The Modern Hotelier #241: Winning a Michelin Key at The Lafayette Hotel & Club | with Steve Slack
===
David Millili: Steve, who do we have on the program today? 
Steve Carran: Yeah, David, today we have our good friend Steve Slack, the General Manager at the Lafayette Club and Hotel. Thanks for joining us. Steve. How have you been?
Steve Slack: Been great. Thank you, guys, for being back. 
Steve Carran: You bet. We're first here in February and now we came back for the holiday season, had to see the incredible decorations, which we'll get into a little bit more later. 
David Millili: Yeah. Thank you. Right. So we're gonna jump in. It'll be a little different than last time we spoke to you, so we're gonna go through a lightning round. Some quick questions. We're gonna get to know you a little bit better, your career, where you grew up, and then we're gonna dive into some industry topics. Sound good? 
Steve Slack: Sounds good. 
David Millili: Alright. What's something you wish you were better at?
Steve Slack: Golf. 
David Millili: Ooh. What's a luxury you can't live without? 
Steve Slack: Nice. Good coffee. 
David Millili: So if you had a time machine, you can go to the future or the past. Which way are you going and what year?
Steve Slack: I would go future and probably jump a hundred years. Got it. 
David Millili: What's the best piece of advice you've received? 
Steve Slack: Just like, keep calm and keep moving. 
David Millili: Alright. And give us something that's on your bucket list. I would love to go to New Zealand. 
Steve Carran: Okay, good. Nice, nice. So now we're gonna go into your background a little bit. You grew up around the San Diego area, is that correct? 
Steve Slack: Yeah, I grew up in Oceanside, which is north County, San Diego here.
Steve Carran: So how did growing up in Oceanside shape you into who you are today? 
Steve Slack: You know, I think San Diego Oceanside, it's a very, we're a very tourism centric town destination. Oceanside's got beautiful beaches. San Diego is San Diego, and so I grew up in. This world, this economy and stuff. My dad traveled a lot for business. He was like a medical salesman and like he stayed in hotels a lot. And then we'd get to stay, you know, points and take advantage of that. And so I felt like I had a lot of good exposure to hospitality and shaped me in in that way.
David Millili: So you went to California State University, got your degree in finance. So what led you to choose that university in finance, that university? 
Steve Slack: It was local. It was close. I had a lot of friends going there. It made, made a lot of sense, finance, I changed majors a couple times in college, kind of figured it out and just, I knew I wanted to be in business and just finance was something that it just felt like I had the most substance or the most useful utility as far as like a career and whatnot, and I didn't go to college expecting to be in hotels. That's not why I got a degree in finance, but it's been very helpful in just helping me grow here. 
Steve Carran: Absolutely. So you're a big Oilers hockey fan, and you also got to meet the great one, Wayne Gretzky. How did a guy from San Diego become an Oilers fan and what was it like meeting Wayne Gretzky? 
Steve Slack: That's a good question. So, my dad is from Canada. He grew up in Branford, Ontario which is where Wayne Gretzky is from, and actually played on the same junior hockey team as him at one point when he was like eight years old.
So, then on the other end, my dad, one of my dad's best friends, played in the NHL, played on the Oilers Coast, the Oilers for a number of years. And so it was just, I grew up watching hockey even though I grew up in Southern California and that was the team that we followed. 
Steve Carran: So, yeah, it's very cool. So you mentioned you wanted to be better at golf, but you actually started as had of golf operations at JC Resorts and worked your way up to front desk operations. So. You mentioned you kind of got into hospitality, but did you really fall in love with hospitality at that first job or a little bit before?
Steve Slack: Yeah, I think, I mean at that first job was when I was 18 years old. I mean, I think there's memories of being a kid, you know, and traveling and stuff and like, like I said, getting some really good hospitality experiences. But yeah, being in that environment and just, you know, it was a great, great golf course. I worked gotta experience a lot of guest interaction and I think I really didn't fully fall in love with it until. I made a shift to the hotel side of things. And really the front of house hotel side of things were just like, something clicked and it was like, this is great. This is what I wanted.
Steve Carran: Sure. Probably got to get some free golf out of being.
Steve Slack: I got a lot of free golf back in the day, that's one of the reasons why I wish I was better at golf is I don't have as much, I had a lot of opportunity to golf back then and I don't have a lot of opportunity to golf these days. 
David Millili: And then you went on to become the GM of the Radisson San Diego, Rancho Bernardo Four Points by Sheridan, downtown San Diego. What did those early GM days teach you that you keep with you now? 
Steve Slack: I think they taught me a lot about just like hustle and hard work and stuff. And those properties are they're a little more aligned with select service and I think in those environments, like everyone's gotta do everything, that's like, the one thing I think I really took out of that is just that, that sense of hustle and grinding and larger properties like GMs and leadership is, you know, there's, there's more layers to it, or that's something I really picked up. And then working with this company as a restaurant company, restaurants are a lot of a grind. And I think it that prepared me for this. 
Steve Carran: So for the past three and a half years, you've been the GM here at the Lafayette Hotel and Club. The management company's a little different than we traditionally see in the hotel space. You have around 20 restaurants and one hotel and about to open up a second hotel. Can you tell us a little bit more about the management company and how that affects the hotel here? 
Steve Slack: Yeah. We're owned and operated by CH Projects and to be honest, it really is. It's not a management company, it's very direct, you know, the ownership is, is the management and we have 20 bars and restaurants, this is our first hotel project and as I was kind of saying before, like it's a very hands-on operation. Ownership's involved in a big way. It's a very, you know, small company in the grand scheme of things. And it takes a lot of community to get it all done. 
David Millili: And so this has been a huge renovation and relaunch. What were some of the challenging and rewarding aspects of this historic property and going through all that? 
Steve Slack: You know, it was built in 1946. And so just with that, you know, you have a lot of existing structure, a lot of existing, a lot of existing conditions that you're working around. But that's also the rewarding part, that kind of what gives it the character And, um, the original, original Lafayette in 1946, it was this place of grandeur, the speaking of entertainment in San Diego. And while this is now still very different than that, it's kind of our iteration of it and our effort to kind of put it back in that position. 
Steve Carran: That's great. So now we're gonna move to the thought leadership section of the podcast. You've won a few awards with this hotel. Most recently you got a one Michelin key and you got to go to Paris to accept that. Can you tell us a little bit more about that and that experience? 
Steve Slack: Yeah, it was an incredible honor and just really surreal. I remember, um, getting the invitation from Michelin said, Hey, we want you to come to the ceremony in Paris. And you just immediately met with all kinds of like self-doubt and like, what is this real, like why, you know, we reached out to them like, why did you invite us? What's the deal? And they're like, oh, very mysterious. Like, you're just gonna have to come and find out. And so fortunately went and yeah, it was awarded that key, but it was such a special experience. 
David Millili: That's awesome. Yeah. So you talked about the management and the food and beverage background. How have you guys been able to, and it's incredible by the way, make each food and beverage outlet here unique and special. 
Steve Slack: We really approach each one as an individual restaurant, individual bar. I think often in hospitality and hotels food and beverage can kind of get blurred and you have large overarching roles that oversee a number of different venues and things like that. But we have a GM in each space. We have a chef in each space, and really just focusing on the identity and each space, as you guys have seen, are very unique. You know, it's not a cohesive theme, if you will. You know, so really just giving them their identity, treating 'em individually. 
Steve Carran: So one thing I've noticed from staying here and from visiting is it is always packed and there's a lot of people from the community that come here to eat or even hang out at the different bars you have here in restaurants. What's the secret to building this community inside the hotel? 
Steve Slack: I don't know the secret, but I think again, it's just engaging with the community. Like, the Lafayette was this real like beacon of the community and through all the years, the good and bad, it's always, always existed. And like I talked to so many people that say, Hey, I had prom here in the seventies, or I had, you know, I had my dad got married here, whatever it is. And so there's always been this like natural draw to it. And then, just us with our restaurants and stuff, we're able to understand the community and connect with them. And it brings in a lot of people which then, you know, from the hotel side, that's what gives it its warmth this character is being able to be a part of the community.
David Millili: Yeah, and so this is our second time here. I got a little bit of a sneak peek on Instagram, but the transformation for the holidays, it really blew me away when I walked through the front doors. I was just like, well, this is, if the Lafayette's gonna do Christmas and the holidays, this is the way it's gonna be done. So take us through the transformation of the property. 
Steve Slack: Yeah. I mean, it's all or nothing, you know? You can't go halfway on it, but it's like a three week, really, like a three week process of decorating. We start early November, and the first two weeks are pretty heavy as far as like, there's, there's some infrastructure things that have to get done to, to get everything where it needs to be, and then the last week is just fine tuning it.
A lot of the fun part of decorating and whatnot. I think what's cool too is we do it all in house. There's a lady who works for us, Rachel Davis, who's like the queen of Christmas and she kind of pulls it all together and, and gives all the direction and stuff, but it's, it's the crew, it's the bartenders, the servers, the housekeepers that all kind of help pitch in, volunteer and help bring it all to life. It's not like a third party company, decorating company or anything like that. It's amazing. 
Steve Carran: Yeah, it's incredible. So you walk in, you have the two Lafayette. Nutcrackers. Yeah. And then you get to the lobby, the lobby bar, and I counted over 25 Christmas trees in that area. Do you have a favorite decoration or a favorite part of the hotel with these decorations?
Steve Slack: My favorite part's definitely the hanging Christmas trees in the lobby, it was an idea that kind of happened naturally last year. And just like, there's, they feel magical. Like, there's something about the way they're suspended. They just, it really makes it cool, the whole thing.
Steve Carran: That was one of the first things our producer John mentioned when we walked in was the Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling. So, very cool. So now this is a part of the podcast where we turn the tables and you get to ask David and I a question. 
Steve Slack: Yeah. I mean, I know you guys have talked about how much you love this place, but where, where's a really interesting hotel that you guys have experienced recently besides the Lafayette?
Steve Carran: This is probably the most interesting hotel I've been to. 
David Millili: So I would say something that was unique and opposite ends of the spectrum. We did Hotel Polaris in Colorado Springs, which is attached or owned by the Air Force Academy. And again, night and day. But Steve always talks about the details and how they incorporate all these things from the Air Force into the property down to these metal, they look like paper airplanes where people can buy them and put their graduating class and their name on it. And Steve, actually, we were in the flight simulator and Steve actually shot me down, so that's why it's probably his favorite hotel. But Steve, which any other properties are more on the on than that one?
Steve Carran: I don't man, I'm drawing a blank. There's nothing that compares to this hotel. We have a new team member, Joe, who came with us and I'm like. You're gonna be blown away by this hotel. Like there, you can't describe it. The culture here is incredible. The food and beverage I love going to the different areas of different restaurants. You have different bar menus at every restaurant, one of a kind hotel. And I think that's probably why we talk about it so much on the podcast to begin with. 
David Millili: So, yeah. Well I think when you're taking a tour and you told us it's your uncle's mini bar, uncle's liquor cabinet is the mini bar, that summed it up. So this has been great. That does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier. This is where it let people know how they can get in touch with you, how they can find out more about either the restaurants, this hotel and what's coming up. 
Steve Slack: lafayettehotelsd.com is where to find us online. Our Instagram Lafayette hotel.
David Millili: It's great. Well, that does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier Hospitality's Most Engaged Podcast. Whether you're watching or listening, we appreciate you and hope to see you again soon. Thank you, Steve. 
Steve Carran: Thank you, Steve. 
Steve Slack: Thank you.