The Modern Hotelier #132: Sarah Dandashy on the LA Wildfires and the Impact on Hospitality & Travel Industry
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Steve Carran: Welcome to another episode of the Modern Hotelier. This episode is the January edition of Hospitality Hot Topics. Today we have Sarah Dandeshy joining us. Thank you for joining us, Sarah. How are you doing?
Sarah Dandashy: do know, right. It's nice to be back. So very cool. Love your, that you're doing these hot topics.
Steve Carran: Yeah, absolutely. We usually do a variety of topics this month. We're going to do a little different. there was really one thing that dominated the headlines this month, and it was the fires in LA. So we brought in LA's finest to join us here to talk a little bit more about your experience, kind of what's going on, how you dealt with it and where we go from here.
So how, how long have you lived in the LA area, Sarah?
Sarah Dandashy: so I've been in Los Angeles 19 and a half years. Nobody do the math here. Okay. Figuring I moved there when I was 12. Kidding. Um, but, uh, yeah, 19 and a half years. So it is very much home for me.
Steve Carran: And you didn't move there by yourself. I'm assuming you didn't just pack up a bag at 12 and move. You and your
Sarah Dandashy: Uh, no. I, of course I did. I joined the circus. No. Um, no. Uh, no, but I, I moved there. Uh, so I went to college in DC and then I lived in New York, briefly and then from New York. So I basically moved from New York city, which happens to be where I am at this moment, and then moved to Los Angeles. And I pretty much knew, you know, as soon as I got off the plane, it was home, at least home for that chapter of my life.
And so I'm still, uh, still there now.
Steve Carran: Very nice. Very nice. So obviously the fires have happened this month. Can you tell us just a little bit about your experience and kind of what the past few weeks have been like?
Sarah Dandashy: Yeah, so it's really interesting. for those that live in Los Angeles, you know, we get Santa Ana winds all the time. That's that is normal. Sadly, we do have wildfires that do break out just because it's that sort of perfect combination of just the way that the landscape is and the way that these warm winds work and it just takes a little bit of something.
It sparks a flame and it just it goes. What made this so unusual is how extreme the winds were. I mean, they were up to a hundred miles an hour. I mean, people would go outside and they were practically being blown down the street. I mean, if you've ever been outside and winds that strong, it's, it's no joke.
Um, so I kind of happened to live sort of in the middle of the city and then, uh, the two big fires broke out, one in the Palisades that we all know about, and then obviously. The Eaton Canyon one that's in Altadena, Pasadena area. And so I'm kind of like smack in the middle of that. I happened to be out of town and came back and as I was driving back into the city, I had to go through Pasadena and just the images.
from my drive. I mean, it was like you were driving through smoke. There was this like orange gray haze, the sun kind of like trying to peek through it and like driving into that as you get into the city. And then where I was Uh, where I'm based, it was crazy because I could look from my apartment and see smoke to this side, which would be the, you know, the Pasadena fires, smoke to the other side.
And then where I was, it was blue skies. And so it's so trippy because it almost feels like everything's. Um, and shortly after, for, after being home and I hadn't even unpacked yet on the way home, I get a call from my landlord saying, Hey, uh, your, one of your windows is broken. Can we go in your unit and then fix it?
I'm like, uh, yeah, you don't even have to call, knock and go in. It's fine. and so I come back and it completely, my window was broken, luckily the glass on the outside. And I presume just from the extreme winds, don't really know what happened there. they ended up boarding it up and no joke. I was home for probably three and a half hours, bag still packed, was taking a moment to be like, okay, what is happening?
Because this is still like the beginning of the year. This is January. What, 7th, I think, at this point, January 7th, 8th. And so I'm taking a moment to be like, oh gosh, I had just come back from a trip with my mother and it's like the holidays. It doesn't even feel like we've gotten into the full swing of 2025 yet.
And I happen to be down the street not too far away and a friend calls me and is like, hey, where are you right now? And I'm like, I'm in L. A. Thinking. Really, really taking it very casual. And she's like, uh, the hill behind your house is on fire. And I'm like, uh, thank you. I gotta go hang up. Somebody else immediately texts me.
So a huge, like, shout out to, just the community and just showing you the community of LA people knowing where each other lives. And they're calling each other. I get within the four minutes that it takes me to get back home. I can see half of the mountain ablaze. Um, I pull into, you know, my, my building, go upstairs, go to my window from my office.
And I'm like, I can see flames. Like it's not in the distance. It's six blocks away. So quickly, I take my suitcase back to my car because it's already packed. I came back up and I'm like, I don't even know what else to bring. I hadn't even really I thought about it. I didn't think it would affect me. And so it's like passport, credit cards, some papers, let's go.
And then because I also didn't want to have a repeat of what happened in the Palisades. So in the Palisades, obviously, um, you know, with all the, the traffic and people getting stuck in their cars, I was like, we're not doing that. So I wanted to be one of the first ones out of the area. I mean, I, I live in a big city. It's congested. So luckily I was able to get out pro honestly, within 25 minutes of finding out that, uh, fire was, was happening. And so really grateful for, for that. Um, and then I ended up, uh, staying with a friend in Carlsbad for pretty much a week just because it was, even though they got those fires under control.
It just, it didn't make sense to go back immediately because they've been popping up in so many crazy places. And even, by the way, as we're recording this, you know, I'm in New York, I'm supposed to go back in a couple days and a fire, two big fires actually just broke out yesterday and last night. And so.
I'm now finding myself again, questioning how quickly do I rush back home? So that was my personal experience. I will say everything's fine. I'm okay. My place is fine. But it is so incredibly heartbreaking seeing those who have lost homes, entire communities gone. I mean, schools, grocery stores, the, infrastructure, like what it's going to take to rebuild these communities.
I mean, I don't think that they're going to even be able to break ground for at least a year. They're going to have to build everything over from the water lines, the power lines, make sure that there's nothing that's like extremely, um, poisonous in the area, testing everything. Um, and I've never seen anything quite like this.
but I will say a big shout out to the community of, just the Los Angeles community. I mean, people were literally like, I will give you the clothes off of my back. And people were definitely doing that. I still have more stuff to give away. I knew with tags, I'm like, take it, have it, happy to give you whatever.
You need it more than I need it. So that seemed to be the general consensus and even seeing all the hotels and restaurants, what they were doing, I mean, offering discounted rates, really making sure, that they could make themselves available, not just in Los Angeles, but then also in Orange County, San Diego, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara.
And so to see all of really the hospitality industry. Coming together and you've got restaurants that are like we're offering food to, first responders or, people who have been displaced. I mean, I get chills just thinking about it because it really just shows you, the sense of community that is there.
And I think a lot of people don't always associate Los Angeles with community, but it really does exist.
David Millili: Yeah. So right or wrong, I think I've been getting most of my information from LinkedIn, being out here in Phoenix, as someone who lived in New York city during nine 11, I saw the way that affected tourism and the travel industry. How are you seeing it? I mean, I know it's, it's very early, but how are you seeing the effect really on hospitality and the travel industry as a whole in just that whole region, Southern California.
Sarah Dandashy: So, well, Southern California, can at least speak to the Los Angeles area with that. And I'm going to feel very bad saying this, but this is the reality that I have seen and I say, I say I feel bad saying this just because I have so much LA pride. Um, but, you know, truthfully, the city has struggled since 2020, since the pandemic, it really hasn't gotten back until it's full flow.
We've also had other things going on. We had, the actor strike, the writer strike, the entertainment industry is definitely up in the air as far as what the future of that holds and that so much what ties together, brings this sort of special spark to Los Angeles. So when you have like the very core of the entertainment capital of the world.
Really changing its identity, or at least trying to figure it out in this new wave of entertainment, that combined with all of these other things, it hasn't been high on everyone's list. And I can definitely say, as far as travelers, and I can definitely say, you know, I've got high end clients that I help plan travels for both in Los Angeles when they're coming to L.
A., but then also around the world. And even like, let's say I'm trying to call and make a last minute dinner reservation for a party of eight or ten because it's a big family. in times before that would be like, Oh, gosh, am I even going to be able to make this happen? Now, you're kind of able to do that.
restaurants haven't been as full, hotels definitely haven't been as full. and I do feel like this is going to sort of continue that trend and it's not to say that Los Angeles won't bounce back. Absolutely. Uh, and it's not to say that people don't want to ever come here ever again.
Of course they will it, but it's right now it's kind of like taking a pause. So I think kind of what we saw with, um, Maui and the fires in Lahaina and last year, actually last year at this time, I ended up going to Maui and it had been about six. Say eight ish months after the fires had happened and they had finally kind of started putting things together and at that point they were like, please come back, come back.
And they were doing a big tourism push in Maui because it's like, we want you back, we are back and ready for action. And so it'll be curious to see what that language will be. Um, but I suspect that that'll happen towards the end of this year, but we, we definitely will need a bit of time. But then again, you know, we're talking about.
Los Angeles is a very big area, so there is so much of the city that is operating as business as usual. So travelers can absolutely come. I mean, we've got, Alice conferences happening, and so people are definitely going to be coming to the city. I just don't know that it's going to be quite at the high, high numbers that we've seen it before.
Not yet. I think we're a little ways out from that.
Steve Carran: So one thing that I saw, well, I saw like Resort World posted something. If you're affected by the fires, here's a promo code for you. And it was like 50 percent off a hotel room. And I saw other hotels around the San Diego area doing kind of the same thing. And kind of that sense of community you talked about is, I think, some of the best things to come out of these tragedies, like David mentioned with 9 11 as well.
What was, was there something that you saw that you? It just really kind of touched your heart and you're like, that is an awesome gesture or just anything specifically that you saw?
Sarah Dandashy: so I've got a number of friends in the travel industry or that are travel influencers and the number of them that literally set everything else aside and they were in stores doing drives themselves. They were literally doing pop-up drives themselves, not just saying, oh, go here to this like organized location in Pasadena and whatever, and that's great.
Those are, those need to exist, but they were actually taking the initiative to say. I am doing a pop up. They're using their social media platforms for good. I'm initiating a pop up. This is what I'm looking for. Very specific. Come see me. I'll be there from 10 to 5. And then they would actually put together bags that would be reaching out to people and hand delivering them.
They would actually go in their cars and deliver until like 11 midnight, whatever. every day. And I've seen this now for almost two weeks. So something is, I mean, that was so heartwarming to see. And I mean, that's just some of the personal instances I've seen close to me. But I know that there's, there's probably hundreds others like that.
But I mean, again, it's showing you that people are literally taking the clothes off of their back and making it happen.
David Millili: And unfortunately, this is one crisis there's, you know, through our careers, there's always multiple things that happen. How do you, or what advice would you share about just managing these situations, crises and, and dealing with situations like, like the wildfires and others?
Sarah Dandashy: Well, I mean, personally, I would say is like, always just be, walk yourself through the steps. If I was in the position that I have to leave within 10 15 minutes, what I found myself in, what would you really need?
Now, it's not to say that you have to have in a certain area in the house, but yeah. What is that? So that you've already thought about it. I truthfully had not thought about it. I was like, it won't happen to me. and then it was like, Oh my gosh, luckily somebody in the elevator said, get your passport.
And I was like, good thinking, dude. Um, you know, and so really think about what that is. Hopefully you never have to use it, and if you are in a sort of high, high threatened area, maybe just pre pack your car a little bit if you've got a safe space to have it, because obviously, you know, people breaking into cars and other things, that was happening too, but maybe just think about what you can already put in your trunk if you find yourself in a time like this where You don't know what, what could happen at any moment.
Businesses as well, take it seriously. When I think back on, uh, you know, all the hotels that I worked at in, in the Los Angeles area, we've never done a wildfires train. That was never happened in any of the hotels. So I'd be curious if moving forward, if there's some sort of, you know, how you have like, The normal fire safety or hey, this is what you're going to do that these businesses really take a moment and whether it's once a year and they do a mandatory session with every employee that this is what we're going to do in case of X, Y, Z, be prepared for it.
So then again, everybody's on the same page. It's all about being being mentally prepared, But again, I think if anything, this made us realize that it can happen at any time and fires especially go so quick. There's, you don't have, oh, it might come within four hours. Like, next thing you know, it's there and it's close to you and you don't have four hours to think about it.
You have to make very, very quick decisions. So, planning ahead for that.
David Millili: That's great advice. I had a guy who, worked with us and he kept pushing me to put together like an emergency plan and I was like, you know, whatever, 9 what's going to happen? And then I started thinking, I was like, okay, when I was in college, I was in a hurricane in New York. I was 9 11. I was there for the blackout.
There was an earthquake in New York and then I went to Dallas and there was a tornado. And then I came back and I was like, that's it. I like put the plan together exactly. Like you said, like was a little more different. It was like, okay, we're all going to go meet here if something's happening and things of that nature.
But yeah, it's, it's a really good advice. 
Sarah Dandashy: Yeah. I mean, I mean, my heart also goes out to all the people working in hotels that, you know, they still have to show up for their shifts where they might be like, I don't know what's happening at home, or maybe they feel safer at the hotel or they're coming to work and you know, then they're having to deal with that high stress of everybody coming in.
You know, in sweats with their suitcases because they clearly just ran out of their home. So I mean, it's something that, again, it doesn't hurt to be prepared and again, you never know. And whether it's Los Angeles, whether it's, Florida and you've got hurricanes, I mean, obviously, you know, natural disasters happen and it's good to just have something planted in the back of everybody's mind.
This is what you should do.
Steve Carran: Mm hmm. Mm hmm. last question here, anything that I guess you can share on how we can help those in LA or even anything that you want to plug here that, how anybody can help or anybody should know about the fires and kind of what we should do next.
Sarah Dandashy: Yeah, well, it's a great, it's a great question. I mean, the biggest thing is, obviously, if you're not in the Los Angeles area, what they found is that so many people have goods, they're giving them clothing, they're giving them food. That's great. But right now, there are a lot of different funds.
So, even GoFundMe, you can actually go to GoFundMe. They have a California wildlife, uh, a wildfire, link that you can click on very much by going to the original GoFundMe page. And then you can either, contribute to the overall GoFundMe, Fund that they are raising, or you can also go through and scroll and see different people, people's go fund me and, contribute to that.
But I would definitely suggest that would be the best way at this point, especially if you're not in the area. and it, it is actually, it's going to people that need. Help, and this is what I'm, I'm going to be reminding people is that, you know, it's not just like, Oh, okay, this two week window will be over and we're fine and we're moving on.
It's going to take people years to rebuild. So, um, any, anything minor is always very helpful.
Steve Carran: And one thing that I saw, I was watching, I think, Good Morning America, and they were in L. A. kind of showcasing this, and it's not only the fires, but when they were putting out the fires, that caused a bunch of mudslides. So now people that kind of dodged the fires got hit with the mudslides as well.
Sarah Dandashy: Well, yeah, I mean, that's also like you're living in a precarious place. I mean, that's, I don't, I don't know. I did. I have seen that. obviously like there's some properties that have, have dealt with that, but yeah, I mean, again, if you've got a beautiful property that's perched on side of a mountain and that is obviously a, a threat that could happen to your property just with rains, yes, that can happen too.
So, I mean, yes, you have the physical aspects of, of that from, you know, mudslides when they're trying to put out the fire. But then also the real thing that is really scary, that's affecting everybody, even if there's not a fire within your immediate block radius, is that air quality. And that's something that we can't pinpoint.
And you don't have to be immediately next to a fire to be. You're affected by it because it's not just, oh, it's fire smoke, it's homes, it's batteries that were lit, asbestos, like who, whatever it took to put together a home that has burnt up and is out in the air. And even if you think, okay, yeah, there's winds that helps disperse it, but it's hard to totally pinpoint how much of that is in the air and how bad the air quality is because that's not measured on the normal air quality index.
David Millili: Well, that does it for another episode of the modern hotel year. This was our January hospitality hot topics. So whether you're watching or listening, and especially if you've been affected by the Los Angeles wildfires, our thoughts are with you and we will put some information on how people who are watching and listening can help.
So thank you for joining us, Sarah. We appreciate your time.
Sarah Dandashy: Yeah. Thanks for having me.