Eric Danziger looks comfortable in his office. It's hard to imagine the charismatic 55-year-old uncomfortable in any setting, but the Wyndham Hotel Group CEO is especially at ease in his new surroundings. He's back at home, the head of a hotel company after eight years away from an industry he never really left. He's back in charge of the new and giant Wyndham, the old and tiny company he once led.

After purchasing the upscale brand in 2005, Cendant Corporation split into four companies, one being the hospitality-focused Wyndham Worldwide and its three business units: Wyndham Hotel Group, Wyndham Vacation Ownership and Group RCI, a vacation exchange and rental company. The new Wyndham, with 12 brands and nearly 7,000 hotels in 67 countries, is the largest hotel company in the world, yet it doesn't roll off anyone's tongue in a ranking of major industry players. Known more as a franchising company — machine, really — than a true hospitality company, Cendant dominated the economy and midscale segments through brand acquisition and franchising. When the company acquired Wyndham with its management capabilities and then took its name, change was clearly coming. When Danziger was hired last November, change arrived.

“This is a hotel company,” Danziger recently said during a wide-ranging interview at Wyndham Worldwide's new and soon-to-be LEED-certified headquarters in Parsippany, NJ. “How could there be a better match than a hotel guy with a hotel company? And the largest on the planet.”

Danziger, who started as a bellman at the San Francisco Fairmont when he was 16 and never made it to college, has otherworldly goals. He wants to take Wyndham Hotel Group to the moon. Wearing a black pinstriped suit, and proudly flashing cuff links that were once President John F. Kennedy's, Danziger intently leans forward as discussion turns to the 35th president: “He said we're going to create a vision and purpose that's so different than anyone would have ever thought: A man on the moon … That vision and ability to say we're going to an entirely different place than what's expected and what people assume we could do and to then put the people, resources, energy and commitment behind it, so that on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong walks on the moon, that is leadership.”

That is also the type of leadership Wyndham Worldwide CEO Steve Holmes got when he hired Danziger. The JFK-junkie — a pair of the president's sunglasses hangs framed behind Danziger's desk — wants to define, and then reach, Wyndham Hotel Group's moon. “Where do we really go that is different, that is unique, that's not just a little better, not just extrapolated growth from where we are today,” he asks. It's the same question he emailed every employee earlier this year.

Danziger doesn't have the answer yet. All he'll say is he wants WHG to become the world's leading hotel company in size, customer value and performance. “The transformation is really about becoming a hotel company,” he simply puts it.

STARTING AT THE TOP

What's funny is the two longtime hotel executives had never met. Holmes says he received some introductory emails from Danziger after the purchase of Wyndham, but the longtime Cendant leader was busy with the transition to Wyndham Worldwide. Danziger kept in email contact and when Holmes began his search to replace WHG CEO Steve Rudnitsky last year, Danziger's name made his list of candidates. Danziger left Carlson Hotels and the industry in 2001 to spend time with his sick father before leading online startups ZipRealty (a real estate brokerage firm) and then WhiteFence (a home services comparison site).

“Within 15 minutes,” Holmes says of their first meeting, “I had decided I found the right person. Not just because of his knowledge of the industry and obvious deep experience, but because of his passion for this business. He wanted to return in a huge way and we needed someone who lived, breathed and bled the hotel industry.”

Holmes isn't sure what Danziger's moon will be, but the goal he's outlined for his new leader is to bring Wyndham Hotel Group's earnings from 25 percent to “at least a third” of all of Wyndham Worldwide. Holmes makes it very clear at the start of a long phone interview that franchising is still and always will be Job One, but expanded offerings like Wyndham and its management component provide great vehicles for growth.

Once hired, Danziger didn't waste any time reorganizing the executive structure of Wyndham Hotel Group. With 30 years experience in the industry, with stints leading not only the old Wyndham but also Carlson and Starwood, Danziger had plenty of loyal and talented contacts in his Rolodex. The senior leaders, 11 direct reports to Danziger, include six people new (or returning) to Wyndham and three promotions or title changes. The new structure adds expertise and focus in hotel operations and customer service.

Danziger doesn't just sit back and watch. He's been very visible within his own office and throughout the industry. “Eric's the type of guy who knows the security guard's name on the way in,” says Jim Alderman, the new executive vice president of development, a former Kimpton exec who got to know Danziger when he served on Kimpton's board during his years away from the industry. “He speaks to everyone and makes it a point to walk the halls, to greet people and make them feel a part of the team.”

He did the same abroad, too, already spending time with Alderman and the global teams in Europe, Asia and Dubai. Danziger made it a point to meet with the trade press in San Diego at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit and he plans on being front and center at all industry events. “If you aren't on the CEO panel at NYU, if you aren't a part of it, it's hard to get people to see you as a hotel company,” he says.