Feb. 5, 2024

324: From Serving Aces to Serving Guests in Puerto Rico w/ Juancarlo Vasquez

 A psychology graduate who volleyed his way into the realm of five-star service, he shares his personal narrative of ascension from a tennis pro in DC Maryland to the prestigious role of Director of Operations at the Vanderbilt, a historic Caribbean gem. His tale brims with anecdotes on managing the delicate dance of guest contentment, the intricacies of overseeing a property with multiple dining options, and the adrenaline rush of opening a hotel. 

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00:00 - Tennis to Hotel Hospitality Transition

16:22 - Traffic, Driving, and Jobs in Puerto Rico

22:12 - Challenges in Staffing and Operations

27:45 - Club Industry and Puerto Rico

WEBVTT

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Hey everyone, welcome back to Private Club Radio, the industry's source for news updates, governance, leadership, management, food and beverage, marketing, communications, any and all the things Private Club related, and we mean Country Club, city Club, golf Club, yacht Club, athletic Club, all the clubs.

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I'm your host, Denny Corby.

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Few weeks ago I was fortunate Me, my family we went on a little trip, quick last minute trip to Puerto Rico and I tried to plan and interview some club professionals down in Puerto Rico.

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Unfortunately couldn't make it happen in person while I was there between a couple little plans we already had made and an excursion or two.

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The time he just couldn't work out.

00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:50.968
But I almost had a chat in person with my friend Juan Carlos Vasquez.

00:00:50.968 --> 00:01:13.609
He is director of operations at the Condado vendor-built hotel and I wanted to connect with him because he started off in the Metro DC area as a tennis pro and went from there into the club space, obviously, and then is the director of operations and works his way up to there over in Puerto Rico.

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And, silly me, we made dinner reservations for STK, not realizing that was the vendor-built his property.

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So we actually could have done the interview in person.

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But we chatted after I got back and we did it virtually At least.

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We still got to connect, which was really good, but he and I had a nice conversation.

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Juan Carlos is a psychology graduate who has been in hospitality in the club world for most of his life and even though he's not at a club currently, to me it's still a higher end hospitality.

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It has a club-like atmosphere and, just from somebody who spent years and time in the club world, and even though it's still a hotel, there's still a lot of obvious similarities and we can always learn from everybody.

00:02:04.087 --> 00:02:10.444
So, everyone, let's welcome all the way from Puerto Rico Juan Carlos Vazquez.

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No, I grew up in Puerto Rico, so I was Did you.

00:02:14.206 --> 00:02:22.265
Okay, yes, I was born in Baltimore, but I lived there, but I'm from here, so I lived pretty much up to here all my life.

00:02:22.265 --> 00:02:32.268
I went to school in DC at American University, but my plan was always to eventually come back Gotcha For a psych-pop project that was to my liking.

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Now did you?

00:02:35.707 --> 00:02:38.138
You went for hospitality, right, or?

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no, it was-.

00:02:38.759 --> 00:02:39.846
No, I studied psychology.

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Psychology, that was it yep.

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Yeah, and then how'd you end up in the hospitality realm?

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I always liked hotels.

00:02:48.084 --> 00:02:49.268
I always liked clubs.

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I played tennis all my life.

00:02:51.646 --> 00:02:53.126
I played tennis in college.

00:02:53.126 --> 00:03:03.123
So after that I pretty much after I graduated I walked to all the country clubs in the DC Maryland area until I finally got a job as a teaching pro at a Columbia country club.

00:03:03.123 --> 00:03:06.566
So that started my career path.

00:03:06.566 --> 00:03:08.342
And then, how long were you?

00:03:08.502 --> 00:03:09.246
at Columbia for.

00:03:09.780 --> 00:03:10.020
Columbia.

00:03:10.020 --> 00:03:11.346
I was probably there for about two years.

00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:15.926
And then, what was your first position there?

00:03:16.900 --> 00:03:17.703
Just a tennis pro.

00:03:18.967 --> 00:03:19.228
Okay.

00:03:20.322 --> 00:03:21.284
Yes, I started in tennis.

00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:23.425
And then we're about the same age.

00:03:23.425 --> 00:03:25.145
Right, You're about 35?

00:03:25.145 --> 00:03:25.145
.

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No, I turned 40.

00:03:27.719 --> 00:03:30.288
Oh snap okay, you look really good.

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Ha ha, ha, ha ha.

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So what was it like going from?

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Because you started off at the.

00:03:42.195 --> 00:03:49.004
Your bigger position was at the Mandarin right, so you did tennis and then the Mandarin.

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So I went from the tennis and I went to the Mandarin Oriental DC, which is now the Salamander, actually turned over this year, so there I worked front desk and I also worked at the club lounge.

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But the club lounge is a little different than most others, since we had a private membership as well, so it was a club within the hotel.

00:04:08.050 --> 00:04:09.093
Really, yeah.

00:04:09.093 --> 00:04:10.097
What was that like?

00:04:10.097 --> 00:04:11.348
So people can join.

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We had a lot of business people that joined.

00:04:16.317 --> 00:04:30.992
We probably had about 30 was our max membership and we had only 28 members.

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Members.

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Do you have a waiting list Like what?

00:04:37.324 --> 00:04:37.968
Yeah, it was.

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It was a.

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I don't know if you've heard of the rich Colton.

00:04:41.588 --> 00:04:44.285
They always have their, their club level, so it's always busy.

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So we we couldn't really get any get any more than that, but it was, it was fun.

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It was a lot of you know some government officials, ceos of big companies.

00:04:58.264 --> 00:05:01.906
And then what was it like going from there to Baltimore country club?

00:05:02.925 --> 00:05:03.968
Then I was looking.

00:05:03.968 --> 00:05:10.410
I moved a little further up north with my wife to to Maryland so I started looking.

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There was no luxury hotels at the moment in the Baltimore area.

00:05:14.550 --> 00:05:25.374
They created a four seasons a little a few years after, but the Baltimore was probably the the best spot to work at in Maryland Baltimore area.

00:05:27.425 --> 00:05:28.951
And then, where did you start off?

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Start off as a reservations manager, so reservations on front desk manager there.

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And then, what was, what was your final position when you, when you left Baltimore?

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That was reservations and events manager there.

00:05:46.221 --> 00:05:47.004
Gotcha, so okay.

00:05:47.004 --> 00:05:50.718
So that's that's, and you were there for about four years, if I remember correctly.

00:05:50.718 --> 00:05:50.978
Yeah.

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I think about a little over four years.

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I loved it there.

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It was a blast.

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And then, how did this opportunity for the for the Vanderbilt come up?

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So Vanderbilt is actually the first luxury hotel in the Caribbean that opened in 1919, but it was closed for the longest time.

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It was closed for a little over 10 years and it was due to reopen at the end of 2014.

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So I always had sort of my eyes set on this hotel.

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So once they renovated it and they were about to open, I came down here to apply for to help open the hotel.

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So what did you apply for, like, what was like your hopes then at that point?

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Cause you went from the tennis you're at, you know, mandarin, you're now at a club.

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Now you're kind of switching a little bit, like switching gears a tiny bit.

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So what did you apply for?

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What did you end up getting?

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And then what's that progression been like?

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Cause you've been there for what?

00:06:48.305 --> 00:06:49.228
10 years now?

00:06:49.420 --> 00:06:51.144
It'll be 10 years in September.

00:06:52.028 --> 00:06:52.309
Oh, wow.

00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:57.488
Yes, so I got the position I applied for, but I was willing to get any management position.

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To be honest, to help open the hotel, I started as a front office manager here.

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Then I went to director of front office and now I've been about a year and a half as the director of operations here.

00:07:11.581 --> 00:07:12.425
And what does like.

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What does a typical day for you look like as director of operations at the Vanderbilt Cause?

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That's a.

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It's a big property.

00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:25.247
It's a big property, yeah, Five restaurants.

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So it's a lot of walking pretty much, making sure our guests are happy, our employees are happy.

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Just walking around all day making sure everything is.

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Everything is how it should be.

00:07:37.660 --> 00:07:40.569
Now I was at the STK on your property.

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Now, how does that fall under your jurisdiction?

00:07:44.990 --> 00:07:46.423
Like so is that?

00:07:46.423 --> 00:07:47.908
Is it like a frantic?

00:07:47.908 --> 00:07:51.244
How does that work and what control do you have over that aspect of?

00:07:51.939 --> 00:07:54.547
It is a franchise, but we run it a hundred percent.

00:07:55.348 --> 00:07:55.649
Gotcha.

00:07:56.220 --> 00:07:57.545
So it is one of our restaurants.

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The employees are our employees, so it's it is ours and we pay the franchise.

00:08:04.208 --> 00:08:04.668
Gotcha, gotcha.

00:08:04.668 --> 00:08:07.464
No, I wasn't sure if it was like an outside group or if you guys also ran it.

00:08:07.464 --> 00:08:14.749
Okay, so that's also part of your I don't want to say jurisdiction, but that's your jam as well, it is.

00:08:14.749 --> 00:08:19.447
Is that the like, the in terms of the other restaurants on property?

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How does that rank?

00:08:20.625 --> 00:08:22.627
Is that like one of your like?

00:08:22.627 --> 00:08:25.827
How does that rank in terms of the other restaurants?

00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:27.946
That's probably at night.

00:08:27.946 --> 00:08:29.028
That's definitely our busiest.

00:08:29.028 --> 00:08:31.904
We have our Ola Ocean from Beeswitz, our all day restaurant.

00:08:31.904 --> 00:08:34.629
That sort of breakfast, lunch, dinner, brunch, casual.

00:08:34.629 --> 00:08:35.845
We have tacos in Tequila.

00:08:35.845 --> 00:08:39.197
We have 1919, which is our fine dining restaurant.

00:08:39.197 --> 00:08:41.046
The chef there had two Michelin stars.

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That's Secretary of Chef in New York, so that's probably the most high end, best restaurant in Puerto Rico.

00:08:46.423 --> 00:08:52.447
And then we have STK, which is sort of a fun vibe dining steakhouse.

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It's not your typical steakhouse.

00:08:56.601 --> 00:08:58.087
Yeah, it was a great time there.

00:08:58.087 --> 00:09:03.447
I went to the one in Vegas and the one here was here there where, with you, it was just as good.

00:09:03.447 --> 00:09:14.687
It was really really good, and you, do you have any anything to do with the casino also, or is that a whole different set of operations, cause the hotel has a casino?

00:09:14.726 --> 00:09:21.506
yeah, the hotel it's the we're the Condelo Collection as a whole, the company which has three hotels.

00:09:21.506 --> 00:09:28.187
You have the Condelo Ocean Club, next door is the adults only boutique hotel, and La Concha Resort, which has the casino.

00:09:28.187 --> 00:09:31.067
Is there about to be an autograph collection this year?

00:09:31.067 --> 00:09:37.385
Oh wow, it's just the same management company, same ownership, but not inside our property.

00:09:39.019 --> 00:09:39.522
Now how?

00:09:39.522 --> 00:09:41.320
What was it like going from cause?

00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:42.986
Baltimore was member owned right.

00:09:44.840 --> 00:09:45.201
Baltimore.

00:09:45.201 --> 00:09:46.105
Yes, it is member owned.

00:09:46.566 --> 00:09:46.886
Member owned.

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Was it like going from a member owned club to working for a for a for-profit organization?

00:09:57.440 --> 00:09:59.346
Again, I don't see it too different.

00:09:59.346 --> 00:10:03.341
To be honest, it's still the hospitality service industry and others.

00:10:03.341 --> 00:10:17.433
The main difference is the connections you make at a club are a little closer knit, a little longer lasting, since you're there with daily, when you see them weekly same people for years and years.

00:10:17.433 --> 00:10:19.067
At a hotel.

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It's just three days and a brand new set of 600 to a thousand people come in.

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That's the biggest difference.

00:10:28.606 --> 00:10:35.316
Yeah, big challenge and probably very exhausting too, but also very happy, because you don't have to deal with certain members every single day.

00:10:35.316 --> 00:10:42.856
It's like these people are all going to be here for like two or three days and then they're gone Exactly and luckily with the member, only then for profit.

00:10:42.965 --> 00:10:47.056
luckily, we have a great ownership group that reinvests a ton into the property.

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So it's a lot of hotels that you'll see.

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They need a lot of TLC.

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This is we have a ownership group that likes to spend and maintain their property and upkeep it.

00:10:59.225 --> 00:11:06.928
Yeah, it was absolutely gorgeous when we all walked in and it's from being in the club space in the hospitality world.

00:11:06.928 --> 00:11:08.975
You see and experience so much.

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And now the place was absolutely beautiful.

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It was very, very, very well maintained.

00:11:13.970 --> 00:11:16.014
All the staff was fantastic.

00:11:16.014 --> 00:11:22.139
Now, in terms of the organizational chart, is there?

00:11:22.139 --> 00:11:26.874
I don't know if this is getting too personal now, but is there room to grow within that organization?

00:11:26.874 --> 00:11:31.879
So, like from where you're at at that level, what else is like around?

00:11:31.879 --> 00:11:33.323
Like is like a GM position?

00:11:33.323 --> 00:11:34.912
Next, like what sort of level?

00:11:34.912 --> 00:11:39.932
Now, you know, because it's private club radio, so I'm just trying to bring it over to now, to now this space.

00:11:41.606 --> 00:11:44.705
It's pretty similar to the organizational structure as a club.

00:11:44.705 --> 00:11:49.856
You know, the following position would be a I guess assistant general manager.

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Here would be a hotel manager and then after that would be GM.

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So, there's now.

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Is that the route that you're looking to go as well?

00:12:02.798 --> 00:12:16.419
Most, definitely Most definitely, and now would the next level be at, because you're one of the top places on Puerto Rico.

00:12:16.419 --> 00:12:20.256
So what's like the next step then?

00:12:20.256 --> 00:12:23.591
Is it like staying within that organization, like, is it going back to a club?

00:12:23.591 --> 00:12:26.325
Where do you think the progression is going to go?

00:12:26.325 --> 00:12:29.921
Or are you just kind of taking a, taking it each?

00:12:30.363 --> 00:12:30.764
day by day.

00:12:30.764 --> 00:12:37.485
You're right, there's not many positions that I'm looking forward to.

00:12:37.485 --> 00:12:41.884
There's probably maybe we have a St Regis here, the same ownership group.

00:12:41.884 --> 00:12:46.004
There's a Ritz-Caulton Reserve and Dorado Beach Country Club.

00:12:46.004 --> 00:12:55.639
It's also on par with us, but it's probably maybe you know three to four jobs that I would be interested in for as my next step.

00:12:55.639 --> 00:13:00.134
But I still consider the one in the Vanderbilt is the city hotel.

00:13:00.134 --> 00:13:09.524
Lots of energy, FNB is great, so it's to me it's where we're not above, but obviously there's not much room to grow.

00:13:10.349 --> 00:13:11.033
But there's still something.

00:13:11.033 --> 00:13:17.735
I was over at the St Regis for our stay in Puerto Rico and that was absolutely gorgeous and so funny.

00:13:17.735 --> 00:13:33.385
As part of the same group, yeah, yeah, you know the whole, so I can just imagine from what I experienced in the time that I had in the hospitality.

00:13:33.385 --> 00:13:43.440
You can definitely see the similarities between both hotels groups, which makes sense because it's the same owners.

00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:47.224
Have you ever spent any time over at the St Regis?

00:13:48.197 --> 00:13:48.899
I love to go there.

00:13:48.899 --> 00:13:50.679
I'd probably go there maybe once a year.

00:13:50.679 --> 00:13:52.364
Get away.

00:13:52.364 --> 00:13:55.442
It's a beautiful property.

00:13:55.442 --> 00:13:57.480
You know, just played by the pool.

00:13:57.480 --> 00:14:02.660
It's probably 40 minutes from us, so it's a nice getaway without having to travel.

00:14:03.663 --> 00:14:07.679
Yeah, I will say, though it took like when we were coming in for dinner there was a bunch of traffic.

00:14:07.774 --> 00:14:15.562
We left during rush hour and I can get what what what road it is, but coming from like the St Regis it was horrible traffic.

00:14:15.562 --> 00:14:27.744
And then we get to this one point and it was just because this one exit, the four lanes, everybody was trying to cut over at the last second I forget what exit it was, but like once we passed that it was smooth sailing.

00:14:27.744 --> 00:14:31.980
It was so annoying because it was just all these people just trying to, trying to cut over.

00:14:33.054 --> 00:14:34.822
Driving Puerto Rico is no fun.

00:14:34.822 --> 00:14:36.578
It runs the traffic always.

00:14:37.595 --> 00:14:37.836
It was.

00:14:37.836 --> 00:14:56.379
It was definitely a unique drive because you're in it's the, the, the measurement is kilometers but the speed limit is miles per hour, exactly Like which I thought I was going crazy and I'm like I'm smart enough to be dangerous, but I'm like pretty like dumb.

00:14:56.379 --> 00:15:01.865
So I was, I was in my head, I'm like is it just me or are we doing kilometer?

00:15:01.865 --> 00:15:03.541
But then also it's miles per hour.

00:15:03.541 --> 00:15:11.783
And then what killed me is we were going to the rainforest tours.

00:15:11.783 --> 00:15:13.160
We had somebody come come pick us up.

00:15:13.160 --> 00:15:32.523
It took took the six of us where we were going into the rainforest and there was police, had this intersection, this whole area blocked off because there was a funeral going by and there was a dude on the side of the street who was like filming the entire thing and I made a joke about something.

00:15:32.523 --> 00:15:34.841
And the driver goes oh yeah, that's our mayor.

00:15:34.841 --> 00:15:40.221
He was like live streaming the funeral, like the funeral possession.

00:15:40.221 --> 00:15:42.802
He goes yeah, he's on social media a lot.

00:15:42.802 --> 00:15:46.724
It was such a fun trip, such a fun experience.

00:15:46.724 --> 00:15:50.178
So that's.

00:15:50.198 --> 00:15:51.302
That's Puerto Rico for you.

00:15:54.414 --> 00:15:55.821
Now, would you like to stay there?

00:15:55.821 --> 00:15:57.802
Would you like to move like what?

00:15:57.802 --> 00:15:59.178
What would be your ideal?

00:15:59.178 --> 00:16:09.624
Or is it more a position that would pop up would probably be a factor, or are you looking to stay on on the island?

00:16:10.316 --> 00:16:11.399
I have two, two babies.

00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:17.902
One is two and two and a half, the other is four, five it's five months Probably looking to stay for the for the time being.

00:16:17.902 --> 00:16:21.178
Obviously there's more, many more opportunities in the U?

00:16:21.178 --> 00:16:27.287
S, but probably for the next few years at least, stay here and hopefully there's.

00:16:27.287 --> 00:16:34.081
There's a lot of properties on the pipeline here in Puerto Rico as well Luxury, so hopefully we'll get a few more in.

00:16:35.254 --> 00:16:55.201
And and this is me just talking out loud, but I would assume you know, being at that level where you're at as well, in that hotel and the prestigious the, the prestige, it has in the in the name, you know it's probably not even so much of an importance to need to move, so to speak, because you're at such a I don't want to say it's such a, such a prestigious level.

00:16:55.201 --> 00:16:59.316
But that would probably be my point of view a little bit too, is it?

00:16:59.316 --> 00:17:05.724
You know, probably at your level at that point, it's not so much of importance to need or want to move.

00:17:05.724 --> 00:17:06.867
Yes, no, maybe.

00:17:08.095 --> 00:17:09.696
Yeah, no, I agree, I'm not.

00:17:09.696 --> 00:17:15.068
I love this property and I'm not desperate for right for any other property.

00:17:15.068 --> 00:17:26.790
At the end of the day, I know there's there's very few properties that are as great as this one at the end of the day, with the four restaurants that we have, the history, that we have the architecture, it's so I don't and.

00:17:26.790 --> 00:17:29.398
I'm not jealous of any property in the US or elsewhere.

00:17:30.309 --> 00:17:40.078
Yeah, because I'm trying to go through the like you know, I'm trying to think in peace through, you know, what you shared with me and the experience and it's like, well, you know, to get up to that level.

00:17:40.078 --> 00:17:55.633
You know there's I was talking to I think he just worked around the hotel in the front area doing you know, the shuttles and just you know, helping out out front and the he drove us.

00:17:55.633 --> 00:18:01.040
We went to go play golf over at the is it Baye Beach?

00:18:01.040 --> 00:18:02.502
Baye Beach, you know what I'm saying?

00:18:02.502 --> 00:18:13.842
Yeah, so we went over to play some golf and we were talking to the driver and he said he applied for something like six months just to get to his position.

00:18:13.842 --> 00:18:16.134
Is the waiting list that long?

00:18:16.134 --> 00:18:18.092
Is the talent pool?

00:18:18.092 --> 00:18:22.382
That's strict to work at one of your properties?

00:18:25.715 --> 00:18:28.803
Oh, so he's not in the back, not anymore.

00:18:28.803 --> 00:18:36.772
When we opened when we were open in 2014, we had a job fair and that was thousands of people shut up.

00:18:36.772 --> 00:18:39.884
It took several days to interview everybody.

00:18:39.884 --> 00:18:42.076
Yeah, but that's definitely not the case.

00:18:42.076 --> 00:18:47.147
Have we seen, especially post post pandemic here in the Europe and the US?

00:18:47.147 --> 00:18:50.257
It's the same as not not a huge talent pool, to be honest.

00:18:51.318 --> 00:18:53.454
Gotcha, so maybe he was just a little.

00:18:53.454 --> 00:18:55.403
He was a bottom of the barrel.

00:18:55.683 --> 00:18:56.828
I'm kidding.

00:18:56.828 --> 00:19:02.166
Sometimes your resume does get lost, I guess, but but now the talent pool is not.

00:19:02.166 --> 00:19:05.256
It's not an industry that people are flocking to at the moment.

00:19:07.470 --> 00:19:15.480
So, speaking of the, the, the talent pool and work and stuff you know, post pandemic, what, what's that been like for you in Puerto Rico and the in the in the Vanderbilt?

00:19:15.480 --> 00:19:18.501
Uh, could you also have a fairly, I mean, compared to.

00:19:18.501 --> 00:19:22.915
So I'm in Pennsylvania, your minimum wages higher in Puerto Rico than Pennsylvania.

00:19:22.915 --> 00:19:25.869
I think we're like seven and change and you're what?

00:19:25.869 --> 00:19:28.959
Nine something, almost 10, 10 bucks an hour.

00:19:31.432 --> 00:19:35.338
Yeah, we were at seven the 725 until about maybe three or four years ago.

00:19:35.338 --> 00:19:37.082
We had been that forever.

00:19:37.082 --> 00:19:48.160
Yeah, so it's a little higher, though I've seen the salaries here don't compare to the ones in the in the US, especially in the high end hotel in the city where we're not close yet in the.

00:19:48.180 --> 00:19:48.400
Puerto.

00:19:48.420 --> 00:19:52.376
River, but I mean post pandemic it was.

00:19:52.376 --> 00:19:53.520
It was crazy, to be honest.

00:19:53.520 --> 00:20:01.398
The first couple year and a half we couldn't find anybody because they were making way more money from an employment than than what we pay.

00:20:02.220 --> 00:20:02.421
Right.

00:20:03.309 --> 00:20:10.598
And then, coming back, a lot of people are becoming sort of mini entrepreneurs, which is which is great, but the talent pool is definitely lagging.

00:20:10.598 --> 00:20:12.583
But things have normalized.

00:20:12.583 --> 00:20:13.614
Probably in the last year or so.

00:20:13.614 --> 00:20:15.612
They have definitely normalized and this is the.

00:20:15.612 --> 00:20:21.472
The new normal is we're not going to have a waiting list of six months for for people.

00:20:22.375 --> 00:20:30.494
Yeah, yeah, so what, what, what, what are some of the current challenges that you've had with staffing and trying to get people?

00:20:32.309 --> 00:20:36.019
The main, probably in the kitchen is probably the most difficult one.

00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:40.720
The level of our restaurants is pretty high and can.

00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:44.251
Getting cooks is probably the most difficult.

00:20:44.251 --> 00:20:51.090
Cooks and and housekeepers, you know, if they go through Airbnb they can definitely make make more money on their own time.

00:20:51.090 --> 00:20:52.454
So that that's.

00:20:52.454 --> 00:20:54.380
That's a challenge for the housekeepers and cooks.

00:20:54.380 --> 00:20:58.624
You know they're working in food trucks or something that they'll get paid cash.

00:20:59.488 --> 00:20:59.869
Yeah.

00:21:00.171 --> 00:21:01.736
They're probably the two most challenging areas.

00:21:02.710 --> 00:21:04.499
And now is that what you were talking about when it?

00:21:04.499 --> 00:21:18.703
When it comes to people being more entrepreneurial and having their own thing, is they could have their own cleaning business and do you know, have one, meet one person who has five Airbnb properties, and I even think about that.

00:21:19.631 --> 00:21:21.435
That's yeah, that's definitely a challenge.

00:21:21.435 --> 00:21:24.212
So, so, how?

00:21:24.212 --> 00:21:24.974
So what?

00:21:24.974 --> 00:21:25.757
What happened?

00:21:25.757 --> 00:21:37.029
So I don't get to talk to too many people in this aspect in terms of like the hotel, so when it comes to that, you have X amount of cleaners and you need more, whatever.

00:21:37.029 --> 00:21:41.424
How do you handle that with the demand of now the rooms being flipped?

00:21:41.424 --> 00:21:44.884
In terms of an operational standpoint, that sounds like chaos.

00:21:44.884 --> 00:21:47.646
How do you, what do you do for that?

00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:54.527
I mean things have normalized a little bit, like I said, the new normal but at first we couldn't sell 100%.

00:21:54.527 --> 00:21:56.182
We couldn't sell every room.

00:21:56.182 --> 00:22:04.507
Even if we had, you know, people willing to pay a ton of money, we couldn't sell every room Over time, six days a week, seven days a week.

00:22:04.507 --> 00:22:15.534
Whoever wants a lot of people are obviously are always willing to get that double pay, so that that definitely helps, but a lot of overtime.

00:22:16.339 --> 00:22:28.627
Yeah, and then now do you have like in place where you know you can tell the staff early if you don't want house clean, you know keeping up and all that stuff as well, which I'm assuming would probably help a little bit.

00:22:28.627 --> 00:22:42.627
Like I know, when I check into hotels I don't like people coming into my room anyway, but just you know having the ability to get some extra points or whatever and not have staff come through, I'm sure that probably saves time as well, knowing who wants service and who doesn't.

00:22:43.660 --> 00:22:46.684
Yes, but here at this kind of hotel, most people do want service.

00:22:46.684 --> 00:22:50.667
Obviously you'll get a few that I don't, but most people they want their day service.

00:22:50.667 --> 00:22:54.488
They're willing to turn down service, that's they want service another time as well.

00:22:54.488 --> 00:22:57.027
Yeah, we'll provide it.

00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:00.288
I guess I'm one of the opposites.

00:23:00.288 --> 00:23:04.084
Like I put my do not disturb sign on, I don't want people in my room.

00:23:05.859 --> 00:23:07.626
I don't need my stuff changed every day.

00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:10.806
I was talking to somebody recently about that.

00:23:10.806 --> 00:23:15.429
They're like every day I want brand new towels, this and that, and I'm like I've been to your house before.

00:23:15.429 --> 00:23:23.650
You don't use the same towels every day and you don't make your bed, so why are you so picky about hotel doing it?

00:23:24.980 --> 00:23:29.366
Most aren't like that, but we do get the guys that want their she's changed every single day.

00:23:29.366 --> 00:23:33.429
We're happy to make them happy.

00:23:35.420 --> 00:23:37.146
Going back to your club experience.

00:23:37.146 --> 00:23:52.531
What has been some of like the biggest maybe takeaways or learning experiences that you've taken from the four years at Baltimore to bring over to the hotel and side.

00:23:52.531 --> 00:23:55.409
What do you think you've learned the most from there?

00:23:56.859 --> 00:23:58.365
Definitely, like I said, the club.

00:23:58.365 --> 00:24:00.727
You make connections with the guests.

00:24:00.727 --> 00:24:09.925
It takes a little longer to get to know them, but you get to know their family, you get to know their friends, pretty much all details about their life.

00:24:09.925 --> 00:24:15.002
So those connections are incredible With the staff as well.

00:24:15.002 --> 00:24:18.385
You see, at the club the staff stays a lot longer.

00:24:18.385 --> 00:24:23.832
At the BCC we had staff members there for 50 years At a hotel.

00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:25.305
Five, five zero.

00:24:27.663 --> 00:24:32.968
One of our reception is I think she just maybe 40, she's been there for about 40 years now.

00:24:32.968 --> 00:24:34.545
She's people in the kitchen for 50 years.

00:24:34.545 --> 00:24:37.446
So you do get way more of that.

00:24:37.446 --> 00:24:41.750
So the tight knit, the staff, is way more of a family.

00:24:41.750 --> 00:24:45.102
Same with the membership Hotels.

00:24:45.102 --> 00:24:46.046
You don't see that too often.

00:24:46.046 --> 00:24:46.949
It's way more turnover.

00:24:46.949 --> 00:24:48.265
There's many more hotels to choose from.

00:24:48.265 --> 00:24:50.948
So of all people jump from one hotel to another.

00:24:50.948 --> 00:24:52.666
So that's part of it.

00:24:52.666 --> 00:24:53.785
So you get to know more people.

00:24:53.785 --> 00:24:59.413
But that bond from a country club is incredible.

00:25:02.839 --> 00:25:04.788
Well, sir, I don't wanna take up too much of your time.

00:25:04.788 --> 00:25:07.788
I just wanted to thank you so much for being on.

00:25:07.788 --> 00:25:10.468
Thanks for coming on.

00:25:10.468 --> 00:25:16.645
I wish you could have done it in person, but schedules didn't fully align down there as a last minute trip as well.

00:25:16.645 --> 00:25:19.028
But thank you for sending some insight.

00:25:19.028 --> 00:25:20.023
I really appreciate it.

00:25:20.023 --> 00:25:24.749
And anything else you wanna add to our little conversation.

00:25:25.872 --> 00:25:26.673
No, thank you for your time.

00:25:26.673 --> 00:25:27.785
It's always great to talk about clubs.

00:25:27.785 --> 00:25:31.867
I love the club industry, so it's incredible.

00:25:32.862 --> 00:25:33.987
Yeah, thank you so much for sharing.

00:25:33.987 --> 00:25:34.843
Really really appreciate it.

00:25:35.665 --> 00:25:38.121
Thank you for your time and if you wanna come back to Puerto Rico, let me know.

00:25:38.121 --> 00:25:38.983
We'll take care of you.

00:25:40.220 --> 00:25:42.026
Hope you all enjoyed that episode.

00:25:42.026 --> 00:25:48.883
I know I did Wish we could have done it in person, but that just means I might have to go back to Puerto Rico to make that happen.

00:25:48.883 --> 00:25:55.208
As always, if you are enjoying the content, any support is greatly appreciated.

00:25:55.208 --> 00:25:59.465
Like share, subscribe, cost, nothing means the world.

00:25:59.465 --> 00:26:06.584
If you have not done so already, you can sign up for our weekly newsletter and over to privateclubradiocom Straight there at the top.

00:26:06.584 --> 00:26:12.230
Until next time, and da ya flippa, flippa.