by Elizabeth Kye

Perhaps Pierre Barthes can be best described as a man on the move. Upon graduating from France’s L’Ecole des Hoteliers de Nice, Barthes left for the United States, where he has enjoyed much success. He started his career as an assistant server at a restaurant called the Polish Princess in Portland, Oregon, and within a year and a half became the restaurant manager. Barthes had worked extensively in restaurants prior to his decision to pursue a career in the hotel industry. His career lead him to many exotic destinations around the globe including Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has also worked in exclusive properties such as the Westin’s Palm Springs Rancho Mirage. Currently, he serves as the resident manager for Manhattan’s newest luxury hotel; Mandarin Oriental, New York.

Elizabeth Kye: How long have you worked at the Mandarin Oriental New York?

Pierre Barthes: I started prior to the hotels opening in June 2003, so I’ve been here for about a year and a half.

EK: Did you have any formal training in hotel management?

PB: My formal training commenced in the south of France where I attended the Hotel School of Nice to learn the business.

EK: What are some of your responsibilities as a resident manager?

PB: Looking after the day-to-day operations; making sure that the standards are met by all of our colleagues; working to ensure that the organizational structure, systems and procedures are in line for delighting our guests; assuming responsibility on behalf of the general manager when he is away. A high percentage of my time is devoted to customer relations and corporate relations.

EK: As a resident manager, you must get complaints. How do you handle these complaints?

PB: My people are pretty good at diffusing complaints before they reach me. We train all colleagues how to handle complaints. I usually get the worst ones. Then comes the challenge of effective damage control. To turn the guests around and regain their confidence in my staff can be a challenge. I say to the staff, “Make sure you invite the guests to voice any comments before departure,” that way we can do something in response to the comments. It is a lot harder to regain a guest’s confidence after they leave. If they are still here, we can jump through hoops and do whatever it takes, from sending them an amenity, or if the complaint has to do with the room, relocating them to a different room. If it’s a service issue you want to be understanding and listen to what the guest has to say. Nine out of ten times you are able to turn a guest around, because they see you genuinely care. If you don’t take it personally, you can benefit from their feedback by improving the operation, while at the same time turning them around, which is the ultimate goal.

EK: What do you do when a guest causes a disturbance?

PB: Typically, guests are well behaved in a hotel like this. Fortunately we have yet to evict anybody [laughing].

EK: Describe your clientele?

PB: The corporate guests that we have are CEOs and presidents of various Fortune 500 companies. These people tend to be very low key, and low maintenance. By and large we’re not going to hear from these guests. They’re here for less than 12 hours. They may fly in late and have an early breakfast meeting and then they leave, so you very seldom hear from them. The leisure market is the one that takes a little more pampering, and what we call “higher maintenance.” These guests usually stay with us on weekends and pay their own way. They have selected us above our competition and therefore their expectation level is much higher. In addition, there’s so much publicity written about this hotel - guests have such high expectations that if we don’t deliver exceptional service, we let them down.

EK: What is the best thing about being a resident manager?

PB: What I like best is the human contact, both with colleagues and guests. The human interaction is a key element of this business. If you don’t thrive on that, then you are probably in the wrong field. If you enjoy interaction and have the ability to reach out and engage guests and colleagues then you will succeed in hotels. Those attributes are a vital part of the culture and core values.

EK: What are qualities of a successful resident manager?

PB: You have to be passionate about your job. You have to have a keen eye for detail at all levels. Failure is not an option, as they say. You have to be warm and engaging. You have to be spot-on every single time; people come here with high expectations. They pay a premium to stay with us, and if we deliver anything short of perfection, that’s not good enough.