Editors’ Note

Prior to assuming his current role, Daniel Flannery was General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park, and the RIHGA Royal Hotel in New York. His background in operations, restaurant concept development, financial management, and team building has contributed to a successful 25-year career working with luxury properties in the northeast United States. He serves on the board of directors for the Hotel Association of New York City, Inc.; is a member of the Advisory Board Executive Committee for New York University’s Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management; and serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Smith Business School at the University of Maryland.

Property Brief

Located in Manhattan, The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park (www.ritzcarlton.com), offers luxurious hotel hospitality in 259 guest rooms, including 47 spacious one-bedroom suites and 12 luxury condominiums. Guest rooms feature fine linens, marble baths with soaking tubs and separate stall showers, exclusive Frédéric Fekkai amenities, and spectacular views of the park. The property also offers an on-site fitness center; a La Prairie spa; a full-service, multi-lingual concierge; limousine and Bentley services; and a conference concierge.

The hotel industry, especially in New York, was strong in 2007. As you look to 2008, can the market sustain this type of growth?

I believe it can and will sustain strong growth. As I look toward 2008, I think some of our success will be based on our own economic conditions in the United States, but a lot of it will also depend on how viable an option we are for international travel and how some of these emerging markets already impact us. For instance, Russia is a big new market for us, and business from the Middle East has tripled in the last couple of years. If we can continue to be successful in those markets, I think we’ll have another great year.

In a city where every block has great stand-alone restaurants, have you been happy with the way your new restaurant, BLT Market, has been received? To be successful, do you need to cater to the local community?

I think all hotel restaurants in Manhattan have more potential to attract local customers than hotel guests. And if your restaurant is popular to the locals, the hotel guests are going to want the same dining experience. We’ve been lucky. Before BLT Market opened, we had a great ground-level space on Sixth Avenue and Central Park South, without views of the park or an outside entrance. It was also more formal and stuffy than the top dining scene is now in Manhattan. It posed a challenge to increase business. So we made some changes to the space and partnered with Laurent Tourondel, whom we think is the hottest chef in Manhattan, to open a restaurant based on seasonal, market-available ingredients from local vendors. BLT Market was Tourondel’s original business plan and passion long before he opened BLT Steak. We’re pretty excited about how it’s doing. The business has increased about 500 percent since we opened.

Do you really need to offer a luxury, high-end spa? How much of a focus has the spa been for you?

It’s important. Guests don’t want to have to go elsewhere to have a great spa experience. So we’ve partnered with La Prairie to create the first La Prairie spa in the United States. It is intimate, luxurious, and truly exceptional.

The Ritz-Carlton is known for its personal service. How do you offer all of today’s technology and still maintain a personal touch?

It’s easy to get caught up in the latest technology. But the truth is this is not a particularly innovative business. You can’t really innovate a bed too much. You can put a spin on it, but there hasn’t been much innovative change in our industry. What people really want is great service. So rather than providing a kiosk where you can print out your boarding pass yourself, we have a front desk clerk who is smart enough to realize that, if you’re staying one night, you will probably be flying out the next day. So he will anticipate your needs and ask if you’d like him to print out your boarding pass. Then you will be asked if you’d like a wake-up call and a travel weather report, and so forth. So I think dealing directly with people contributes to a much more personal and enjoyable stay.

The Ritz-Carlton brand has launched a new strategy called the “Art of Anticipation.” What does that mean exactly??

Anticipating guests’ needs really is an art in the sense that it’s individual, it’s spontaneous, and it’s creative. So we have to train our staff to know that we have Burberry raincoats at the front desk to lend out when it rains. They have to know that, when they see a guest walking outside without a raincoat or umbrella, they should offer the person protective gear. We have to train our staff to know they can print out boarding passes for guests and to know we keep soundtracks for every current Broadway show, so they can arrange to have a particular soundtrack playing in a room when a guest returns from a Broadway night out. It’s very important to train employees in these areas, because we pride ourselves on anticipating guests’ needs.

You started in this industry as a busboy. Did you know back then that you wanted to be a part of this business?

Yes and no. My initial intent, when I got into the business, was to get a job and to put myself through college. I wanted to go to law school. In my sophomore year of college, I realized I was really good at my job and that I enjoyed it. I could see myself being successful.

Over the years, you’ve worked closely with many of your employees. If I asked some of them what it’s like to work with you, what would they say?

I hope they’d say that it’s exciting and challenging, and that it’s like being on a successful sports team. My second passion, outside of the business, is coaching basketball. I think people enjoy being part of a successful sports team. Being the leader of a great team is about attracting and retaining the best players and getting them to aspire to a higher standard together. The same holds true for business. You have to know what the competitive landscape is and work together to change operations to be the best.