Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
This to CEOs you should know.On iHeartRadio, I'm Keith Hotchkiss. What
was it like to be a hotelgeneral manager when the COVID lockdowns up ended
the industry? We sat down withGiapolo, general manager of the Kimpton Schofield
in Cleveland, for a wide rangingconversation on leadership during tough times and the
renaissance of downtown. Talk to meabout what's been happening and what's going to
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happen. Yeah, so, travelas an industry changed drastically in the light
of COVID. It's something we don'tlike to talk about too much anymore because
it Instead of it looking as acrutch as to why things haven't returned to
normal, we look at it asan opportunity for us to change and grow
and develop. Travel from a businessperspective, from a leisure perspective is booming.
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You can tell just by the amountof traffic coming into downtown on a
given Monday or Tuesday morning, withpeople returning to office and work from home
kind of slowly morphing. People wantto get back out and have those human
connections and have meetings face to faceand explore new cities. From a leisure
perspective. I think we've seen ahuge increase in folks and drive markets.
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So instead of flying to take someextravagant, lavish vacation, we're seeing a
lot more you know, low keystaycations or people from like a you know,
three to six hour radius coming intodifferent cities to explore. You know.
I had a conversation yesterday with ToddFetterman, who's the CEO of North
Coast Ventures, and he is partof funding startups, and they talked a
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little bit about these startups that arenot making human connections face to face and
not having face to face team meetingsaren't doing as well as the ones that
are. So you're seeing some ofthat, right The progressive companies that want
to see their culture continue to expandare coming back in. You're seeing leisure.
Can you talk a little bit abouthow you at Kimpton as a boutique
hotel sort of compete in those you'vegot luxury and you've got like a little
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bit more affordability in certain areas.How does that work for you? Right?
So, from a human connection,something that's founded with Kimpton as a
brand is that human element. Sothat human element translates into just the team
members that we have on property thatwe like to celebrate and explore their personalities
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and let that shine through, asopposed to a hotel that you might go
to that feels very cookie cutter,where everybody looks the same, dress as
the same and sticks to a script. At Kimpton, we're a little bit
unscripted in our personality and in justthe way we deliver service. We also
take a ton of pride in beingvery pet centric as opposed to just being
pet friendly, so we love peopleto come with their dogs. The more
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dogs, the more cats, themore birds, the marrier. How often
do you see birds? I reallywant to know. I don't think I
have actually seen a bird, Butthere are stories of hotels that have had
some very strange pets with Kimpton andwe accept them. Are today's leisure travel
or looking for in a hotel?You mentioned the personality and the sort of
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less cookie cutter approach, but areyou know we know that housekeeping service has
been slower or not as much inother areas and maybe it's not as necessary.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthe experience now and what people are
looking for? Absolutely? I thinkwith a change in the economy, with
more leisure travel spending directly like theirown dollar, and with a lot of
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prices increasing. Just from an economyperspective, people are looking for that experience,
that value add But mostly what's goingto make this experience different than every
other what's going to be an instagramworthy moment, what's going to be what's
going to be just something unique andspecial? Those added touches from housekeeping to
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the front desk service to we havea wine hour, a complementary wine hour
every night from five to six pm. Whether or not you like wine.
What a lovely offering. Who doesn'twant free wine in the lobby from six
Yeah, when you check in andthere's a line in front of you and
a manager is coming up to youand saying, would you like a glass
or red or white? What alovely experience that is, And maybe it
makes the price tag that comes withyour leisure vacation a little bit less less
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damaging. You mentioned downtown. I'mobviously we are broadcasting or I guess I
should say podcasting from a downtown locationright next door to you, guys,
and I love to see more peoplecoming into downtown. Are you seeing people
who have returned to the office,book stays and make more reservations, you
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know, at the restaurant as anexample, can you have you seen that?
So lunch rush at the restaurant hasdefinitely increased. You see a lot
more foot traffic coming through the lobbyof the hotel, a lot more foot
traffic, especially positioned right across fromHeinen. Seeing so much foot traffic in
that grand intersection. I think theKimpton Schofield has the best location in downtown
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being on the corner of Ninth thanyou and you really get to you really
get to gauge the busyness for lackof a better word, of the downtown
city based on standing on that streetcorner. What can you talk a little
bit about the historic nature of thebuilding. Kimpton Scofield is located in one
of the as you mentioned, premiercorners in downtown Cleveland. What's the history
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of that building? Like, what'swhat's it? What was it like before?
So it has a really cool history. It's a very rich history that
the designers of the hotel with Kimptonreally tried to embody and keep little nods
to. So the building was builtby Leevi Schofield back in the early nineteen
hundreds. That's the Scofield. That'sthe Schofield, Okay, which he's our
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namesake for our Leevi Level, Soour eighth floor of apartment style hotel rooms
is actually called the Levi Level.We have a Scofield Suite, we have
a Rockefeller suite, we have afamily suite, we have a Zen suite.
And what's the Zen suite? Whatdo you get there then, sweetest
for when you want a little bitof an escape from your typical hotel room.
So we have fresh eucalyptus in theshower, we have essential oils,
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we have a weighted blanket, wehave a little zen garden, we have
self help books. I think I'llbe making a reservation there. Right we're
talking with Gia Polo, the generalmanager the Kimpton Schofield downtown Cleveland. So,
Gia, you've been in the hotelindustry for a long time, You've
seen a lot of changes. Talkabout what for those that might be interested
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in getting into the hotel leisure business, what does a general manager need in
terms of skills and what's it like. It doesn't seem like it's a Monday
through Friday nine to five. Jobright, people stay in hotels twenty four
to seven. So can you talka little bit about how you manage and
lead your team. I think leadershipof a hotel you have to think that
you're leading a lot of different groupsof people. So you're in charge of
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your guests, You're in charge ofyour team members, You're in charge of
your department heads. You have toreport to your corporate above property folks,
and then also the folks that havean ownership interest in your hotel. There's
a lot of different moving pieces andwith each audience comes a different version of
yourself. I think it true leadershipin a hotel is about delegating, but
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it's about hiring for heart and hiringthe right people that will achieve your mission.
That they will they will be yourright hand. They will see to
it that the guests are taking careof, the team is taking care of,
and the property is loved. Becausesometimes that's the hardest part about leadership,
right, is the transfer of passion. Right. You know, you
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want your team members the front deskand I want my team members the sales
team to be attentive to the customer, even if it's not necessarily immediately rewarding
to them. Right, you caneither look down at your laptop and get
this paid the same or you canbe smiley and cheerful and bring the guest
to water and get paid the same. Right. So, how do you
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inspire people to kind of go aboveand beyond even when it's not immediately financially
rewarding to them. I think youfocus on if it's financially rewarding, and
more on what makes you feel goodand it makes you feel so much better
to take care of a problem andto say yes than it does to say
no. Right, It small momentsof giving, you know, seeing a
mom and a dad checking in witha little kid that's crying, and grabbing
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a little superhero cape that we keepbehind the front desk and handing it to
the little kid and he is thehappiest person twirling around in his red cape.
And now suddenly the parents have alleviatedsome friction at check in and they're
relaxed now. Yeah, So it'sfinding those avenues and those small moments that
have big impact to create like reallymeaningful human connections. Yeah, talk about
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how you know you personally? Doyou go to this end suite to disconnect.
Obviously, these jobs are high stresssometimes and you've got like a lot
of masters serve. I completely understand. How does someone like you unwind and
how to folks that are in thesehigh stress jobs. What would be some
advice you'd give to them to unwindand chill out? I think to find
your quiet time, to find whatnot only quiet and in the sense of
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your surroundings, but how do youquiet your mind? You know, for
me, it's doing something very verymonotonous and mindless, whether it's going home
and washing the dishes, or goinghome and just making my bed after a
long day. Something very monotonous,very small, very quick. But that
gives me some reward and it willtake care of my need, my personal
need. So the Kimpton Schofield haslovely rooms, boutique style hotel, unique
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experience, is great dining and anarea to host some gatherings, large gatherings,
right for corporate and weddings and thosekind of things. Is that correct?
We do. We have a coupleof unique spaces, so we have
a ballroom, we have a boardroom, and then we have our LEVI level
suites which we have our Scofield suiteif you're looking for something that is more
of an apartment to host something,so as opposed to having you know,
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tables and chairs and water pitchers,if you want to have a different type
of setup where you're in a kitchenor a living room. Full disclosure,
My tenth wedding Anniverse Srey party wasat the Kimpton Schofield in twenty eighteen and
we stayed overnight and we had alot of fun and we cleared the place
out of vodka. So okay,that's our one of my claims to fame,
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right, So you know, whenpeople are looking to potentially have a
leisurely weekend or even book a largebusiness or a leisure gathering, what's best
way to get a hold of youguys? Absolutely through the website. We
are humans, So there's a there'san if says contact us. There's a
form. It comes to a wholedistribution list of all of our front ask
agents, myself and our other managers. It's the easiest way to ask a
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question if you want something specific done. If you're looking to get a little
bottle of champagne, some sort ofspecial surprise amenity for your you know,
your partner, or something absolutely reachout to us that way. So,
Gia, We've talked a little bitabout the premiere location, the history of
the building, and again, I'vespent a lot of time at the Kimpton,
both when I was traveling back andforth between moving back to Cleveland.
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As you have yourself, can youtalk a little bit about why you came
back and why you chose Kimpton Scofield. There's nothing like the Kimpton and Cleveland.
There's nothing like the vibe, theservice, the architecture, the history,
the product itself, from the invitinglobby to the beautiful appointed suites.
It's the best hotel in Cleveland.I mean I'm a little biased, but
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I love it. You're allowed tobe. Are you able to share one?
As we wrap up one of themore unusual requests you were able to
fulfill in your career. You know, you hear those stories about business travelers
losing their luggage and the hotel conciergebuys them a new suit, or you
know those kinds of things. Isthere one that you find particularly interesting?
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My favorite story, and it's notfunny, but it was. It was
in a pinch, was I wasrunning a hotel in Westlake, Ohio.
And it was during a snowstorm,and it was at Crocker and Detroit Road
and it was a standstill. Youcouldn't get out. A gentleman who was
presenting a at a conference was stayingthere and needed to leave, and he
had accidentally locked his rental car keysin his car and he was panicking and
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he called probably cold. It wascold. It was. It was a
blizzard. He called Triple A.They were on like a four hour time
delay, and he called Westlake Policeand they couldn't even get They were like,
you were so low on our totempole. Oh no, And he
was panicking, couldn't get a cabor anything. And I reached into my
purse and handed in my car keysand I said, I'll be here till
five. I hope you'll be backin one piece. Wow. And he
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came back in one piece with flowersfor me. That's amazing. That's my
favorite story. Yeah, oh ofcourse. I mean that's the kind of
work that it probably makes being inthis business rewarding. Right now. Some
people were like my father, forexample, was like, why would you
have ever done that? Such athing? And I thought, well,
in that moment. I didn't thinkabout any consequence. I just thought,
this man needs help, and I'mthe only per he's looking at me pleading
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he needs help. Also, Imean selfishly, it would be a better
story if he actually stole the carand didn't return right, But it seems
unlikely this since you had all ofhis credit card information that that would be
the case. I suppose I knewwhere he was, and I knew he
needed to get back to his roomthat night, he'd be back. Yeah,
I can I appreciate that. Iprobably would have done something like that
myself. Well, listen, GEO, it was great to connect with you.
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If folks are looking to book somethingat the Kimpton Schofield, it's beautiful
hotel right in the heart of downtownand they go above and beyond for you.
So Kimpton website and we'll hope tosee you there soon. Thank you,
and this has been iHeartRadio CEOs.You should know today's show is produced
by Bob katesaid. I'm Keith Hotchkiss. We'll see you next time.