those boards. And so we talk to the to the government about how important it is. But also we talked about creating or improving the infrastructure on the island and improving the airports. And those are conversations that we have on a regular with with the tourism association with, with the, with the governments and, and, and the government has been more and more aggressive even in their recent budgets. They, they, they are actually adding in contingencies for those things. And so we’re happy about it, we’re happy about where it’s going and, and the conversations that we’ve been having.

Speaker 5: [00:17:14] That’s, and.

Glenn: [00:17:15] It’s so essential. Sorry, Suzanne, go for.

Speaker 5: [00:17:16] It, please.

Suzanne: [00:17:17] Do you almost like from a reservation standpoint, do you almost keep track of like a regrets and denials component to have some of that data, to have those conversations with the association to if you’ve got clients that are saying that there’s not enough flights or you can’t get in based on the timing, like how do you help support that? Because I feel like data is a big piece of what they need to see it, not just saying Armando’s wants more, more flights to the area.

Almando: [00:17:44] I think, Susan, you answered it exactly. That’s exactly what we’re doing. We we we are. And we’re working together with with with with hotels that that, you know, would otherwise be our competitors. But in this particular thing, we’re united, right. And this area and on this particular point, we’re not united on, on because if you, if you have a guest who’s going to come to a, a luxury resort in particular, that that guest’s going to come to a luxury resort, they’re going to pay a certain amount. They, they want to sit in the front end of the plane as well. You know, if you’re going to come somewhere, you’re going to. Yeah. And so.

Speaker 5: [00:18:16] Oh, I got another.

Almando: [00:18:17] Question.

Speaker 5: [00:18:18] For you. Let’s go, let’s go.

Glenn: [00:18:19] In front of the front of the plane. Private. How is it? Are you finding that that is helpful towards your business? Because it seems to me if someone’s going to be saying la Belle Helene. They don’t have a problem flying private.

Almando: [00:18:33] That is that is so true. And and and all of that is all of that is conversations that we are definitely having. And to students we’re using that data. From, from, like you said, lost opportunities. And, and we’re, we’re saying, hey, hey, look, there is a demand. People want to come, we can show you that this people want to come and not just from Windjammer. We can show you from all of the other hotels around the island and we work together. We’re, we’re united on that. And I, I feel like it, it is, it’s going a good direction.

Glenn: [00:19:03] So where are your main drivers of business coming from? Is it mostly the United States East Coast based or do you get from UK? How does that work for you?

Almando: [00:19:11] So so we the United States East coast is our major drivers, but we do have UK historically we’ve been a real, real sought after destination for UK, you know East coast, United States Americans are a little bit different. Americans will come on a Thursday and leave on a Sunday, where someone from the UK will come and stay for two weeks.

Glenn: [00:19:31] Yeah, right.

Almando: [00:19:31] Yeah yeah.

Glenn: [00:19:33] Yeah. Take the flight from JFK, probably in three hours. Be a Jew or something. Yeah.

Almando: [00:19:37] Yeah. So you get here quickly. Yeah. And and you can you. Yeah. And so but but the United States is, is a, is a market that is our major driver, but it’s, it’s growing as well. And, and, and we’re seeing flights out of places like Atlanta and Charlotte and, and, and those, those areas. Yeah.

Glenn: [00:19:54] All right. When you say Atlanta, that means I could fly there with Delta, which is very helpful. Yeah.

Almando: [00:19:58] Yeah. You can, you can. Yeah.

Glenn: [00:20:00] Miami first, which is which is, which is nice. That’s

Suzanne: [00:20:04] Pick me up on the way.

Glenn: [00:20:06] Oh, yeah. Of course you.

Almando: [00:20:08] Can’t leave Susan.

Glenn: [00:20:09] Well, honestly, we’re flying private, so it doesn’t matter. We got we could, we could. We’ll circle around our house, drop a rope. She’ll just grab on. We’ll pull her up, you know? Oh.

Almando: [00:20:18] Awesome.

Glenn: [00:20:20] So. But, Amanda, what really are luxury guests wanting today, right? They have everything that they want, right? And I’ve, we’ve always been we’ve been talking about for decades. It’s time, connectivity, togetherness maybe a good meal, but primarily, what are people looking for when they come to visit you?

Almando: [00:20:44] I mean, I think all of those things are definitely relevant. I think people, people want all those things. But but also, I think people also people don’t want to think I, I, when you’re talking about a luxury traveler, you’re not looking to think I’m not looking to have to ask about everything. So, so for, for us gathering all that information pre-arrival and, and so that when, when someone comes, they don’t have to, they could just be on vacation. They can leave their brain wherever they, they were. And they could know that everything is taken care of. They can know that they, they’re taken care of by people who genuinely care. The people who, who, who, who want to be there and want to look out for them. And so you, you name all the points you could, you could alter to, to all of the, the talking points. But people don’t want to have to think.

Glenn: [00:21:36] Yeah.

Almando: [00:21:37] They, they, they, yes.

Glenn: [00:21:39] That is the true luxury man I love. Anyway, seriously, one of the, the, one of the best trips I ever took was a family vacation to Israel. And yeah, the country was magical, but there was somebody with us. It’s like, go here, I hear your tickets. Get in the car. I’m driving you somewhere. Here’s a restaurant. And I didn’t have to think about one thing that was amazing. Yeah, yeah.

Almando: [00:22:03] I went I, I, I have a friend who went to France for the first time and somebody planned her trip to France and she, she ate at like 3 or 4 different Michelin star restaurants. And she needed a, a place that she would have passed along the way. She would have never stopped into that small cafe because the name didn’t mean nothing. But the experience was so good. And I think when somebody comes on a luxury vacation, all of the things that we talk about, all the talking points we could talk about, they just don’t want to have to think about anything. And, and, and, and you recommend things based on as if you knew them. And they said, like, this is great.

Suzanne: [00:22:40] So you mentioned the, the collection of data and information prior to they them coming.

Glenn: [00:22:46] Watch out for this one. Armando. She’s

Suzanne: [00:22:50] And then as you have guests that are there, they don’t necessarily want to think. So how do you infuse the use of technology into your experience across your properties, but yet not make it necessarily be in the face of the guest, but use it to enhance the experience?

Almando: [00:23:09] Oh, that’s a that’s a very good question. I mean, you know, the thing about, about technology when you start talking about technology today, I, I guess there, there are, there are two letters that you have to always think about it. You talk about AI, right? And so and, and so I think, I think though technology, you could use technology, but you can use like historically what we always did in hospitality, right. And, and what I, what I mean by that is this you, you, you could, you could overuse technology in, in Google someone and Google their name. And then, and then I’m, I’m googling Susan. And then there’s five people with Susan’s name. And then do I get the right. Susan. I think the, the thing is a conversation, having a conversation with people trying to find the right information and, and technology can help you find the right information, ask the right questions. But those real conversations, you could never be replaced with technology. The the real know how of people who know Saint Lucia, who’s on the ground, who’ve grown, who grew up here, who could tell you to go to the street vendor on the side of the road as you drive to grocery? Who could tell you to stop? To the guy who’s selling pork and pig tail on the side of the road. And you could get you can get a local juice and you can go to the to the market and talk to Glenda because Glenda can give you a true, authentic you, you, you can’t replace that with technology. Technology can help you plan an itinerary. It can help you, you know, focus on doing that. So it could look good. But that knowledge, that person on the ground, who knows are beautiful.

Glenn: [00:24:43] I love it. And that’s what’s going to continue to be the differentiating factor for great places like you to help you drive business, which drives memories, which gets people to come back over and over again. Anything else that you want to add before we wrap up?

Almando: [00:24:58] Oh, I just want to say, if you’ve never been to Saint Lucia, I don’t know what you’re waiting, waiting on. It is an iconic destination, the beautiful pitons. You can’t see them anywhere in the world. And let me tell you, seeing it on a picture does not do the job of seeing it with your own eyes. You need to come to Saint Lucia. Of course. Come to Windjammer. We. We are waiting for you. This is where true hospitality lives. And we’re looking forward to seeing you. Come on down.

Glenn: [00:25:26] Awesome. And if you’re flying private, pick me up at the Islip airport here on long.

Speaker 6: [00:25:30] I got you. Alright.

Glenn: [00:25:32] Awesome. Amanda, thank you so much for being here.

Almando: [00:25:35] I appreciate you so much. Thank you so much, Glenn. Thank you so much, Susan, for having me.

Glenn: [00:25:40] Appreciate you bro. I appreciate all of you guys for being here. Alright, take give us one big takeaway today, professor.

Suzanne: [00:25:48] I am really excited to see and see the level of success that they’re going to have with their renovation and, and the way in which you can get to the different resorts. I would love to be able to jump on that boat for that experience.

Glenn: [00:26:03] Yeah, I like it too. And if you want more great experiences, be sure to like, share, subscribe, all of that kind of good stuff. And until then, remember you’ve got one life. So blaze on and.

Suzanne: [00:26:13] Follow your passion.

Glenn: [00:26:14] See y’all later. Have a great day. Bye.