General Manager - Franchise

Hilton Technologies•Alexandria, VA

23d

About The Position

Located in the heart of Old Town Alexandria, Hotel Heron offers guests the opportunity to see Old Town from a new vantage point. With Washington, DC just minutes away, Hotel Heron acts as beacon just across the river, inviting travelers to explore beyond the National Mall and Monuments to discover a city ripe for its new renaissance. Originally opened in 1926 as the George Mason Hotel, the property has been thoughtfully reimagined through an adaptive reuse that pairs the historic inn with an adjacent new building housing modern event spaces and elevated guest rooms. Today, Hotel Heron is part of the Curio Collection by Hilton, a global portfolio of distinctive, independently spirited hotels. This chic 134 room hotel is home to a signature ground floor restaurant serving hearth inspired Mid-Atlantic cuisine, a cozy craft cocktail bar hidden in the heart of the hotel, and an open-air seasonal rooftop bar with unparalleled views of the Potomac. Elevated amenities include a state-of-the-art fitness center and meeting spaces designed for socializing, co-working, creating, eating, drinking, and relaxing. The hotel brings together world travelers and neighbors alike while showcasing Alexandria’s rich legacy and knack for innovation through thoughtful touches from local businesses and artisans. Hotel Heron is managed by Aparium Hotel Group founded in 2011 is driven by the belief that all hospitality experiences should be fueled by the poetics of their surroundings, Aparium was born with an intense focus on unearthing the amazing moments unique to every city. Since its founding, Aparium has grown into a new kind of hotel brand, one that ventures off the beaten path, both geographically and philosophically. It is a sophisticated hotel brand known for its singular ability to combine the business acumen of large hospitality companies with the charm of boutique hotels, bringing the disparate forces together in bustling, smaller markets. Hotels done differently. Aparium has just been named to the Top 25 Hotel Brands in the world by Travel + Leisure. We believe in the power of People, Place and Character. We ensure our hotels are a place where individuals are valued and celebrated, elevating our associates’ pride in who they are, where they live and who we serve. Our hotel is a tribute to the neighborhoods and the people of the communities where we operate. When Aparium speaks of "cultural fit" for a position, it is largely due to the psychographic or lifestyle of an individual. This need is unique to Aparium, as personal interests and participation in an individual's community is critical to driving the company's translocal hospitality belief and operating principle. The key lifestyle components we expect of a General Manager for the hotel include the person's activities and interests. The traits for the General Manager that propel the company's culture of translocal hospitality, intuitive service, and collaborative spirit are the need to be adventurous , comfortable in seeking out new experiences, exploring the unknown, and unlikely to have a routine. Discovers the hidden stories and insights of their communities and continually explores their neighborhood and city to identify what's new. Understands that the FOMO (fear of missing out) can be a good thing. They are also gregarious by nature, demonstrating an extroverted personality, fueled by meeting new people, forming new partnerships, and new experiences. They seek and initiate new relationships within the hotel and community and take a general interest in the personal stories of the individuals they meet and work with. Creating harmonious relationships by seeing the bumps in the road ahead of time and taking precautions to steer around and resolve potential conflict with all stakeholders; partners within the community to establish mutually beneficial relationships; and can be chameleon and shape their style and presence to fit any situation and audience. Finally, they are intelligent – exhibiting emotional maturity and intellectual health to adapt to a variety of situations that may occur with the demands within the lifestyle of high-net-worth individuals. They remain unflappable in contentious situations and knowledgeable in how to de-escalate emotional responses. The General Manager has the responsibility to develop and drive the operating strategy for the hotel to ensure that it aligns with our company's pillars of translocal hospitality, intuitive service, and collaborative culture. As the leader of the hotel, you are accountable for the guest experience, associate engagement, financial performance, and revenue generation, among other responsibilities. The General Manager actively participates in the operation – leads by example and inspects what they expect. The candidate’s personal priorities and preferences need to align with the demographic and psychographic of the guests of the hotel. The General Manager will need to be immediately aware of their neighborhood's concerns and needs, which may range from charitable and volunteering needs, attendance at city council meetings, to partnering with local merchants, farmers, roasters, brew masters, and artisans.

Requirements

You have been a previous General Manager in a full-service hotel for at least three (3) years within an upper-upscale or boutique-lifestyle company or property
You have worked for a boutique-style hotel company or independent hotel group, and may have led or participated in restaurant or hotel openings
Bachelor’s degree, or relevant years of experience is required
Proficiency in the English language in reading, writing, and verbal communication. Secondary language preferred
Adaptable interpersonal skills to represent the hotel to local stakeholders, ownership, opinion makers, business executives, and employees
Comfortable in your own skin, know who you are, and have a point of view and can articulate a perspective or opinion with substance and clarity
Highly analytical in thought and recommendations; although will never act like the smartest person in the room; and continually seek out the facts; can express a point of view without it be driven by an ego
Engages others in general conversation tactics to build rapport quickly; and can lead and adapt communication and presentation tactics to engage audience; displays adaptable interpersonal skills for a wide range of audiences and stakeholders
Approaches fact finding and discovery missions in a collaborative effort; values input and experiences of others that creates additional insight to uncover deeper issues that need to be addressed or removed as a barrier to implementation
Passionate in driving results of their effort and others; can influence others to take direction to execute on strategy through tactical methods; and is comfortable in prioritizing their work and that of others
Comfortable in being a “general” in identifying strategic needs, yet can be a “soldier” to ensure the implementation of a strategic plan is implemented
Values the importance of making decisions with integrity, maintaining confidentiality across internal work groups and knows how to use discretion when appropriate; understands the difference between transparency and confidentiality.

Responsibilities

Collaborate frequently with headquarters for support, clarification, direction, approval, and potential risks; comfortable in leading through ambiguity to achieve certainty; ensure the balance of needs and direction between Aparium Management and Hotel Ownership
Take ownership of the short and long-term profitability of the hotel. Although not required to be a financial genius, interpret a P&L fluently to understand what the needs are to drive top-line revenue and what costs to control to enhance GOP
Act as the mayor of the neighborhood and create relationships and connections within the local community by knowing every merchant, operator, and owner within the hotel’s vicinity; the GM is expected to participate in local boards, community service projects, and events that represent the translocal hospitality for the hotel
Attract and select the most qualified, on-brand talent; develop and coach associates for future advancement; and guide the executive team in their role and purpose in developing their people and identifying ways to improve the work environment through practices, tools, and communication
Reinforce the company's Art+ Science ideologies until you are “blue in the face” to ensure the experiences of translocal hospitality, intuitive service, and collaboration are implemented and modeled by yourself and every leader of the hotel
Create a Food + Beverage driven environment, ensuring the hotel's restaurant concepts are in full force; partner closely with the leaders of Food+ Beverage to ensure offerings are locally sourced and produced, of the highest quality and celebrate the locality of the hotel; and be passionately aware of average checks, VIP reservations, special events, costs, signature dishes and the mixologist's recent creation
Encourage employees to follow instincts and use their best judgment to create experiences for guests that are thoughtful and authentic; ensure associates are educated thoroughly on Aparium's Art+ Science methods; model and uphold Aparium standards consistently; and utilize guest feedback to improve service delivery
Believe in and exhibit the service chain profit theory and know that engaged employees create engaged and return guests; not only does the GM respond urgently to TripAdvisor compliments and concerns it also has a pulse on the level of engagement of the teams and knows a Glassdoor comment is just as critical
Ensure they and their executive team achieve their quarterly incentive (among the best in the industry by the way) by driving the key metrics that make the hotel successful; the incentive is a balanced scorecard that ensures the components of people, product, and profit receive equal attention
Dive deep into the sales and marketing efforts by measuring the effectiveness of broad-based marketing plans and yield management efforts to diversify sources of revenue and maximize the number of market segments needed, don't be a one-trick pony