Defining Hospitality

DH - Xavier Lividini
===

Speaker: [00:00:00] What I do is inconsequential. Why I do what I do is I get to shorten people's journeys every day. What I love about our hospitality industry is that it's our mission to make people feel cared for while on their journeys. Together we'll explore what hospitality means in the built environment, in business, and in our daily lives.

I'm Dan Ryan, and this is Defining Hospitality.

This podcast is sponsored by Berman Fall Hospitality Group, a design-driven furniture manufacturer who specializes in custom case goods and seating for hotel guest rooms.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Today's guest is a hospitality professional with nearly five decades of experience. He's an expert in planning, operations, marketing strategy and more, and he now consults his clients in all areas of hospitality management and development. on the advisory board of several travel related organizations providing top-notch industry knowledge.

He's the founder at Hospitality Advance [00:01:00] International. Ladies and gentlemen, Xavier Lividini. Welcome, Xavier.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Thank you. Good to be on board.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: so yeah, it's great to have you on board and talking to you because I think what I find, well, a bunch of intriguing things about you, but one of the most intriguing is second or third generation hotelier.

Uh, you actually grew up in hotels I guess the hospitality industry has never been able to let you go, or you've never been able to let go of it. Um, but before we get into all of those stories, 'cause I know you have so many, um, what do you like, why, why, why do you think you're in this industry?

What, what's the glue that holds you here?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Well, number one, I think it was injected into my blood when I was born 'cause, uh, my father, my uncle. Uh, my father's uncle, um, we're all in the hotel [00:02:00] industry and worked, uh, starting starting in New York City and then ventured out to other cities around the country. So I, if you like people and enjoy being with people, talking to people, meeting new people, meeting people from different cultures, that's the industry for you, the travel hotel industry, because that's what it's all about.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: What does it mean to you? What does hospitality mean to you? Having grown up in hotels and worked in every aspect of the hotel industry, almost, uh, what does it mean to you? What does, how do you define what hospitality is?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: I think you know, it's because in the travel industry, you know, it's about your treatment of, uh, of the guests or treat treating them, uh, like it's your home when they arrive at your establishment or on your airline or in your car rental company. It's a warm welcoming that you give, uh, you know, visitors and guests.

I think in the hotel industry it's about, and even in the travel industry, [00:03:00] creating memorable experiences for people. Um, you know, typically they're coming from all parts of the world and you, you know, you'll be one of the first people establishments that they walk into. It's about, you know, really creating a memorable experience.

And that could be a dining ex. It hits all departments in the hotel. Uh, because you're talking about, uh, the guest room, which is housekeeping. You're talking about your restaurant or room service, which is the food and beverage operation, the, the kitchen. Um, you know, and typically in a hotel, the front desk is kind of the bloodline, the main center, because that's where, where naturally all the guests go with questions.

So, but.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: one of the things I find so fascinating about an actual hotel, especially, um, a resort location or somewhere where you might have some other experiences around, is how many different levers of revenue are and all of those levers of revenue, whether, [00:04:00] know, it could be water skiing or going to a show or. I, I don't know, like all the food and beverage o offerings there. Um, each one of those levers of revenue requires so much more management around it to make sure that you're meeting those guest needs and it's done and executed well. What's one of the most complicated hotel assets you've ever worked in or worked on?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Um, I would say, uh, I worked at the Waldorf Astoria. Um, well, I wasn't in a high level position. It was the beginning of my career. Uh, this was, you know, a huge hotel. Everybody knows the Waldorf had so many different areas. You had the Waldorf. Guest rooms. You had the towers, you had they hosted, uh, for generations.

And I'm sure when they reopen it'll be the same, you know, all the dig dignitaries from around the world. They hosted all, many of the presidents, uh, of the [00:05:00] US, uh, celebrities. Um, Frank Sinatra had a suite at the Waldorf, so probably that was the most. Uh, complex yet Simple hotel. It had, what, 1900 rooms at the time?

I think they're, I'm gonna reopen. It'll be cutting it down. And you had, you know, uh, peacock Alley at the Waldorf, um, was very, it's very famous, um, for many celebrities, uh, dining there in the, um, uh,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: what was one of your fondest memories from that storied time, like early in your career?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: I would say meeting, uh, various celebrities. Like I got the opportunity to meet to Frank Sinatra. I got the opportunity that then to, um, work actually, uh, the most story times is wor is the people I worked with. Who, uh, yeah, like I worked with a,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: us

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: okay. I, I worked with a gentleman by the name. Go ahead.[00:06:00]

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: move right on by Frank Sinatra. That's all good. I love Frank, but like, but I also appreciate like you were going there. Like that's probably the easy answer, but I think the people you work with is where you were drawn back to. So what, what, what makes you light up about those memories with the people you worked with?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Well, the first part of me working there was in a food and beverage training program, so I worked in the kitchen. And, uh, and worked in various departments of the kitchen, like the Garza worked in the, uh, meat section. Uh, they even sent me down to the meat market in New York City for a month to learn how to cut meat on a, a conveyor belt.

So that was an interesting experience. Uh, and in the one of the restaurants, uh, at, at the hotel I worked with a gentleman by the name of Mr. Joseph, who's very famous at the Waldorf. He was the host, the manager, and he really taught me the art of part of hospitality. 'cause the way he would greet guests, it was like a show.

So he would, uh, Greek guests, he would, um, you know, Mr. [00:07:00] Smith, please come with me, you know, and oh, we have a great table for you right here. Um, and he was always on, it was entertainment. and then he, he taught me as well. I sat down, you know, lunch with him every day, says Xavier. Make sure we, if you, you know, run a restaurant or you're the general manager of the hotel, when you're in the restaurant, you always get a table when you're having lunch and you have to have lunch facing the front of the restaurant so you can see everything going on.

And he was the one that started for business sake. 'cause the bull and bear at this time was very famous for hosting, uh, advertising executives the little notepads with pen on each of the tables in the restaurant. So I learned a lot. I can go on and on about the Waldorf in various sections. They made me manager of the coffee shop called Oscars as part of my training program.

And if I'm not mistaken, Harry Truman's wife, who was still living there, was alive. She used to come in every, uh, yeah, she used to come in every day for lunch or breakfast. Uh, but learning how to manage, [00:08:00] 'cause we had, you know, Hispanic cooks in the restaurant, uh, in the back, in the kitchen. And then we had, uh, American ladies, uh, uh, as waiters and waitresses.

So managing that, that interaction, uh, was, was also a challenge, but a learning experience for me.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: So I've never, heard of Mr. Joseph, but I'm sure he's like a real legend. He a little bit before my time. Um. I find it interesting that such a legend as, as you describe him, would take the time on two things. One, to actually teach you what he was thinking, right? Because oftentimes, like with someone who's that big of a, of a personality, oftentimes they won't open up to you.

It's like kind of like I'm gonna put on the show, you take your notes and like emulate what I'm doing, but then also sitting in the restaurant and having lunch. I feel like I go to a lot of restaurants and I never see the managers anymore. Sitting down eating there. When I'm [00:09:00] eating there.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: No, they eat afterwards when it slows, you know, they eat at three o'clock when the lunch hour's over with, um, I mean, although from. A gaining knowledge experience or trying to see what's going on in your restaurant. Uh, it might be a good idea to sit there during, uh, a busy time period to really, truly see, although you should be able to see it standing up,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Hmm.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: how the, uh, how well the waiters are working and interacting with the customers.

You can see the table in front of you and back of you, et cetera, et cetera. So, um, but yeah, no, he was very, very, very generous with his time. It kind of took it on to, to, to help me learn and, uh, the management of the restaurant. Um, and I was very, very, uh, grateful to him for that experience. So it wasn't a long experience.

It was about a month, usually spent, about a month in each of the areas. I spent a month, you know, it, it was, uh, invaluable.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: also find it fascinating that as a trainee you became the manager of the coffee shop as well. 'cause that's also not [00:10:00] normal. So how does, how does that even get presented to you back then? Like, paint the picture. What year is it you're doing your, know, your, your trainee program and they're like, okay, here's the keys to the coffee shop.

Like how does that work?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: That's a good question. I was there, I was on board in the food and beverage training program for a number of months. Uh, I had spent some time in Oscars, uh, which was on the corner of Lexi, right on the corner. You can come from the outside or inside the hotel, big restaurant, coffee house type restaurant, and had a bar, had two bars actually.

Um, and uh, it was on Lexington and 49th. And, um, anyway, so I was there for a few months working and, you know, while I was in the restaurant, the manager left, resigned.

so they needed somebody temporarily. I didn't do it for like years. I did it for, you know, a month or two months, and then they found somebody.

Um, and the bull and [00:11:00] bear and the Oscars were kind of right next to each other. There was an escalator right in between, so they were both on Lexington Avenue between 48th, 49,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Wow.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: yeah.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: then so then you went on with your career from there, I think, you know, working at, uh, with Weston and then Intercon and then you, you got into the sales side of hospitality.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Yes. I actually started at the Waldorf and Convention Sales, convention Services and Sales. That was my last position there. I. after I left the training program. I did about a year or two years there, and then I went on to Western as a regional sales manager in the regional office in New York, Western Chicago as National sales Manager for a couple of years.

And then Intercontinental recruited me to come back to New York as the regional director of sales,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Wow.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: on for six years. And then they said, well, you need some on property, director of marketing, you know, leadership experience. I, they transferred me down to Miami and, uh. I haven't left since I met, met my wife, she was a director of finance.

I was [00:12:00] a director of marketing and now we have a son that's a chef at the Intercontinental in Miami. So, yeah. Yeah. So one of us had to leave Intercontinental 'cause we were both in executive level positions. So I, I decided to leave and went on to work at the Safi, uh, which is at the airport. And in between, uh, after I left there, I.

Um, was in between jobs and, uh, I got recruited to go to Houston, uh, to the Houstonian as a director of sales. And this was in, uh, two thou 1992. and what happened was I was then Houstonian, um, if you don't know, it is in, uh, post Oak Lane. I believe in Houston. Uh, as a huge fitness center spa, indoor basketball.

So I go get up there as a director of sales and marketing. Well, as a, actually it was for me, I went up there with the knowledge that it was just a temporary situation. I was gonna help [00:13:00] out and help them hire a director of sales and marketing. So that lasted a few months, and then the general manager left.

So the owners of the hotel. said, look, we have the Republican National Convention coming. This was in, uh, Georgia, Bush Senior was the president. We don't want to have any, you know, major changes. Um, we're looking to sell the hotel afterwards. Would you mind You have good experience, would you mind coming in and, and serving as general manager?

And I said, wow, what a, what an opportunity of a lifetime. Of course. Um, so I took that over. Um, did about five presidential visits, did the Republican convention where George Bush Senior was, came in for, he claimed the Houstonian as his residence, so that's why he came up, came up there at least four or five times a year.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Oh

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Um, and uh, yeah, it was Wheels Up and, I mean, it was interesting working with the Secret Service, working with [00:14:00] everybody. I mean, when he came in, we had, was in the presidential suite, we put his. Um, pictures of his family all around, you know, um, this, the suite, you know, he had like two or three bedrooms.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Unbelievable

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: yeah, yeah.

His whole family was, I was there, you know, and,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: how,

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: the whole family around

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: his arrival, if he came that many times, how often, how soon before his arrival was the secret service there?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: typically. Um, they were there at least three days before Yeah.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: doing a full

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Wheel. Yeah. Yeah. Wheels up. Wheels down. Yeah. Um, to be honest, one time when he was doing a sweep, when they were doing a sweep right, be, they did a fine, they do sweep like a few days before, then they do a final sweep hours before he comes in.

And, um, we had some, and one of the maids, you know, they, and we don't have the maids on the floor that he's staying until after he arrives while um, or while they're doing things, sweep. So I don't know what happened, but one of the maids was there as he was arriving and we, believe it or not, had to put her in the [00:15:00] closet for a few minutes.

Hallway. Closet. It wasn't, wasn't for a long period of time. Secret Service told us to do it. But overall, yeah.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: the moral of the story here with the, from the coffee shop to there. I think in hospitality there's such flow of people and roles and people leaving and coming and getting promoted. I always find hospitality, the industry has a very steep, um, career curve. And I, I guess if I'm hearing you, it's just like when you're there, you just get these incredible opportunities and kind of uplifts to try things that you hadn't tried before, because there's so many different levers

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: I, I've been very fortunate. I mean, I, you mentioned, uh, you know, seeing people, when my dad was General manager of the Flamingo when I was like 15, 16, I just sat in the lobby, sometimes watched people go in and out, especially there. I mean, it was just amazing.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: in Vegas.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: yeah, yeah, yeah. At the Flamingo Hilton. Yeah.

We lived there for a couple years. We had gotten transferred out there, and that was an [00:16:00] experiment.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: machine is behind you?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Yes, that's right. That's a nickel slot machine.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: one nickel slot. Now you, you don't have nickels anymore really,

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Yeah, well we had it created,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: house?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: well my father had it, it was given to him and I don't know all the details given to him. And he, he had it created and we took it back to New York and we lived there. And then, you know, when my parents were moving a few years and back, I, you know, they said, what are we gonna do with the slot machine?

So I volunteered to take it and it's been here ever since. So, yeah. Uh, we had in our house up in Harrison, New York, we had, uh, like, uh, an area downstairs. We had a pool table, a bar, and we threw the slot machine in there. It fit in very well.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: So I guess I'm curious because. Understanding all of the operations, right. And working in f and b and sales and marketing. And then ma and then management, like being a general manager. Um, what was your thinking [00:17:00] to get onto the asset management and development side of things?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Well, everything you really learn as a general manager, you know, with all departments of the hotel, with the financing aspect, um, it it, it really leads you to asset management and market studies. Um, and, uh, we also dabble my company and, and I do in revenue management as well. But it leads you to that, uh, you just have to really understand and know the financial area.

You know, make sure, uh, you know, they always say that the, the way to have a successful financial operation of a hotel is when you're looking to buy one is how you buy it. You know, you have to make sure it's financed correctly, um, so that you, you know, you can operate at a profitable level. You know, the typically in the past they always said once you, when you buy a hotel or build a hotel, it would take you 10 years to recoup.

But I think that that margin is narrowed. Um. So,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: I [00:18:00] think one of the reasons why I'm asking is, um. Going back to the beginning of our conversation where there's so many different levers of revenue and different ways to manage and execute and delight guests that are staying there. If you're genuinely curious, you can learn so much about all these little businesses within the business.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: yes.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: I have a lot of, I actually, I was just speaking at Penn State University's hospitality school, and you just see these kids who, you know, they're, they're about to. on their career. And I'm just saying try as many things as you can, right? Don't be scared to fail. Um, because I think this path, sometimes circuitous, especially in hospitality, so much and then if you burn out on the hospitality industry, you can, those skills that you've learned, those real people skills. They're, they're wanted by so many other industries all

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Correct.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: the world, and there's an opportunity to travel and take that learned experience and apply it to anything. [00:19:00] Um, what are your thoughts on that? Have you, as you've seen, um, others, of others, of your contemporaries and even younger folks, or even older folks from your career path, like, what's your takeaway on that?

Of all the things and the hospitality industry has to offer?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Well, it has a ton to offer and I think as long as you have a, the big thing with, for me, and I think you'll probably take this in any industry, is attitude. If you have the right attitude. How you know people in the hotel industry or doing it yourself, you can learn the hotel industry and having the right attitude and really enjoying people.

That's the two for me. The two major things you'll learn. The, you know, when I was younger and when I first started to get a leadership role, when I was managing people, I was terrible. You know, my ego, I, I, but eventually you learn. You learn that it's not all about that, and you can take these things in life with you as well.

It's about really. Working with people, working with a team, and coaching, coaching [00:20:00] these people,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Did mi

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: so.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: I wanna go back to Mr. Joseph 'cause he sounds like a, a real character. Did he ever give you any like. Really kind of swift corrections or good coaching, like were there any good stories on, on like a redirect that he gave you or, or actually anyone else on your career that you were like, wow, really changed my path?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: to be honest, it's gonna sound strange, but my wife is in the hotel industry

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Hmm.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: as a director of finance and one of the things that attracted me to her was her, the way she handled people and managed people. And I learned a lot from her and she always, you know, gave people the benefit of the doubt no matter how much it seemed that.

You may not want to. And she always never raised her voice to anybody. And still to this day, once in a while, she raises it to me. um, but, and she taught me a lot just watching her operate it within her own department, in the accounting department, or even amongst other executives, or even amongst people.

So I, I learned a lot from [00:21:00] her. Um. As a joke, we used to say, well, you know, in the hotel she controlled my expenses, my marketing and sales expenses, and now it's even worse. She controls all my expenses living, you know, here at home

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: I

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: and in my, so I would say her, believe it or not, I also learned from my dad, because my dad was very similar, uh, to, to, um, my wife, my dad, you know, worked as a general, worked his way up.

You know, he didn't have the advantage that I had having him and my uncle and, uh, my, my father's uncle as, uh, people that are in the hotel industry to make the livid Dini name. Um, he worked his way up from the front desk at the, they just knocked it down, but the Statler across the street from Madison Square Garden.

Um, it was a Statler Hill and it became then, well originally it was a Pennsylvania hotel, then Statler, and then it turned back into the Pennsylvania. But he started there as a front desk clerk, and years later we moved back from Las Vegas. He was, he became the general [00:22:00] manager. We lived in the hotel.

Um, so, and he also had a very, always treated people with respect, always coached people. Um. He was very kind, you know, he was, you know, as a general manager, really the personality of the general manager in the hotel really is taken on by the people that work there. So how do you treat your employees and the people you work with is how they're gonna treat the guests.

You'll find that happen in all hotels. I mean, and probably in any industry. So if you had a really treated your employees right, and the people you work with. Typically the guests will have a, you know, a pretty good experience, you know, with the right training. So I really look, look up to him because he, he really, um, worked his way, worked very hard and never buck the system.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: yeah, as I hear you say that, I also think that, um, you know, you look at all these kids coming outta college saddled with debt. Um,

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: I.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: I think that the hospitality [00:23:00] industry, I. Offers a path where you don't necessarily have to go to college, and if you work really hard and you have all those people skills, you can build an incredible career and not have that debt holding you back.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Well, to be honest, although it was years ago, my uncle. Did not go to college, and he ended up, um, working as a general manager. He even worked as the re VP of operations for Helmsley Hotels. Um, so yes, you can, no doubt about it. Again, it's all about, you know, learning the hotel industry. Um, and by the way, in my opinion, the, the two best places to start to learn the hotel industry, um, if you're really interested in making it as a career.

Or at the front desk and, and in convention services or group services, because in both positions you really get in touch. You, you get touched by almost every, every guest that's there. Um, you know, 'cause they always come down to the front desk or come to the front desk. They ask [00:24:00] questions about everything, you know?

Now they also go to the concierge, but they originally start out at the front desk.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Hmm.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: And in group services, convention services, you really manage a hotel for that group. 'cause you're involved in every single department. And I was fortunate because I started at the front desk and also worked in convention services.

So I, that, that's what really made me comfortable no matter what position they put me in after that, from the, in the hotel industry, I gravitated towards sales because I, I, I guess 'cause of my personality, I liked, I liked sales. Uh, I like the exhilaration of closing a sale, I guess. And, and.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: I actually, I wanna go, I wanna ask you a question about that. So from all of your sales experience before going into asset management, and development services, when you think about that exciting close, like if you look back on your career. What was the most exciting close that you ever had from a sales perspective?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: one of the most exciting ones was [00:25:00] hosting, uh, was getting the. Well, hosting would be the, probably the Republican National Convention and the, and also hosting the White House visits. But from a sales perspective, it probably would be the MB getting the NBC contract for their big meeting where they bring all the various subsidiaries of NBC, uh, at the Intercontinental Miami, where I was actually myself as a director of sales and marketing, uh, taking guests to the rooms.

We had every executive, everybody in the sales department who took, you know, 'cause there were all VIPs, everybody that stayed there. So that would have to be one of the most memorable and exhilarating things is to close on that business. And then even as director of sales and marketing, you know, servicing that, that group.

So that would be one,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: into recurring business every year for their big off

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: uh, it did, it did for a while. No, they typically, to be honest, they switched. We were lucky to get one. They used to do it in California all the time at the Century Plaza in LA I believe.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: that's a big [00:26:00] one. Yeah.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Yeah. Yeah.

Hey, everybody. We've been doing this podcast for over three years now, and one of the themes that consistently comes up is sustainability, and I'm just really proud to announce that our sponsor, Berman Fall Hospitality Group is the first within our hospitality industry to switch to sustainable and recyclable packaging, eliminating the use of styrofoam.

Please check out their impact page in the show notes for more info.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: I wanna go back. So let's just, for those of you not watching, I like Xavier, he's been in, he was born in this industry. His son is in the industry. He has almost 50 years of experience, and I'm probably halfway. To what you have under your belt. Um, I'm intrigued because like, as being a generation older than me in this industry, and again, I'm on more of the, the development, uh, design, design and construction side, right?

'cause I provide furniture to hotels. Um, but I heard you say a bunch of times in our first call and even today, [00:27:00] uh, about coaching and not managing and what, why, why that strikes me is. This idea of coaching. I love it. I'm, I love it. It's what I do in this podcast too. I love doing it with, uh, mentees, employees, everyone. Um, but to me, I feel like that's a newer idea of coaching. And for old, the older generation, I would hear managing, managing, managing. When did you, have you always said coaching

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: No.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: newer thing and like when did you open your mind to coaching versus managing? How do you see the difference?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: You can use both words. I mean managing, but I think coaching is a more delicate term and more a term that will relate better to somebody you're working with or coaching. Um, yeah, I'm a big sports fan. Football, basketball, baseball, hockey. And, you know, so I think it relates to that is being a, being a good coach.

You know, I think coaching has more of a connotation of being part [00:28:00] of the group as opposed to managing, in my opinion.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Yeah.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: of being part of the group, you know? I also find it's like, and in a way, how Mr. Joseph did it to you early in your career, and I'm sure you had so many others where it's, um, trying to be very curious about the person that you're managing or coaching, but also getting them to see where they can improve and, and where their blocks are right.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: And coaching them and bringing out, helping them become the best version. themselves.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Yeah, I mean, later on in my career, I, I kind of would ask that question to people I worked with my my equals and also people that worked, you know, were on my team, you know, what do I need to improve on? And you find that as things progressed, you know, that that would be something I think a general manager should be at, you know?

As a director of sales, uh, when I was a director of sales, general manager should be talking to me about not all the time they did. 'cause some of them were really, really old school [00:29:00] and not that that was bad. Uh, but sometimes you did, you know, they noticed about this, about the way that I coached my team or the way that I managed my team.

They, they could have used either word. So somebody that can bring out, I think another trick, not trick, but another way I think they can motivate people is. Is when you talk to, you know, uh, one of your people that you work with is, and you're trying to have them do something different or improve. It's to first talk to 'em about all the good things that they do.

'cause who wants to be like talked to and say, well, you need to do this, you need to, you know what I mean? So that's why you need to talk to me. This, these are the things that you're really doing well, but this is something that maybe we can work together and help you improve on. And, um, I think that there would be a more generous or more welcome to take that type of criticism better if you were more.

Um, point out their good points [00:30:00] and then say how we can help you. You know, you gotta give people the tools.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Yeah.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: thing that I think is a big, a, a, a big situation is you gotta give really the people, the tools to make it happen. 'cause if you don't provide them with the tools, they forget it. You know, it's not fair to, to really criticize or talk to 'em about things that you think that they should have done better.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: and like as you think about your role now at doing in hospitality advance international, like acting consulting, many different ownership groups, um, just to give our guests an idea like what do you consider like an ideal project client? And, and second part of that is when you're kicking that off as a coach. To these new people, new project and people, what are some of the questions that you ask so that you can find alignment?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: for me, my world in the last, i, I would say five or six years has been in the boutique hotel world. It could be [00:31:00] a product of living here in Florida. You know, we have, uh. We do, uh, management, revenue management for hotels and the keys, the Lime Tree Bay Resort. We have the peninsula up in St. Charles, Florida.

Um, so, um, we have a few others, uh, but it's all about, I think, going in and assessing their situation.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Hmm.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: And instead of jumping into the situation is assessing it before you make any type of comments. Criticism, uh, evaluation no matter what the project, whether it's development, whether it's new hotel, whether it's operations, whether it's sales, revenue management, food and beverage, is take the time to really find out truly the situation and, uh, everything you can about the situation and then you can make a proper evaluation.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: And in that boutique independent space, how do you. Go about finding new clients and new projects to work on to bring your [00:32:00] years of experience to help improve their assets.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Mostly it's, you know, really word of mouth. And it's really, uh, being involved in, uh, you know, HSMA Skull, which is another group I'm involved in. Um, and, and setting up offshoots when you meet people there and setting up meetings, uh, from there. Um, with, uh, skull, it's a worldwide organization. I, I like to go to their, uh, annual meeting.

'cause you meet people from all over the world. It's one of the largest travel organizations, if not the largest, certainly are the oldest or one of the oldest in the world. You've got about 15, 20, 15,000 worldwide members. And they're anywhere from India, Australia, New Zealand, all over Europe, all over the us, uh, south America, et cetera.

So you really get an opportunity to meet people from around the world. 'cause I've done projects, you know, um, all over Central America. Um, we've done projects, for example, ENA Belize. Um, [00:33:00] yeah, so I've been fortunate.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: And then if you were to look back over your kind of consulting career, like out, when you're out of the, out of the weeds of management and now you're working with all these clients all over the place, what's, what's a project or a turnaround story you're most proud of?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Well, I would say, you know, um, helping turn around the Lime Tree Bay Resort, um, when I first started there, it's not really turning it around, but helping improving.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Mm-hmm.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: when I first started there. It was about 15 years ago when I first started my company, you know, um, at that juncture, you know, we're in, even on the internet, um, we had years ago we used to have rate cards.

Probably no one knows what I'm talking about, but I had rate cards. So I told the owner, let's throw them out. I. And, uh, you know, he, he had the courage to say, okay. And, uh, we went forward and went on the internet website was developed. Um, and along with a number of other people, he built a really good team.

Uh, you know, our company [00:34:00] helps him with operations and revenue management. He has another person doing some of the marketing. And, um, um, he, he relies on us, you know, we talk weekly or meeting weekly, and he relies on us to improve things. Um, and even during Covid when the keys was closed, hotels and the keys, it's a three and a half start hotel.

It's a very nice hotel. Keys was closed. He paid everybody, all his consultants for two and a half months. And we, you know, we had meetings, you know, uh, zoom meetings and we, you know, came up with game plans and he had the best three years afterwards, phenomenal years, and we.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: I thought you guys didn't have covid down in Florida for some reason.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Well, things are open, but they did close. Close down the keys. Yeah. Well, things are a little bit more wide open. yeah, I mean, geez, hotels in Miami went through, they had it tough for a while. Um,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: another, okay, so that's, and, and I guess of what I'm hearing, like there's the, there's this [00:35:00] dependency. A relationship between you and your client that probably is, is like gold and how did you, who's the client? How did you find them?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: well, the Lime Tree Bay Resort, um, clients, the owners is Vic Bub. Now he's introduced to me by a gentleman that used to work with me.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: mm-hmm.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: At the Intercontinental Miami. He was, uh, doing sales for him. And, uh, that was 15 years ago and we really never looked back. You know, he's, uh, he's been a good men, he's been actually a good coach for me.

You know, I help, I've helped him out, but he is also been a good coach for me. You know?

Um,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: when a client

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: I,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: be a coach. I have a few of those in my world in life, and they're just, it's the

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: yeah.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: I coach so many people. Um, also to have those stakeholders take an interest and want to see me succeed. That's is, I mean that's, that's kind of what

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Uh,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: up out of bed every day, to be

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: yeah, I mean, to give you an example, during, right during the pandemic, you know, we had an opportunity when they [00:36:00] opened up the keys to charge whatever rates we wanted.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Hmm.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: I mean, and I kept on raising the rate 'cause I was handling revenue management and, uh. He said, Xavier, look, let's slow down on the rates.

I want these clients to come back once this pandemic's over with. 'cause the repeat customer at the lime tree is fairly high. It's probably about 25%, 30%. So, and he said, I said, you know, after I thought about it, I said, you're a hundred percent correct. So we, you know, we, we didn't raise the rates as much as, uh, we could have.

so he, that, you know, he was kind of coaching me really. So. Yeah.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: another question I have from your, your father and your uncles being in operations, your son is in hotel operations. You were in hotel operations until you decided to start your company. What were the main, what was your thinking? When you decided to start your company and take that entrepreneurial leap, like how, how, how did, how did the table set for that move

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: I was working at a hotel in the Grove called the Mutiny. It's a condo hotel, which [00:37:00] is an interesting and good experience. Um, and I, I kind of just, uh, 2005,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: 2005. Okay.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: uh, prior to that I was working for, uh, uh, I opened up the intercontinental. Uh, at, uh, Doral, which, um, was at the time was called the Intercontinental West Miami, and that was run by, it's run by a owned and run by a Salvadorian company.

I worked for them for six, seven years selling outbound to Central America and also making sure the hotel did well, uh, from a sales and marketing perspective. So anyway, back to the Mutiny. So I decided, you know what? You know, I've had two different stints as a general manager. I've worked the sales and marketing.

I said, I think maybe for my future growth and, uh, I should give a shot at, um, going out and working with, uh, organizations or hotels at the Jun that juncture and helping them. [00:38:00] Um, improve whether it be operations, sales and marketing, revenue management. And that's how it all ended. So I just said I resigned at, at the end of, uh, 2005 and, uh, went on to, you know, start my consulting gig.

And it's interesting because how about six months later, I don't know how it all happened, but through contacts, again, word of mouth, people I know. I got an opportunity, and it wasn't even a hotel, well it was hotel related, but an opportunity to believe it or not, work in Mexico for the state of Sinaloa,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Oh wow.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: helping them develop tourism in Mazatlan,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Oh,

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: which, yeah, this is in uh, This should be 2007. 2006. 2006. So that lasted for three years. That was a wonderful experience. I really enjoyed the people of Maza Lawn. The food was phenomenal. They had a central historical, you know, uh, [00:39:00] uh, new old city that they were redoing, and that was phenomenal. Phenomenal. And then, uh, you know, we people, you know, wired, uh.

Since the state of similar wired the money religiously every month, and they gave us an expense account and we, uh, I joined partnerships with, uh, a gentleman that I'd worked with at Saw Fatel. He was in la He has his own company, bar maker and associates out in la And we joined, joined forces and um, and helped him, helped them help them.

We, we bought three or four brands down there, so, um, in, in two or three years. So, yeah. Um. But it was interesting learning. You know, I've been to Mexico before, uh, in other situations, uh, hotel situations, but really learning, um, the culture of that part of Mexico. Mazatlan, um, even had a venture up to Kuan, the capital of SLO, where once or twice, um, but mostly most of the time I spent it was in Mazatlan and never felt in [00:40:00] danger at all, actually.

people might say, well.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Mazda's a cool town right now. It's got a little port there. It's kind of neat. Um, if you back to, I. When you were wrestling with the decision to take that step or not, what were some of your fears and how did you overcome them?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: What am I gonna do? I was making decent money. I had a great career going. I mean, you know, I was fortunate. You know why my wife?

My wife Lillian,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: did Lillian uh, push you or was she like more of the voice of reason? Are you sure?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: No, she, she, she was working as a director of finance at the inter country. She was there, she just retired two years ago. She was there from 1987.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Oh, wow.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: She was like my dad. My dad worked for 35 years for Hilton. He got transferred to different locations, but she was there from 1987. So, um, she said, you know what?

If you're gonna do it, do it now. And, and she was right because she said, I'm making decent money, you know, financially we will be all [00:41:00] right. So give it a shot. So she actually, you know, um, pushed me, not pushed me, but supported my, my, me doing that. So I was, I've been lucky. I've been lucky from day one in my life, you know, with, uh, growing up in a great family, having a, uh, my father, uncle, and my great, uh, great uncle in the hospitality industry, my wife in the hospitality industry.

So I, I've been very fortunate and, and the experiences I've had, I mean, I could, we could talk all night here, but, you know, uh.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: I'm curious, like for that old, old school, like living in the, did you lived in the Flamingo as a kid?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: no, Flamingo was one of the hotels we didn't live in. That was, at that time, the only, the two, uh, casino hotels that Hilton had at the time, I believe. Yeah, it was the Las Vegas Hilton and the Flamingo, and that was the only hotel where the general manager didn't live in, we lived in at the Meadowlands Hilton in New Jersey.

My dad, and by this time I was out of the house, lived at the Baltimore Hilton [00:42:00] at the Statler, and the first hotel was the New Yorker on the other side of Madison Square Garden.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Oh yeah.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Yeah. Which was, uh, then bought out by French Poly Clinic, but before that, Hilton managed it and we lived there.

Um.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: back, I want like putting on that like old school era as a kid, even though you weren't living in the Flamingo, I'm sure you went and visited dad a lot. Right. Is that safe to say? I.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: oh, yeah. I mean, I had hair, I had hair down to hair at the time I was 16, you know.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: were 16. I wanna go to To younger. Like what? Or 16. But what is,

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: you go younger and go to the New York hours 12 or 13.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: okay.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Okay.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: New Yorker,

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: We were living there. We also had a house up in Harrison, so, and the weekends we'd go up there.

Um,

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: memory as a child growing up in these hotels? 'cause that's gotta be like such an unusual. Experience I there, there are a lot of families that grow up living in those hotels. But what, what, what's your fondest

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: well for me, to be honest, it had to [00:43:00] be the fact that it was across the street from Madison Square Garden and I was a big basketball and hockey fan. Huge. I still am the huge Nick and Ranger fan. And, um, a lot of the players when they, uh, let's say they, you know, did a trade or, um, you know, uh, they would stay at the hotel.

So I'd see these like tall guys. You know, I remember a guy by the name of Luther Rackley who played for the Knicks. He was on, you know, wasn't a starter, but he. Um, you know, he would walk into the elevator and the guy's fur jacket was like twice my height. I mean, it was, but um, and then, um, you know. Uh, seeing so, and I saw starters that would come into the hotel.

There was a restaurant called the Lamppost in, they used to come into, uh, uh, sometimes after the game, sometimes, um, way before the game. So I used to see some of them there. And then, you know, my dad got tickets and we went to a few games, uh, which was very exciting [00:44:00] for me. So, yeah. And then also, you know. even there, I was used to sit in the lobby and watch people come in and out.

So that was kind of, kind of how, how I got to know the hotel industry and, and I would watch all the interactions and I liked it. So that may have been the first, um, introduction for me in hotel industry.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: are the coolest things to watch. I mean, we moved up, we had the pandemic in New York City. Obviously a little different than Florida, but we, I, we got outta dodge pretty quick, and to Connecticut and I miss just watching people sitting and watching people like New York City or any, any city for that matter, people. I just find Mesmer mesmerizing fascinating and I, and I can't like as a little kid, just to be able to yourself there in the lobby and just watch all these characters come in and out. Must have been so incredible.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: I don't know, maybe 'cause I'm from New York, but whenever I. Uh, fly up to New York and I'm on that plane flying [00:45:00] into New York. You know, I was born and raised there. I get excited about going into New York City still to this day because it's just is the city that doesn't sleep. Um, you know, just every time you go there, you know, you see new things going on.

Um, the restaurants, the, just everything. So I, I, I, agree with you. I mean, and I've been to every city in the world, and there are a lot of exciting cities. You know, London, Hong Kong, um, you know, Paris is great. Um, so Chicago, New York, uh, what? San Francisco, la you know, they say.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Cash song.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Um, but think about it, you know, they say the three, three of the greatest walking cities in the world are basically New York, London, and Paris. Um, and there's more to add to those now, but, um, but anyway, I, I agree with you.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: So, Xavier, if you, um. [00:46:00] If the Xavier I'm talking to now with decades of experience under your belt in this industry, if you were to magically appear in front of the long-haired 16-year-old version of yourself

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Ooh.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Vegas, what advice do you have for that version of Xavier?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: to just live every day to the fullest. Don't sweat the small stuff.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Mm.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Um, you know, a lot of things that are, you're gonna experience over the course of the years are gonna be positive. You're gonna go through some, you know, bad experiences in your own life and around you with your, you know, family and friends, um, you know, people getting sick, people dying, et cetera.

So just live life to the fullest every day, I would say, and always be, try to have the right attitude and be positive. And always try to turn a negative into a positive. That would be my advice. And you know, and I have another thing I always tell people, just do the right thing. That's a motto I [00:47:00] have is just do the right thing.

Think about before you do anything, think about it and make sure you, in your heart and in your mind, you're doing the right thing.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Especially when nobody's looking.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: That's very true. That's a good point.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Yeah.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: 'cause eventually something like that will come out. I agree.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Yeah. And I just think that's like ultimately just character do the right thing when no one's looking like lift, where you stand. Um. Xavier, this has been a, a really interesting, and insightful conversation. I appreciate your time so much. If people wanted to learn more about you or connect with you or see what you got going on, what's the best way for them to do that?

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Well, it's two ways. Number one, my website, which is X livid Dini at hospitality advance, or that's my email address, sorry. Or go to my website, um, and look at some of the projects that we've done. Uh, it's www.hospitalityadvance.com.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: Perfect. And we'll put all that in the show notes for those of you who are curious. Um, so I just thank you for your time. I'm [00:48:00] by all of your stories, and thank you. And thank you for sharing with everyone else out there.

xavier-lividini_1_04-11-2025_144257: Well, thank you for having me. I really enjoyed, uh, you know, this podcast and talking to you. It's been a very good experience for me. Thank you.

dan-ryan_59_04-11-2025_144258: you. And then for all those listeners who this gave you a slightly different view on hospitality or just the opportunities that are within our incredible, um, please pass it along if you think someone who might be thinking about it, um, pass it along. We, we really, grow by word of mouth.

Um, and I wouldn't be here talking to really cool people like Xavier, if it wasn't for all of you listeners. So please like, subscribe, pass it along, do all that stuff. It helps with the promotion and thank you.