How is the hotel’s position in a mixed-use complex an advantage?
It’s a unique opportunity because we can tap into the multiple resources of the other hotels. A hotel of 123 rooms by itself wouldn’t have the ability to amass the kind of resources I can access because we’re part of a much bigger facility here. As a result, we can separate ourselves from every other luxury hotel in L.A. because they don’t have the kind of resources we have.

What will be the market for the hotel?
Primarily it will be the luxury customer coming to L.A. for business, entertainment or leisure. We’ll also draw a lot of entertainment groups and sports teams coming to the Staples Center, as well as many of the business travelers who come to L.A.’s financial district business and who would typically stay at a three- or four-star upscale or upper upscale fullservice hotel but now have the opportunity to upgrade to a luxury hotel. We’re also looking at a large leisure segment, especially on the weekends, and higher-end tour business from the Far East. We believe there’s a lot of opportunity here simply because there are no other luxury hotels in this area.

Will the AIG effect be an issue?
People have short memories and thankfully so for that. Also, the industry has been lobbying the government hard to dampen that issue. When it’s all said and done, people need to meet to do business and develop relationships, and hotels provide that platform better than any thing else can. The AIG effect will fade over time, and we’ve already seen signs of it.

Can you describe the staffing process?
We’re blessed because the city of Los Angeles has seen this hotel emerge from the ground for the past six or seven years. Now the tower is complete, and everyone can appreciate what we’re bringing to the community. As a result, we’ve had a lot of interest from staff in other hotels in the area, specifically from our comp set. We recently posted 400-plus jobs and within six hours we had 1,600 applicants. We’ve identified the best talent and soon we’ll have a series of hiring events. We’re looking to create a lot of jobs for the local area. Plus, there will be a component of transfers from within our own company.

How do you turn new hires into “ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen?”
We’ve done it successfully 72 times at the properties we’ve opened so we have a very defined process. We have a 10-day countdown in which we bring in our ladies and gentlemen and focus on our culture, our philosophy, our focus on service and what Ritz-Carlton stands for. We assemble a task force of people from within our company who come in to help us create an environment in which we can transition our people at the end to be full-fledged Ritz Carlton service professionals. We have defined processes and great training programs that we’ve tweaked over time.

After 20 years in the business, what is it that still excites you about hotels?
Every day is different. While life in general is predictable, there’s nothing predictable about the hotel industry. You work in buildings that are different and with ownership groups that have diverse interests. There’s not a business I know of that provides the diversity of opportunity and excitement this business does.