Dino Michael

Hilton Luxury Brands in the new era of hospitality

As all eyes are on the return of travel and hospitality in the post-Covid era, from international franchises to independent boutique hotels, the road to recovery and re-establishment is long awaited and long discussed. Within this framework, luxury travel network, Traveller Made hosted ‘The Essence of Luxury Travel’ virtual show, bringing together industry leaders and luxury travel designers. During these sessions, I had the opportunity to sit down with Dino Michael, Senior Vice President and Global Category Head, Hilton Luxury Brands for an enlightening conversation about how his company has approached and adapted to the new normal, and what’s in store for the post-pandemic world of travel. In his role, Dino spearheads brand positioning, strategic growth, innovation and leadership initiatives for Waldorf Astoria, Conrad and LXR Hotels & Resorts 

KP: Dino, 2020 saw one of the worst years for hospitality in over a century. As we enter the post-covid era, what predictions do you have for luxury hospitality brands?

DM: I’m still really confident in our industry, especially given that luxury deals always require a long term perspective. Whether it’s our owners working with us for 20-30 years or projects that take several years to get from planning to construction, you have to look forward. This pandemic has been felt acutely everywhere, but there’s always something going on in the world. Everyone I speak to is excited to travel again, and I don’t think that’s going to change. 

KP: How do you think the pandemic has affected the workplace?

DM: In the early days of the pandemic, we talked about the ‘death of the office,’ with working from home being the new norm. If you talk to everyone now, people want human connection, people want creativity and collaboration. Travel is what enables this, whether it be brainstorming in a meeting room or reconnecting with friends and family on a leisure trip. Connection generates ideas. Being together is essential. What we’re doing these days is a decent substitute, but there’s no replacement for sitting down over a cup of coffee and shaking hands. I miss shaking hands. My parents are Cypriots, I’m Mediterranean. It’s very difficult for me not to wave my hands in the air all the time!

KP: What’s the current outlook for the Hilton?

DM: I’m confident about the future, and we’ve got some great projects in the pipeline this year. We’re opening ten luxury hotels across three different brands, and we’ve got some great momentum with LXR – our collection brand. For LXR, we’ll open Mango House in the Seychelles, Crockfords in Las Vegas and ROKU Kyoto all this year. Over the next five years, we’re expecting to open around 7-10 hotels per year across our luxury portfolio. These are deals that have been years in the making, and they’re not slowing down. They may have been delayed due to Covid-19, but considering all the work that’s been done during this time and the announcements that will be made over the coming months, things have not slowed down at all. In the end, I’m more confident now than I was even before the pandemic.

KP: What are the advantages of being part of a global brand, as opposed to an independent hotel group, in the post-pandemic world?

DM: There’s a lot of exciting discussion about independent hotels, particularly in Greece. That being said, the attractiveness of global brands is stronger than ever. We’re a part of this great 18-brand Hilton company which enables us an effective way to message and recover. A good example of this was our CleanStay program. Considering the size of our company, we were able to be both nimble and quick in collaborating with Dettol and the Mayo Clinic to create an effective cleaning programme. All those who were able to travel were offered reassurance through cleaned, sanitised and safe accommodation. One of our proudest moments as a company was how quickly we adapted to the pandemic. For companies where Zoom or Teams weren’t viable options, we launched our EventReady program so that people could have safe meetings and events in-person. Some people feel more comfortable than others to travel, and our role is to bridge that gap and find a way to give everyone a sense of confidence. These programs demonstrated the power of global brands, showing how quickly we can react and adapt to the new normal.

KP: How do you see fine dining and fine drinking evolving with the new ‘contactless’ culture that has arisen? Are these changes here to stay, or will we see a return to ‘business as usual?’

DM: My heart will always be with restaurants and bars. That’s where I grew up, both professionally and personally. Fine dining will always be there, it’s very difficult to change. The formal, white tablecloth experience is not going to go away. It may not be as prevalent, but it can still exist in a more reluctant consumer environment. For example, we have our Michelin canteen of fine wine, but the formality of it is being softened. Technology will always have a place like with the move to mobile and digital menus, but people still love to flip through a fine wine list. We also have more license to be brave and exciting in luxury, as is demonstrated by our Korean Fried Chicken concept restaurant in the Conrad in Dubai. The days of seeing one hundred things on a menu are slowly going away. People are happy seeing things that are executed well even if it’s a limited range, whether it’s fried chicken in Dubai or our Michelin star venue at the Waldorf Amsterdam. Personally, I like to touch a menu. I like to go back and forth, talk to the sommelier and really challenge them!

KP: Has the pandemic created any trends that you see us carrying on into the new era?

DM: I don’t believe Covid-19 has created any new trends, per se. Instead, it amplified and accelerated what was already there. Two years ago, if you considered wellness or mental health, you thought ‘spa and gym.’ That’s always been the definition of wellness, yet over the past year, we’ve all become a lot more aware of our mental and holistic wellbeing, of what we eat and how we travel. I used to take 4-5 flights a week, but now, after lockdown, I’ve lost weight, and I’m feeling much better.

KP: How have operations at  Hilton  adapted to the pandemic?

We’ve always taught our team about intuitive service, how to be always on the lookout for social queues. If a guest gets out of their car and leaves their baggage, you can tell they’re comfortable with their luggage being handled by the hotel. If they take their baggage themselves, you can tell they don’t want their things being touched. The Team Member education we’ve been focused on for years has now become even more relevant. We empower our hotel teams to look for these cues, read the guests’ behaviour and keep distance accordingly. It was so natural for us to greet guests and be close to them. Now, we keep a distance, let them approach us and watch out for those social cues.

KP:  You have an amazing team in place creating concepts and stories for your guests across so many locations. How do you see creative storytelling for luxury brands evolving in the coming years? 

DM: For us, we have the same principle in all three of our brands. Were we to create a Waldorf Astoria in Athens, the intention would not be to build a Waldorf Astoria in Athens, it would be to build a Waldorf Astoria for Athens. That’s a very different thing. No matter where you are, when you walk into a Waldorf Astoria, your first thought should be ‘I’m in Thailand,’ or ‘I’m in Japan,’ depending on the country the hotel’s in. That’s created through the design, through patterns and fabrics. The next thought after that is ‘I’m also in a Waldorf Astoria.’ In Conrad hotels, we have a very strong contemporary design ethos and our art programs, like that in Conrad Osaka, are curated by the brand team and the owner to really reflect the location. Not just Japanese art, but Osakan art. Similarly, our LXR hotels are holistically about the destinations. The LXR brand is only slightly present in the background, like a badge of authenticity. It sends a message that the hotel is authentic and independent, yet holds the reassurance of the LXR and Hilton brand. The priority is a sense of location, a sense of geography. That’s the starting point, the pillar in every brand that is expressed differently depending on location.

KP: What does 2021 & 2022 have in store for the expansion of Hilton luxury brands in Southern Europe, and do you have any news for us here in Greece?

DM: Greece is hot on our radar. We are working on a number of deals right now in Southern Europe with a big focus on resorts – I think that’s where we’ll see some big opportunities. We’ve announced a hotel in Tenerife which will open in a few years, and we’ll see more activity in the area with the Conrad in Costa del Sol. I’ve certainly seen more conversations regarding Southern Europe recently, and I’m confident that we’ll have some very exciting announcements coming up in the near future. Elsewhere we’re opening  Mango House in the Seychelles in the coming months, which will be a big destination for European travellers. In the Middle East, we’ve got the Conrad in Doha and Abu Dhabi,  Waldorf Astoria in Doha and Kuwait. It’s great to be back in the UAE. In Bodrum we’ll see the opening of a Conrad hotel and we already have an LXR hotel there, Susona Bodrum.

KP: And lastly, what will your first trip after the pandemic be?

DM: Hopefully the Seychelles will be my first trip after a year of lockdown. Mango House is a former private residence with 41 rooms in a wonderful destination, so fingers crossed! I may end up back in the office in Washington DC, but that won’t be a bad thing. I haven’t seen my team in person for so long, so right now, being able to have dinner out together would be the greatest luxury for me.