𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀, 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀: 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝘂𝘅𝘂𝗿𝘆

Featuring insights from Daniel Hostettler, President and CEO of The Boca Raton, and Yipy CEO Adam Tuttle.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁

What separates a world-class hotel from one that’s merely very good?

Daniel Hostettler has a clear answer: consistency.

Not scripts. Not binders. Not corporate sameness. The ability to deliver excellence every shift, every department, every guest interaction.

Daniel leads The Boca Raton—the only Forbes quadruple Five-Star resort in the Americas. Four separate five-star ratings across the Yacht Club, Beach Club, Spa Palmera, and Flybridge fine dining. 1,000+ rooms spread over 200 acres. 2,000+ employees.

His conclusion? Getting the stars is the easy part. Keeping them is where most hotels fail.

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👉 Watch the conversation with Daniel here.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗹 𝗛𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗨𝘀 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲

𝟭. 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲

When The Boca Raton was purchased five years ago, it was a Waldorf Astoria running as a convention house. Daniel’s team repositioned it by dividing the property into five distinct lodging products—each with its own hotel manager, its own style, its own guest profile.

“𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥—𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴—𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘮 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴.”

Beach Club is “Miami Light”—hipper, linen uniforms, 30-somethings with families. Yacht Club is adults-only, 50-plus, butler on every floor. Tower is family-friendly contemporary, configurable floor plans.

Same standards. Different styles. One consistent level of excellence.

This is what luxury looks like today: curating experiences while maintaining the thread count on the sheets.

𝟮. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝘀

Daniel was direct about the danger of over-standardization:

“𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. 𝘏𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤.”

He used Ritz-Carlton as an example:

“𝘙𝘪𝘵𝘻-𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥—𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 ‘𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦.’ 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 ‘𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦’ 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦.”

Adam Tuttle reinforced this point:

*”𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘸𝘦’𝘳

Keep going

𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴—𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.”*

Competence creates confidence. Confidence creates connection.

𝟯. 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹

Daniel was emphatic about where consistency really starts:

“𝘐𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘬 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴.”

He acknowledged the reality: front desk agents at The Boca Raton probably make within a dollar of those down the street at a Marriott. But they work a lot harder.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯. 𝘐𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦—𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥.”

Otherwise? It’s just a room with nice sheets. And there’s a lot of guys out there delivering that today.

𝟰. 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀, 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀

Adam made a critical distinction:

*”𝘛𝘰𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵

keep going

𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴—𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘦! 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳.”*

Daniel agreed:

“𝘈 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦.”

He takes great pride when non-hoteliers visit and say: “I can feel how proud the staff is everywhere I go. Smiles on their faces. That ownership.”

You can’t train that. But you can create the conditions for it.

𝟱. 𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗜𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝘅𝘆. 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁.

Daniel was candid about the real challenge:

“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘩-𝘳𝘢𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 ‘𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵.’ 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 ‘𝘩𝘦𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 20 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴.’ 𝘐𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘣𝘦.”

He shared a hard lesson from his previous property:

“𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮. 𝘐𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.”

What Forbes giveth, Forbes taketh away. And they take it away easily if you’re not maintaining.

𝟲. 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿-𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀. 𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲-𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀.

Daniel shared a defining moment from years ago:

*”𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬. 𝘔𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦, ‘𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.’ 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, ‘𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭? 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮.’”*

It’s a mindset. If you’re missing a standard, how are you going to re-engineer the systems and work on the culture to make sure you’re achieving what you need to achieve?

𝟳. 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗜𝘀 𝗮 𝗚𝗶𝗳𝘁

When asked what he does first thing every morning, Daniel’s answer was immediate:

“𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭.”

He’s a believer:

“𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 20 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵.”

When someone takes the time to share where you dropped the ball—that’s a gift. It allows you to make it up to them and examine the systems in place.

𝟴. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗜𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆

Adam made a point that cuts to the heart of hospitality:

*”𝘞𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘴. 𝘞𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘴. 𝘞𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵.”*

Daniel reinforced the financial reality:

“𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳—𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺.”

Guests will pay for a stay where they are 99.5% assured they’re going to have a great experience every single time they come. That’s the premium. That’s the margin.

𝟵. 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗔𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘀 𝗜𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝗻-𝗡𝗲𝗴𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲

With 2,000+ employees and five lodging products, silos could easily form. Daniel won’t allow it:

“𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 ‘𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵.’ 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘴—𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦—𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘺-𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦.”

Adam described a culture where sharing information is celebrated:

“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵. ‘𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭.’ 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥—𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.”

When teams see passing information as helping each other win—not as creating more work—that’s culture.

𝟭𝟬. 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗢𝘂𝘁

Adam raised a point that often goes unspoken:

*”𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴—𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳

keep going

𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭.”*

Daniel agreed:

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺’𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.”

It’s not malicious. It’s alignment. If you’ve got 80% of the team on board, you’re running a really good four-star hotel—not a five-star hotel.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗠𝘀, 𝗢𝗽𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧&𝗗 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀

Daniel Hostettler has built something most hotels only talk about: consistent luxury at scale. Four Forbes five-star ratings across a 1,000+-room, 200-acre property with 2,000+ employees.

His conclusion? It’s not about having the best standards. It’s about delivering them—every shift, every department, every guest interaction.

The gap between world-class and merely very good isn’t the standards themselves. It’s the ability to execute them consistently.

𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗦 𝗦𝗟𝗜𝗣-𝗨𝗣 #𝟬𝟬𝟱: 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀, 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀

A luxury property has beautiful SOPs. Detailed training manuals. Clear brand standards.

But the Beach Club team delivers differently than the Tower team. The morning shift hits the mark; the evening shift drifts. One hotel manager celebrates wins; another only addresses failures.

Same standards. Different results.

The guest feels it. The inspector scores it. The P&L reflects it.

This is what Daniel meant when he said:

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭.”

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗗𝗢 𝗧𝗢𝗗𝗔𝗬

Here are four high-impact actions to close the execution gap:

𝟭. 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗘𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Daniel’s warning: “𝘏𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤.”

Review your standards: Are they guidelines that enable authenticity, or scripts that kill it? The goal is competence that creates confidence—not compliance that creates robots.

𝟮. 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀

Daniel’s culture: “𝘞𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘴... 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦—𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥.”

This week, publicly recognize three team members who delivered excellence. Make celebration as common as correction.

𝟯. 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗚𝗶𝗳𝘁

Daniel’s morning routine: Check guest comment cards and glitch reports first thing.

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯.”

Create a system where feedback—positive and negative—flows to leadership daily, not quarterly.

𝟰. 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀, 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀

The Forbes inspector’s lesson: “𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮.”

The next time a standard is missed, skip the explanation. Go straight to: “How do we re-engineer this so it doesn’t happen again?”

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲

Daniel Hostettler has spent years proving that luxury and scale aren’t mutually exclusive. The Boca Raton—1,000+ rooms, 200 acres, 2,000+ employees—holds four Forbes five-star ratings. The

𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭.”*

Daniel agreed:

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺’𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.”

Alignment isn’t optional. If you’ve got 80% of the team on board, you’re running a really good four-star hotel—not a five-star hotel.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗠𝘀, 𝗢𝗽𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧&𝗗 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀

Daniel Hostettler has built the only quadruple Forbes Five-Star resort in the Americas. His conclusion?

Consistency isn’t the enemy of luxury. It’s the enabler of it.

Standards work when:

• They’re guidelines, not scripts

• They enable personality instead of suppressing it

• They’re celebrated when hit, not just weaponized when missed

• They’re maintained with the same energy used to earn them

• They’re owned by every team member, not just leadership

This is why the Yipy system is built around a loop—not a library:

👉 Define → Distribute → Deliver → Diagnose → Develop

Because binders don’t build consistency. Systems do.

𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗦 𝗦𝗟𝗜𝗣-𝗨𝗣 #𝟬𝟬𝟱: 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀, 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀

A luxury property has Forbes standards documented. Training completed. Audits scheduled.

But one hotel within the portfolio consistently hits five stars while another hovers at four. Same brand. Same standards. Same training materials.

The difference? One team has internalized the standards as enabling guidelines. The other treats them as boxes to check. One celebrates wins. The other only addresses misses. One has 100% buy-in. The other has 80%.

This is what Daniel meant when he said:

“𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 80% 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭.”

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗗𝗢 𝗧𝗢𝗗𝗔𝗬

Here are four high-impact actions to move from good to great:

𝟭. 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝘁𝗼-𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼

How often do you recognize someone for hitting standards versus addressing when they miss? If the ratio is heavily skewed toward correction, you’re weaponizing standards instead of celebrating them.

𝟮. 𝗔𝘀𝗸: “𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗪𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀?”

The next time a standard is missed, listen to your team’s response. Are they explaining why it happened—or figuring out how to make sure it doesn’t happen again?

𝟯. 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗚𝗶𝗳𝘁

Start every day like Daniel: check the guest comments and glitch reports first. The guests who take time to tell you where you dropped the ball are giving you the chance to fix it—and examine the systems behind it.

𝟰. 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝘂𝘆-𝗜𝗻 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲

Be honest: what percentage of your team is truly aligned with your standards? If it’s 80%, you’re a four-star operation. Getting to five requires 100%—which means either developing or self-selecting out the people who aren’t on board.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲

Daniel Hostettler has spent decades in luxury hospitality. He’s built the only property in the Americas with four Forbes Five-Star ratings. His team of more than 2,000 delivers excellence across 1,000+ rooms and 200 acres every single day.

His conclusion?

Luxury hotels don’t fail from lack of standards. They fail from inconsistent delivery.

The gap between world-class and merely very good isn’t the standards themselves. It’s the ability to deliver them consistently—every shift, every department, every guest interaction.

Same standards. Different results.

That’s the Execution Gap.

👉 Follow Daniel Hostettler on LinkedIn to learn more about building consistency at scale.

👉 Watch the full conversation here.

The-Key to Your Success or the Certainty of Your Demise

It’s really great to have a plan and cultural alignment around delivering a product or service a particular way. But actually achieving that is something else entirely.

One of my favorite books is Danny Meyer’s Setting the Table, an incredible exploration of growth and hospitality as a business model. In it, Danny talks about constant gentle pressure. The idea that greatness starts with defining the results you want.

And frankly, that’s where most organizations get stuck.

Most operations never clearly define what “good” looks like. But even those that do still have a whole journey ahead of them. Once leaders ambitiously take on the task of moving the needle, they have to ask one really important question: How? And maybe more importantly... Who?

When we look at hospitality excellence, we inevitably look to the middle manager and the day-to-day operation. It is here, in the moments between table touches and check-ins, that the real work of excellence is done.

It is the middle manager who finds time to praise and finds time to correct. The middle manager who checks in on the guest in need of a little more love. The one who builds the schedule to balance team strengths against the demands of the operation. The one who absorbs the gap between the vision upstairs and the reality on the floor.

When I look at middle managers, many see the ambitious ones in the workforce. I see something different. I see the key to your success or the certainty of your demise. Often times these are the individuals playing the hero. They are making up for the failures and the faults. What the challenging part is, they aren’t getting the support they need to stop playing the hero.

These leaders don’t just need buy-in. They need tools, empowerment, and the trust to make critical decisions in real time. Without that, you’ve handed someone accountability without authority, and that’s a recipe for burnout, not excellence.

When you get it right, these leaders become the ones who make everything possible. They’re the ones who catch the drift before it roots. Who celebrate the win before it gets forgotten. Who hand the baton cleanly so the next shift inherits momentum, not chaos.

Daniel said you can feel the culture of a place. He’s right. And nine times out of ten, what you’re feeling is the middle manager.

Yipy in the News

Radisson Hotel Group partners with Yipy to transform brand standards management across its global portfolio of 1,600 properties. 👉 Read the announcement.

Thanks for reading The Standards Playbook. If this resonated, share it with a fellow hospitality leader who’s chasing five stars—or trying to keep them.