Marcel Pitton started his third day on the job as managing director of Denver’s Brown Palace Hotel & Spa by greeting each staff member on duty.
“I like to do that,” he said. “I use a very participatory management style.”
It’s the same kind of personal attention hotel guests are accustomed to receiving, and one reason they pay $229 to $400 a night to stay at the 113-year-old landmark.
Pitton, a native of Switzerland, has spent nearly 20 years managing hotels from Bangkok, Thailand, to Chicago, most recently at the Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine, Fla.
Today, he will meet members of Denver’s business community at a breakfast, but Wednesday he shared his thoughts about overbuilding, guest expectations and balancing heritage with high technology.
Q: How does the independent Brown Palace compete in an industry that relies so heavily on corporate “flags” for branding?
A: I personally think it’s easier, because we’re different. We are much more flexible. Chain hotels are like big cruise liners – it takes them miles to make a turn. Because we are independently owned, if we see a trend, we can try it.
Q: The Brown Palace is opening a $2 million spa next month. Has the spa become a necessity – instead of an amenity – for the upscale traveler?
A: Absolutely. It’s what we went through 20 years ago with putting in health clubs, and more recently with Internet access. For a four-star hotel, it has become an expectation.
Q: What do guests expect from a four-star hotel like the Brown Palace?
A: They are very demanding, and rightly so, because of our reputation. We’re in the business of, “The answer is yes. What is the question?”
Q: What effect will next month’s opening of the 1,100- room Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center (and several more hotel projects in the near future) have on the downtown hotel market?
A: From what I’ve gathered, we’re going to be a year or two ahead of the demand (at the expanded Colorado Convention Center). It’s good to grow, but it has to be a healthy growth. I think there should be an increase in demand before there is a huge increase in supply. But overall, it’s going to help put Denver on the map.
Q: Travelers are demanding more and more technology from their hotels – from free Internet access to iPod docking stations. What is the Brown Palace doing to satisfy that?
A: Given the history of the Brown Palace, we have to add technology in a sensitive manner. We just installed wireless Internet, but you will certainly never see something like a self check-in kiosk in the lobby – at least not while I’m here.
Q: The Brown Palace is known for its formality – from tea in the lobby to liveried doormen. What is it doing to capture the younger-generation traveler?
A: We have to cater to Generations Y and X, or we’ll eventually run ourselves out of business. One good way to do that is by having a trendy bar or restaurant. Our cigar bar attracts a younger clientele.
The thing about chain hotels is that they all look the same. I think the younger generation is more open to searching out something different.
Q: You and your wife plan to reside on the top floor of the hotel. Is there a downside to living where you work?
A: I personally enjoy it. It’s going back to how I grew up. My parents owned a hotel in Switzerland, and my grandparents owned the hotel across the street. Running a hotel is not a job; it’s a lifestyle. It’s not an 8-to-5 thing.
Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-820-1592 or jdunn@denverpost.com.
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