TAMPA, Florida—Brent Scarbro had a big job to do when he arrived in Tampa in January as the opening GM of the new Le Méridien.
In addition to overseeing the build-out of the property, hiring a staff and organizing a sales effort, his primary job was to introduce the brand and hotel to the community as well as groups and transient travelers coming to Tampa.
“Everyone knew the building, but very few people knew the brand,” Scarbro said. “The first challenge was connecting Le Méridien to Starwood (Hotels & Resorts Worldwide) and then to SPG (Starwood’s loyalty program). Because Le Méridien has such a small footprint in North America, the job was getting people to understand who we are and not to be intimidated by the brand because we’re not intimidating.”
Scarbro, who works for the property’s operating company Maximum Hospitality, came to Tampa from the Nashville, Tennessee, suburb of Brentwood where he managed a Four Points by Sheraton. He joined Maximum in 2007 from Marriott International.
The 130-room property, which opened in June, was a $26-million adaptive reuse of a century-old former federal courthouse in downtown Tampa listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s the 18th Le Méridien property in the United States, with four more scheduled to open during the next four months.
Scarbro said his job was made easier by the local interest in the rehabilitation of the former courthouse.
“Of all the hotels I’ve been involved in, either opening or renovating them, this property received more free PR than any other project,” he said. “The local community opened its arms to us. It’s been a win-win for all of us.”
Scarbro said that since opening the hotel has been crowded with locals coming in to see how the building has changed. The hotel’s primary food-and-beverage outlet, Bizou Brasserie, has been busy with hotel guests as well as diners from the local community.
The Le Méridien product
Like all Le Méridien properties, the Tampa hotel’s mission is to unlock the destination for guests using three “filters of discovery”: culture and arts; cuisine; and coordinates, or the sense of place.
The hotel is in the city’s arts and entertainment district and close to several museums, theaters and a performing arts center. The hotel formed a partnership with the Tampa Museum of Art for special programming and packaging, and guests of the hotel receive free admission to the museum.
“While what makes this hotel special is its location in the arts district, when you come to Tampa you don’t have to love the arts to stay here,” he said.
Scarbro said while the hotel is marketed as a boutique property, one of the first in Tampa, the business mix relies heavily on corporate transient customers, with some group and weekend leisure business.
“We’re a boutique hotel, which I define as a property that caters to a particular clientele who get something here they can’t get elsewhere: higher levels of service, great F&B and a product that is unique,” he said. “It’s an environment in which you walk in the door and feel an emotional connection. That’s a boutique hotel.”
Staffing for attitude
Scarbro said management cast a wide net to attract qualified workers for the property.
“Finding people who needed jobs wasn’t a challenge; finding people who fit our culture was the challenge,” he said. “We look more for attitude than experience because experience means you have to break a person’s bad habits.
“We looked for people with personality and those who wake up every day with a passion to take care of people, with the attitude that they would rather serve than be served. It’s hard to find.”