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A room with a view of Bal Harbour


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Guenter H. Richter

Transforming
Bal Harbour

Editors’ Note

Guenter Richter’s distinguished career includes management roles with such industry icons as New York’s Waldorf=Astoria, The Stanhope, Swissôtel New York, The Drake, The Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, and the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas. He has held the position of Vice President/Managing Director for Grand Bay Hotels & Resorts and Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. Prior to assuming his current position in November 2006, he served as Managing Director of the landmark St. Regis in New York. A graduate of the School of Hotel Management and Administration in Heidelberg, Germany, Richter pursued additional studies at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. He is a certified hotel administrator and converses in four languages.

Property Brief

Opened in December 2007, The Regent Bal Harbour sits atop a prized oceanfront site in the exclusive village of Bal Harbour, Florida. Its striking curvilinear glass façade mirrors 360 degrees of breathtaking panoramas: the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Haulover Inlet to the north, Intracoastal Waterway to the west, and the glittering Miami skyline in the distance. The property is operated by Regent Hotels & Resorts (www.regenthotels.com), a global leader in the luxury segment of the hospitality industry, encompassing hotels, resorts, residences, and cruises worldwide. Regent Hotels & Resorts properties are developed globally with Singapore-based Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific and Brussels-based Rezidor SAS Hospitality.

Would you give a brief overview of The Regent Bal Harbour, and outline some of your plans for the property?

Bal Harbour is totally surrounded by water, and the property was one of the most expensive pieces of real estate purchased in the last 10 years. At that time, this building was called One Bal Harbour, and it’s now a mixed-use building – a hotel and residences. I believe this will become one of the most sought-after destination properties, not only because Regent Hotels & Resorts is managing it but also because Bal Harbour is a great shopping destination. The Bal Harbour shopping mall generates the highest revenues of any mall in the country, per square foot, and it provides luxury goods and clothing by top-line designers. We’re also very close to golf courses and marinas.

Looking ahead, I predict that we will be the leader of the luxury hotel market in this area, not only from an architectural and design point of view, but also from a service point of view. Our commitment is to provide five star services with total guest satisfaction in mind.

You touched on architecture. Is it important for the property to excel in its artwork and architecture?

It is very important. Our artwork is not any random artwork – it’s commissioned artwork. We are currently displaying artwork worth $4 million in the public areas and on the exterior of the building. It’s a very important part of the whole structure and design.

Bal Harbour has some very good standalone restaurants. How challenging is it to attract the local community to dine at your property?

It’s very challenging, but it’s also critically important. We have to attract the local community into the hotel restaurant, because a restaurant in a hotel cannot survive on the hotel guests alone. So our restaurant, One Bleu, needs to be appealing to the local community, and it also needs to be a destination for people who come from outside Bal Harbour, from Miami Beach or further north. It needs to be promoted like a freestanding restaurant. Our restaurant is incredibly beautiful, with terraces overlooking the water. It aims to be a restaurant where people don’t feel intimidated, where people don’t feel they’re going to be overcharged, and where the cuisine is appetizing. Guests should feel like coming back often because it’s appealing, it’s affordable, it’s comfortable, and the service is just spectacular.

We also have a freestanding bar, the View Bar, which has the same incredible view of the ocean. It has a different kind of culinary offering but with the same food concept. So people can enjoy the environment of an elegant and comfortable bar overlooking the water, and snack from a special bar menu.

What space do you have for corporate meetings?

We have 3,700 square feet of conference and meeting space, consisting of three meeting rooms and a boardroom. This is relatively small, so it suits board-level meetings. Of course, the rooms are equipped with all the technology you could need. The meeting rooms also have a very relaxing feel to them, because they overlook the ocean and the interior design is very exclusive, with rich fabrics and woods, making it a perfect setting for social events

You have been in this business for a long time, and have witnessed technology changing the face of hospitality. In creating the property, how did you balance technology with the human touch?

We do not want to be known as the most luxurious, technically advanced hotel; we want to be known as a luxury hotel that provides technology in a very discreet kind of fashion. We have everything the guests will ever need, but we don’t trumpet it out. We have wireless Internet access, 42- to 52-inch television screens, including TVs behind the bathroom mirrors, and DVD players. Of course our business center is also fully equipped with everything you might need, and it is very discreet.

Because this is a new hotel, you have just been through a major recruitment process. Has it been difficult to find the talented people you need to help the hotel run smoothly?

That’s the greatest challenge we have as a company – the labor markets, particularly in Florida. We don’t necessarily hire people because of their skills; we hire them for their talent. That’s why the hiring process is a lengthy one. Every employee has to go through this process, from dishwashers to managers. When we have talented people who don’t have the skills we need, we can train them – but you can’t train people to be talented. You either have the smile or you don’t. You either have the positive attitude or you don’t.

Your hotel runs 24 hours a day. How difficult is it for you to get away from the job?

It’s difficult, but I try to do so. I have interviewed many managers and they all say the same thing: You need to get away sometimes, because if you don’t turn off the job, and you don’t change scenery, then your energy levels will slip, your creativity levels will slip, and you will cease to be a good leader. After all, as a leader, you are supposed to have vision, and vision isn’t enhanced by being on the job 24 hours a day and working hard all that time.