Defining Hospitality

[00:00:00]
Dan Ryan: today's guest is an accidental hospitality leader. She manages the ongoing renovation work across the growing portfolio for the eighth largest hotel company in the us, Sonesta Hotels International. She oversees the building and design standards by, brand For conversion and new build hotels within the managed and franchise portfolio for Esta, she's been working in the hospitality industry for over a decade and a half.
the Senior Director of Renovation and Capital Projects at Sonesta Hotels. Ladies
Bridget Rooks: and gentlemen, Bridget
Dan Ryan: Rooks. Welcome Bridget.
[00:01:00] Thanks, Dan.
Awesome. Well, it's so good to see you here and thank you for your time. I know, um, you're a mom with a, a. new, A new, A new-ish one who's 17 months
old. Yeah, And in 16, 19.
Yeah.
18 or 19 months And in the midst of that, her in the midst of the pandemic,
correct. Which is insane because as I said in a recent conversation with Brian Quinn, you guys went 50 hotels before the
Bridget Rooks: pandemic. Yeah.
Dan Ryan: To over 1200 now. Yeah. And now you are responsible. for Allocating all the capital and projects to like convert brands, create it
Bridget Rooks: going.
Yeah. I'm part of the process. Yeah.
Dan Ryan: Part of the committee
Part of the committee
for that. yeah.
Um, and I think what's really interest. is that I said at the beginning, you're an accidental leader, right? Mm-hmm. . when you think [00:02:00] about. , your journey into hospitality and where you came know you were a was.
And it's interesting in our in many ways, creating a play mm-hmm. and putting it out on stage and producing it and writing it and being involved in that whole process is very similar
Bridget Rooks: to what you're doing now.
I think so.
Yeah. I don't think that that's a stretch. Yeah. So if you think. about, And I, I want to pull second, but if you think about that as kind of a
a
Dan Ryan: to work within
f On your journey, like how, how do you define
Bridget Rooks: as an accidental hospitality leader?
Yeah. I, I would define hospitality as a warm welcome, right? And being ready to greet guests, to. meet the needs of their occasion and of that location of where they're going. [00:03:00] And, just being prepared to, exceed
those expectations and provide that warm welcome.
Dan Ryan: Mm-hmm. . And if you think about that warm welcome, because in so many of these conversations, that Or hearth is really, it's like, it's And if you think about. , I don't know what your writing process was, but if you think about the stacks of paper Yeah. would write or type. How would you do
it? I would write then type.
Okay, good. So you get that you're, you're working on all these different ideas and then you're, you're iterating them and revising and then, you know, it's just Right, right. When you know it's Right.
Bridget Rooks: It's not a formula, it's a feeling. Right.
Yeah. And it's specific to
Dan Ryan: each project, right? Mm-hmm. . Yeah.
as you think about. , you know, this growth story of 50 to 1200, right? And you're writing, you're writing standards and you're design onboard. You're, you're coordinating with construction, you're [00:04:00] How, how is that your play
Bridget Rooks: Like how do you look at it as a play?
I look at it very similar to a play, right? So a play would always start for me with a, with an outline and kind of with. A through message, almost a thesis statement.
And so for customer renovations, that thesis statement is your, um, it's your design narrative, and that's your, ultimately it's, it's the elevator pitch for how. , the renovation capital that's gonna be spent is going to improve the performance of the hotel that gonna deliver on that guest experience.
Um, and then from a writing perspective, um, you know, just always having in mind the different stakeholders. That need to be part of the process and getting them engaged and understanding their perspective. So you're writing a play, you're always looking at perspectives of all these individual characters.
And so the same, can I, it sounds like a stretch, but I think the same applies to our industry, right? So in developing [00:05:00] standards, they need to work for delivering the brand standards, the defining brand standards, right? But they also need to work for. , uh, owners and asset managers, right, that are evaluating the performance of the hotels.
They have to work for developers that are looking to partner with Esta. So it's keeping all of those perspectives in mind to evaluate the criteria of any, any
Dan Ryan: of initiatives that we're rolling out right now.
And I feel like, you know, as a, you know, I, I, would, I, would, I, I write, but I wouldn't consider myself a but in those times, , when it, you just know it's right. It's like that there's that thread or narrative that kind of spins through everything. Yeah. And you know, iteration, iteration, iteration. And then it's, you have you know? Mm-hmm. , it's there. Mm-hmm. . I want to also go back into the accidental being a playwright.
Mm-hmm. ,
how did you find your way into this crazy industry? Because so many of these conversations that we've been having here on defining hospitality is how many people [00:06:00] have no experience that come into it, and then their eyes
are,
and hearts, eyes and hearts are lit up by the people, the community Yeah.
Of, you know, designing, building, owning, operating hotel. .Yeah. And then they never want to leave. Right. So like how did, how did you find your
Bridget Rooks: from playwright to here?
Yeah. I mean, it was random. Um, and it's a great industry, right? And I think that for the,
personalities. Like
once you get a taste of it, there's no going back almost.
Mm-hmm. . Um, but I was, you know, writing plays, it might not surprise you that that doesn't necessarily pay a lot of money. And I had student loans. Right. So I was also managing, uh, a Trader Joe's at the time, which is a great company. Um, , but you know, the hours weren't very stable and I was looking for something that was more nine to five to balance out, you know, to pay the bills while I was also pursuing my little $3,000 So, um, so I, I had a friend in Colorado from [00:07:00] high school that, uh, was an English major and she worked for Benjamin West, which is a purchasing company in, in the industry, which I'm sure I don't need to say. And she worked for them in Colorado. And I just thought, okay, well if. can do that with an English background.
Maybe I could do that with an English background. Right. So they had a Chicago office that had just opened at the time and they had a London office, which was very enticing to me. And so I, uh, I applied, I got the job, then I just started as a project coordinator at Benjamin West. Um, when I got into the industry and I had an amazing mentor, uh, this woman, Toby Noodleman, that you know, would just give me.
uh, every opportunity to do more, right? Mm-hmm. , so, you know, and learn more, and take on more responsibilities and, you know, kind of guide the effort. Um, and, and let me sort of soar out on my own with that as well. And so that's kind of how I got into purchasing. And then, you know, as I was in purchasing, I was taking on more and more projects.
I was, you know, leading a [00:08:00] team and then, You know, eventually I became a project director and I had, I think, you know, 25, 28 projects at a time. And so then you're getting all that exposure. You're on all these conference calls, you're going all to all these sites. Um, you're part of the process. And I just, I, I was always fascinated by the, the entire.
effort that it took to, to make these, uh, renovations happen. And so I wasn't just paying attention to the part that was related to me is this, uh, is coming in within budget, is this product arriving on time? I was listening to everything that was going on. Um, and I learned a lot through that process. And then, uh, I had an opportunity to transition into project management, uh, with another amazing mentor, this woman Vicky Smith, who had done it for a long time and.
you know, she kind of showed me the ropes and I got involved on the project management side and I was a little bit intimidated because I didn't have a lot of construction background, but I was very [00:09:00] diligent. I was very organized and, you know, I wasn't afraid when I didn't know something to call people that I had met, you know, I had met a lot of contractors through my time as a purchasing agent.
So I would call them and, and just, you know, sort of suss out, is this, is this the, the right effort on, on, on this project? , you know, again, kind of took on a lot of projects in that role. And so then that just gets you more learning opportunities and uh, I did a lot of work with Sonesta kind of throughout that through line.
So that's how I wound up, uh, really getting to know a lot of the people at Sonesta and then,
Dan Ryan: uh, joining in 2020. So I heard you say through that and also in just a lot of other conversations and just from my own experience, listening. Listening, yeah. Mentors. Yeah. . Asking. And I think one of the things that has struck me throughout each other
been afraid to say that you don't know something.
Right. Right. And I find that are scared [00:10:00] to Mm-hmm. . Um, but you're also very, you ask so many questions so that you can always find it. And you, you're so good at finding the people that know the answers. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So Have you always and like where do you think that that with that vulnerability so that
better your understanding of how
Bridget Rooks: everything works?
Where do you think that comes from?
Yeah, I, I think that. That's a good question. I don't think I was always that way. I think that when I was younger it was, you know, important to me to seem like I knew what I was doing. Um, I have three older siblings and you know, when I was growing up, I have a younger brother too, but when I was growing up, all I wanted to do was be like my older siblings and be on the, the same wavelength as them.
Right. So I think when I definitely more, more looking to portray that I was at that level think that, you know,
From, I don't know when it [00:11:00] turned, but you, you it's not, you're not um, pretending to know something that you don't know. And so once you realize don't know exactly that turning point, it becomes how do you do.
the best job that you can. Right. Um, I remember the first union project I was working on when I was a project manager. I was, uh, trying to put the budget together and I just really wanted to make sure that I understood the labor increase correctly. Right. So I was just calling everybody that I knew that would have an understanding of that and just, okay, I know how to do a budget.
I know how to put these line item estimates together based on past data, but, um, you know, what's the union premium that I should be carrying for this? And really, I don't know. It, it's, it's important for me. to be correct in my work. And so I think that might be where it comes from, that that is how I jump that hurdle is that I'd rather be, um, correct at the than, you know, uh,
Dan Ryan: appearing and knowledgeable.
Yeah. And then [00:12:00] so if the drive, if the driver is to be correct mm-hmm. and, and have or work done, it's like, okay, well I'm okay that if that's number one driver, then I'm. these questions to get to that point.
Right. Right. Yeah. And
it, okay, so to use, as you were talking, it made me think of something that I once heard where when you were trying to get that for the union example, like How many people do you think you
Bridget Rooks: spoke to before you got to there?
Yeah, I mean, I think I probably spoke to three or four people just to kind of make sure that. You know, the, the assumptions were, you know, worth presenting to people that I could stand behind them because I would have to
Dan Ryan: stand you know, project advanced.
It's, It's interesting cuz I once read this story, uh, a story of, for a sunken, a battleship, or submarine or something in the middle of the Atlantic. right? Yeah. And there was like an American crew looking for it, A German crew. a English crew, a French crew. There [00:13:00] were groups.
And then they all had, based on last location radio, spoke,
they all had different coordinates for where they would thought in this general area. Yeah. And when they averaged, when they put all the coordinates together into an average and found that one spot. Right. It was there. it. Right. And, um, I don't know. I just think that this idea of being, I
Bridget Rooks: guess that's what it is, it's curiosity. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's curiosity and it, um, you know, some humility as well to just be willing
Dan Ryan: vulnerability. And then when you think about
Bridget Rooks: hospitality
as
Dan Ryan: as well Yeah.
For hotels and travel. Mm-hmm. , I know that you're, you've always loved it and you shared with me like a really cool How your parents brought you up. Yeah. And did that, did and does that, how they, how they brought you up with respect to [00:14:00] travel and vacation? that fuel
Bridget Rooks: your idea of curiosity as well?
I think definitely. I mean, travel remains a huge priority for me and for my husband and our family. We, we, uh, both of our daughters have been to like 15 states at this time. We try to leverage, you know, travel along with mom on trips and we take advantage of.
being able to use miles to go to places.
Mm-hmm. . So both my kids have been to Scotland, the older one's been to France and to Germany and everything. And you meet friends and, um, you just build these relationships and with other like-minded, curious people. Right. That
mm-hmm.
I think is really me when I was,
Dan Ryan: but but there's also that element of surprise.
too. Yeah. And when the way that your parents would surprise. you was, I'm just really envious that, like, why didn't I think of
Bridget Rooks: that? Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah. So why didn't you share that?
So my, um, my dad passed away when I was young. He passed away when I was 10. And so I have this sort of, uh, time [00:15:00] capsule in my head of very vivid memories from when he was around.
And my parents would not tell, uh, my younger brother and I when we were going on vacation. So they. , pack all of our bags and, um, just wake us up morning of, and then you'd be on your way to the airport. Uh, and it was, you know, incredibly exciting. I have Ed O'Hare between the B and C Gates. There's that, you know, light display in, in that terminal.
and I have such
Dan Ryan: oh, those neon.
Bridget Rooks: Exactly. Ceiling. And those have been there since at least the eighties. Right. So I just have, I have such vivid memories of being on or being down that hallway, looking up and just like, where are we going? We're going to Florida. You know, it's, it's just, uh, it's, it's a, it's wonderful and it's wonderful to kind of instill that excitement with travel and, and just that sense of adventure and the sense that, you know, things will happen along the way and you just adapt to them.
You. , you keep going. And, [00:16:00] um, I think that that definitely was part of what made me catch the bug for the industry. Mm-hmm. once, once getting into it. Cuz you get all these opportunities to see new places and you know, I, one of my favorite parts of my job is that you go to locations you wouldn't necessarily vacation to, but they have their own merit.
And so you get all this exposure to all these great, all these great locations and you get to know people that have great perspective on And it, I
Dan Ryan: mean, .
It's, it's
the best.
to those locations that you normally wouldn't go to and you have a project there and then you're designer Yeah.
Who most, more often than not they do, cuz they want to get the narrative for that location. Right. Right. You have your brand. Yep. But then they, they need to get the, the brand and the flavor of the location. And I. like walking into a design firm's office when they're. in that Research phase
because they dig so deep.
And they find these really cool and curious stories. Right. But then it's like, okay, how [00:17:00] do we make this into a real thing? Yep. What, so if you look at like the projects that you're working on far as a surprise Yeah. On that narrative side of like the location.
Bridget Rooks: What's been like a really cool recently?
hm. , you know, we're kind of just with the custom projects that we're doing, we're in that process right now. So we're developing those narratives right now. We just kind of launched them this year. Um, so I don't think I can speak to that specifically right now with the process that it's in, but the research that's been done, um, you know, seeing what, what buildings that, you know, were built, uh, as you know, apartment used to be, um, they used to have these.
Terraces with bars and everything, and how can we tie that into the design? I, I, I love that part of the journey. I love that, you know, using the narrative. Um, and it, it's, it's great. I love observing [00:18:00] that creativity and leaning into that creativity touching base with design firms throughout the conceptual design
Dan Ryan: kind of collaborate on mm-hmm.
That's great.
And then I know being new on the journey, new-ish. On this like pandemic post pandemic. . Um, in speaking to Brian, he mentioned that you guys were spending an insane amount of capital. Yeah. Right? Like, Well,
capital partner.
or you're a capital partner. Right. And you're,
Bridget Rooks: you're, but you're responsible for allocating that responsibly?
Well, the ca so it's a, it's a team effort, right? So it's the asset managers, it's operations leaders,
Dan Ryan: Oh, and I say you, I mean you and your, the team, that
you're on.
Bridget Rooks: right.
Dan Ryan: Right, right.
All the stakeholders in each of the projects. Right. So, is like a half a billion dollars or minus. Right. Um, . That is a
Bridget Rooks: tremendous
Dan Ryan: It is. how, man manage that as [00:19:00] far as making sure that, okay, you're in, you're, you've captured that narrative for each of the projects. like it feel you're in that good feeling thing, right? But then how on that there's like, A fiduciary responsibility that all of you have to your make sure that you're getting an ROI on that.
And sometimes in what we do, it's really hard to measure that. Right. a team make all that happen? Because to go from 50 to 1200 of anything. Yeah. It's in any world. That's a lot. That's like ultimate scale. Right. And I'm just really curious by The dynamism that you guys must have and
Bridget Rooks: yeah.
Communication. Like how do Yeah. You know, I think we spent a lot of time, you know, my, my team, my department, but also the brand team and defining what the brand standards are for each of our brands over the last, you know, two years. Um, you know, joining Sonesta. at the end [00:20:00] of 2020. It had been much smaller, so they didn't, we didn't have those standards well defined, right?
Mm-hmm. , so we've spent a lot of time developing those. But I think in, in tandem with that effort of defining what the standards are and how those relate to design standards specifically, is what are our areas of flexibility? Because in defining the areas of flexibility, it gives you the lens to look at each individual project from an owner's of you.
Uh, for instance, if if there's a, a shower surround right, and it's not to our brand specification, um, we're not gonna take the assumption to replace that just because it's not to our brand specification if it's bright and modern and, and isn't a de attract from the room. So what are the opportunities to imp improve the performance of that hotel, those opportunities coming from?
You know, replacing all those surrounds or are they coming from, you know, pursuing room type conversions and looking at, uh, the public area and how do we [00:21:00] integrate, you know, uh, our objectives within the public spaces? So we, you know, one of the cool things about Esta being as lean as we are right now and, and as small still, Um, as we are is that we, we look at things on that individual basis.
We don't look at things that, that one size fits all. You must do this, you know, what is the ROI in that market for putting in this brand, uh, this brand standard? And if it doesn't make sense, To pivot from that and, and really focus on the elements of scope that the performance at the end of the day.
Yeah. And so that we look at every project, kind of exhaustively, individualistically, um, but I think that it's ultimately to, to our betterment, to our primary capital partners betterment, that, you know, that's
Dan Ryan: the rigor that we're making those decisions with.
And I, and I love the fact that, okay, you have these goals, you have the thesis, as you said earlier.
right.
I like the idea of areas of flexibility. It's like really picking your battles. Right. Exactly. What's best. [00:22:00] Okay. There's a tailor made Right. For everything, but really it doesn't necessarily work over everything. So it's like, how do you, and I find that I work on, I find sometimes the, the thesis is so inflexible.
that they're missing. , sometimes people are missing. Like what? Or they don't ask the question, what's most important here? Right. Like, help, what helps us get here? And I find that those are really important conversations to
have. Yes. Um,
and to also be vulnerable and flex on because it's like, Hey guys, like this really isn't working.
Like, let's see how we our battles and, and When. . Earlier you said like you on that curiosity or vulnerability side, you weren't always that way. It it was just a process over time of wanting to be Yeah. Right. And put the best product forward. If you think about the team that you're on now, or previous mm-hmm. or, or even [00:23:00] like where do you think you learned that from the most as far as being able pick those battles and Get to the point of what's most important
Bridget Rooks: like a check on your process?
Yeah, I mean, I think part of it um, you know, just learning from past experiences. I, I've been involved in a lot of projects at right.
And then, uh, you know, I work so closely with our primary capital partners. ,
my department is under our overall strategy team within Sonesta. And so always trying to, um, work together across our departments to, to find those areas of impact. Like what is the real opportunity here? Um, I, from a mentorship perspective, it's countless in a way because there's kind of the intentional mentors, the people that have taken me under their wing, but then there's also you.
Getting so [00:24:00] much exposure through so many projects to so many different people. You know, in the vendor community, I've learned so much from many different manufacturers about the, you know, going on factory tours and finding out about the efficiencies that can be achieved with certain things that would still deliver the design intent, right?
So if you make a headboard two inches, then, or you know, is that really gonna detract from.
The design intent or is that going to be, you know, providing some efficiency on the buying side of, of those materials. And then, you know, just being open-minded to some of those, uh, those learnings and insights from others within the industry.
You know, on the designer, uh, on the designer side, I think there's a lot of designers that do a great job of working around, you know, using the restrictions of a budget, for instance, as, as a challenge and. Really coming up with creative ways to, to still make transformations. You know, Miriam Torres is amazing at that.
I can name many others, right, that deliver on that. And [00:25:00] then, um, you know, peop leadership within our organization. We've got a really, you know, amazing, strong senior leadership, but our, our, within our organization that have a, a lot of experience and, and really a strong vision of, you know, wanting to have co.
uh, brand identities, but also just what are the important elements of those consistent brand identities. And so, I mean, the influences at contributing to that are
Dan Ryan: kind of countless. Mm-hmm. .Right? And it's a process,
and I guess it, you know, it's probably that innate curiosity that you have Yeah. Where you're always open to that and always open to the Um, as you your, life experience from. being the, the little girl with the big siblings. Yeah. To the surprise travel, plays, hospitality industry.
[00:26:00] accidentally you, that's a great foundation. Also, the mentors, right? We all, we all stand on the shoulders of those before us, but as kind of look at where you are now, the person I'm speaking to and you kind of.
Forward. Mm-hmm. . As far as this team and the leaders that you're all around and that have assembled it, And I said, what's exciting
Bridget Rooks: the future Uh, I mean, we've done so much foundational work over the last two years, but to execute it, we need that capital investment, right? So the, the partnership with our primary capital partner, like willing to take that bet on us and roll over the next few years, I mean, , staying at a ESA in three years will mean something completely different than it means today, right?
Because today all of our hotels, or most of our hotels are conversions that are still bearing the, the, the hallmarks of other brands, right? So that's incredibly exciting for me. I'm, I'm, [00:27:00] you know, we did ESA Select, uh, prototype. Esta ES Suites prototype, esta Simply Suites prototypes, uh, over the last year.
And we, we executed all of those. Basically we got the brand work done from the brand team, went straight into design and had all of those prototype reviews this summer, uh, with converted assets. And, you know, we worked with D L R Group on select, we worked with Baskerville on ES, and simply they all did amazing jobs meeting, uh, the objectives of each of those brands, but also making.
the design's something, uh, distinct and exciting and flexible. So on ESA Select, it doesn't look anything like any other, you know. upscale Focus service brand. It's, it's a completely unique product that has, um, clear advantages within the marketplace and I just can't wait for us to roll that out. And then on the ES and the Simply Side, you know, you have all these different base building types within our portfolio.
You have Residence Inns and Summer Fields, and Staybridge Suites
Dan Ryan: are
Bridget Rooks: everything that are ex well that have been [00:28:00] converted to Sinest ess. So how do you make a design work for all those different. Uh, building types. How do you make it scalable? How do you make it approachable for, uh, the development community that are bringing hotels into our brands?
And, um, just all the teams did a tremendous effort with building kind of kit apart selections that really carry the theme of the design, intent and expression, but leaves that flexibility, uh, for, you know, the opportunities
Dan Ryan: within that specific hotel, that
Bridget Rooks: specific market.
Dan Ryan: just heard you say Kit apart.
Bridget Rooks: Yeah.
Dan Ryan: Kit
of Parts. Oh, kit of
Parts, Okay. yeah. So Like walk us through a good, like that kit of parts. Yeah. Oh, that's cool. So that's used to kind of, in a way, bridge the gap, right? Between the, the recently converted properties, which is probably signage and Some other things and maybe marketing experience.
But the rooms. are still the cuz you just haven't gotten to them yet.
Right.
Okay. So if you look at this massive conversion and also rollout of new [00:29:00] brands, right? How. . do you, And if you say the most important how do you guys measure how you're executing or if you're executing well,
is it a property by property thing?
Does everything roll up into a dashboard? Like
Bridget Rooks: how do you, how do you measure your Yeah, so I mean, you know, we, at this point, we don't have any completed renovations that are portraying what has been established so far, but. ,
we have data metrics. We have, you know, um, a lot of research and analyst groups we're, we're looking for more and more ways to collect that guest feedback on the experience.
We have a customer advisory council that our, you know, sales and commercial team meet with on a regular basis to solicit feedback for, you know, guest priorities. And they give us a lot of insight and learning of, you know, what opportunities exist that we wouldn't have thought of on our own. Um, and then through the scope process.
We're developing the scopes. We're developing the budgets, we're working really closely with asset management, [00:30:00] um, to try to project what the ROI lift is going to be for individual scope components. And then if it's not aligning at the end of the day with the overall cost of the renovation, like what areas are the priority, what areas should we be doubling down on, and what areas should we be scaling back from?
And it's, you know, it's gonna be different per property and per location, but it's a, it's a team effort. There's.
a lot of people within the strategy department at, at Esta, but also a lot of people from the primary owner, uh, ownership group with the asset management, uh, that, you know, have a lot of really, um, concrete knowledge of those markets that they're overseeing and of those hotels that they're overseeing.
And just being receptive and having that dialogue on an ongoing basis is really important. And also, you know, getting the feedback from the development team too.
in developing these focus service standards, we, we talked to everybody. You know, we, we, we were socializing the designs with everybody as they were being developed and making sure that we were getting that feedback.
We [00:31:00] have ESA Simply Suites as a great brand and it has a very lean operating model, um, that we don't wanna break, right? And so, getting kind of a panel of experts of the operators themselves to weigh in on, you know, this sort of program-wide rollout. What is a priority? What works, what doesn't work? What are the things that we need to make sure we include with this?
And, um, you know, that's kind of that, that socialization, that, you know, looking at the perspective of those characters right. That is, is I think, really important to us to try achieve that
Dan Ryan: long result.
Cool. Yeah. And then again, going from like the select,
Bridget Rooks: select
Dan Ryan: service. luxury. Right, right. Because you have
We have upper upscale, Upper
upscale. Okay. So select service to upper upscale. Are there any, looking at the guest or feedback that's coming are there any threads or like are any more he, are any comments heavily weighted across all of it, or are they kind of individualized?
Bridget Rooks: By bucket, so to speak.
[00:32:00] Yeah, I mean, I would say it's by buckets.
It's by location too, right? So an upscale or an upper upscale hotel is, the needs will vary depending on, you know, the market and the, uh, comp set of that market and what are the opportunities. And I think that, um, you know, in approaching a project, my team, but also the designers that we partner with, you know, We like to ask those leading questions of the operators because they know their market, they know their comp set, they know what their competitive disadvantages are.
And so really taking the opportunity of a renovation to address those competitive disadvantages is
Dan Ryan: that, um, we Yeah. And I, find that you, you look at experiences out there and I know as much as everyone says that they want to hear from the guests, get the feeling.
They when guests give feedback. Right. Oftentimes it's not listened to. Right. feedback. is [00:33:00] To address some of those concerns. It
Bridget Rooks: a lot of investment too.
Right. Um, and you're not going to hit every one of 'em, right? Because
Dan Ryan: you're not necessarily gonna have that
Bridget Rooks: investment. Yeah. So you're gonna have to balance them all.
But it's not just the guests, it's, you know, it's the sales teams of those hotels and it's, you know, what is. What would make a difference in your ability to sell this hotel or, you know, what would keep guests here longer? What would build your base business? Is that what you need to achieve? Do you need to be focusing on the adr?
Um, you know, it's, that's where I think our approach at, at really trying to look at each. property individually is important. You know, an airport hotel is gonna have different needs than a downtown location or a resort location. And, um, you know, that all kind of goes into informing our
Dan Ryan: approach Um, go back to the,
the
playwright side of it, it's just, . I dunno. I don't know if I really know any [00:34:00] playwrights, so I'm considering you a playwright. Okay. You are
Bridget Rooks: a former playwright. Um, are you still writing ?
Um, no. It's, it's a little busy with my day job and, uh, and my kids, but, uh, you know, I'd be open to
Dan Ryan: it in the future.
I loved doing it. Mm-hmm. . Yeah.
Um, um, that first excite, okay, so you write this play and I, let's, let's overlay. it with The work you're doing now, right? Sure. You write the play, with the production team? Yeah. Uh, the director, the actors mm-hmm. , it's Yeah. Um, the lights go down.
The lights Yeah. And that exciting feeling. What are you, what's the looking forward on with your Yeah. What's what's the next, um,
Bridget Rooks: opening night, so to speak.
The next for Esta, um, we have early [00:35:00] adopters. Uh, I think we have 12 hotels that are the first to adopt our, uh, prototype design that are in construction or will be in construction at the beginning of the year.
And so that's exciting. It's the first opportunity that we have to really roll out these designs and, um, it took a lot to get them to a point where basically, as soon as the prototypes and model. reviews were complete. We were, you know, off to the races trying to get those executed. And we had done a lot of pre-work on those properties leading up to it.
So that's gonna offer us a lot of, um, opportunities in different locations to sort of test out, you know, uh, the success of those designs and further detail and, and, you know, re refined from there. And, , you know, on the full service side, those are much longer processes, right? But end of next year, beginning of 2024, um, we're gonna have, you know, the first half dozen full service hotels, um, transformed right within our brand standards.
And so [00:36:00] I'm really excited about next year. I'm excited about 2024. Cause I think that that's where you're gonna start seeing some of those transformations with that thesis statement, with that unified, uh, Standard approach and understanding our target guests, understanding the key, defining brand standards, understanding all the wonderful brand work that our brand and marketing team did.
You know, rolling those out into executed projects is, it's, I, I can't wait. So I would say, you know, mid 2024, hopefully
Dan Ryan: a whole lot to see in that.
then if you think about the projects that have converted to this esta. the middle of it. And as you're maybe guests are staying at Estes for the first What are some of the best
Bridget Rooks: of guest feedback that you're getting?
Well, so, so the hotels haven't fully converted yet, but of the public spaces that we
Dan Ryan: [00:37:00] executed in,
Bridget Rooks: um,
Dan Ryan: Even, even being in midstream. so to
speak. Right,
People are, have stayed at this hotel. They're, they're coming back before there's a new, there could be a new team.
Yeah. There's a new lobby. There's new yeah. A new ex. There is a new experience. Absolutely. Despite the rooms being the same. Like what
Bridget Rooks: are the, what are some great examples of guest feedback?
Yeah, so it, uh, our Sonesta Select Prototype Hotel, which is in Foxboro. Um, You know, we, we were looking at the reception area and trying to look at it from a, a long view, right?
So right now people are still needing the two check-in stations for a hotel of that size. But as time goes on and, um, you get more. Uh, self check-in, you get more mobile check-ins, right? How do you make that area adaptable in the future so that way you're not having to completely redo it down the road?
And so DLR group and, and our, uh, innovations team work together to kind of define this, uh, immersive market experience around the reception [00:38:00] area, and then the reception pods themselves in the future. are convertible to sort of merchandise display case. So if you wind up needing fewer, uh, pods in the future, then you, you have that ability to, um, change the use of that space.
And then we implemented self-pay, uh, at the market and the, and you know, sort of strategic merchandising at the market. So that way it's not just this afterthought, it's, you know, we're, we're offering products intentionally. Um, you know, we were working with, uh, impulsing about some of those selections and they provided a lot of great insight and, um, ,
the, the feedback that we are getting, you know, I, I went back to that hotel just, you know, a couple months ago, and, you know, the guests are loving it.
They're loving, being able to just come in and find something that's really appealing to them, pay for it on the spot. And I, I, I think it's great and I can't wait to
Dan Ryan: that type of thing at more hotels.
I love the idea of, you said,
offering products intentionally, right? Mm-hmm. , because you know, being a road warrior, you go there and it always [00:39:00] seems.
like, oh, I forgot to pack something. And then it's kind of where I need to buy that, whatever it was, or if I'm needed water. It's kind of always. like Crammed behind the desk and it's, it's always like an
Bridget Rooks: afterthought. I love that idea of intentionality.
Yeah. And then, you know, our innovations team, I'm working really closely with them as well to, to roll out, uh, Sonesta work suite.
And so that's, uh, you know, kind of a multi-functional meeting, uh, space facility. So that way it's not just, you know, your, your tables in classroom setting. It, it's flexible and it has different zones to really help facilitate collaboration and, uh, Breaking away from the main, you know, presentation activity to brainstorm and, um, everything that they're bringing to the table.
The innovations team with the designers that, you know, we get their sort of custom specification and, and design intent to those spaces. is so exciting, and it goes down to even details that I'm not directly involved with, like o s E touchpoints, right? So having, uh, you know, sort of [00:40:00] mind break games to really sort of jumpstart that creativity and having casting solutions for the TV so that we are not trying to plug in a, uh, h DM I Cable to facilitate your meeting.
And, um, that's another thing that
Dan Ryan: forward to rolling out at more So on the, So Work Suite is that, for People staying in the hotel, or it could be businesses or groups coming in Yeah. To utilize this collaboration
and both, and
Bridget Rooks: co-working. Yeah. But it's collab, it's co-working and collaboration.
Right. I mean, it could be used for either, so it could be used for sort of team meetings, for, for presentations, for co-working. It's versatile by nature and, and the objectives for it and, and really, um, you know, we have a lot of people. Atsa that have spent time at, at Convene and other sort of meeting centric places.
And so we're bringing all of those learnings into, you know, how do we make sure that this is and um, and
Dan Ryan: it's much better breakout room.
Bridget Rooks: A hundred Yeah.
Back [00:41:00] together to meet.
Yeah. And so, you know, that's for the guests of the hotels, it's, it's to drive people to stay at the hotels, but it's also if, if there's an office parked nearby, like, you know, bring them into the hotels too.
So it, it's, uh, it's really exciting and, and we're doing it really
Dan Ryan: really thoughtfully Mm-hmm. and so I, I can't wait to,
so en yeah. Engaging other local businesses to come and use it Yeah. It's better than the old conference room with an easel in the
Bridget Rooks: corner.
Right. Right. I
Dan Ryan: Convene has done a, where they're at now.
convene has like repurposing, um, office floors for, for that kind of collaboration as well. they're really cool.
All right. well I'm, I'm excited for it. And I'm excited for 2023 and 24 and beyond. Um, but I want one, one kind of last question if,
Bridget Rooks: again, this kind
Dan Ryan: kind of that idea of mentoring
and Yeah.
Learning and curiosity, Yeah. So [00:42:00] if you, if you, the Bridget I'm talking to now. Go back to playwright Bridge. Bridget managing a Trader Joe's store. production up on stage. Yeah. But you now the Bridget, a decade and a half or more later. Yeah. Appear in front of your
Bridget Rooks: Uh, to my younger self, I would say
and be open and take on as many new challenges as you can. I remember the first couple years that I was in the industry, I just wanted to be, I want, I wanted to kind of immediately be further along and it takes time. exposure.
to sort of learn the ropes, and it's a continuous process of [00:43:00] learning, right? And so if I'm really speaking to my younger self and trying to alleviate some of the frustrations of my first couple years, it would be to have patience and, um, just expose yourself to as many different aspects of the industry as possible.
And, um, it's incredibly exciting and you learn from everyone, from everybody if you're listening.
Dan Ryan: you're listening, And if you're open, Right.
Bridget Rooks: And into
Dan Ryan: curiosity.
Yeah. your younger self appreciates it, ,
sure.
appreciate it too.
Um, Bridget, if people want to learn more about Siesta or
Bridget Rooks: you like, what's the best way for them to get in touch?
Yeah. I'm, I would say LinkedIn. I'm on LinkedIn. I try it fairly
Dan Ryan: so that, that's a good one. Great. Yeah.
And then is there is the story of Esta
Bridget Rooks: anywhere that people could read?
You a great book,
sunny and Esther.
Yeah. Son and Esther that touches on that stuff. Um, [00:44:00] I, I, the title is escaping me right now. quite, I'll follow up with
Dan Ryan: you for the show
notes. Yeah. Great. And We'll put it in the show notes. Yeah. Awesome. Well, I'm genuinely grateful for your time and to be here in this beautiful, uh, suite at the Sinest, Royal Sinest in Chicago.
And we have the corn cob building down there. Yep. The. river me wish I was back here
Bridget Rooks: on St. Patrick's Day when the liver is
green. I don't think these rooms are on St. Patrick's Day.
Dan Ryan: Turn up the rate on those. Absolutely. Um, but from, with all sincerity, thank you so much.
I, I appreciate it. I know how busy you are and It's carve out the it,
Bridget Rooks: Well, it was great talking
Dan Ryan: to you. Yeah, always is.
Thank you. And then, uh, you guys out there Ooh, the listeners. you so much I mean, ,I gotta come up with a new way to say this, but it's truly humbling that we keep growing every single week and people are listening and people are engaged, and I don't know, [00:45:00] hospitality is pretty awesome.
So it's ch if it's changed your view or thinking on hospitality, how to deliver it, how to roll it out, how to create that feeling, how to gain new experience or be more curious, please pass it along to a friend.