HotelChatter

HotelChatter:
As a hospitality consultant, what do you help hoteliers and developers achieve?

Steven Kamali:
We are an integral part in creating the entertainment landscape for a hotel, which entails everything from procuring the chef, restaurateur, nightlife operator, and often the designer of the common areas and food & beverage venues.

We help in developing the team that will conceive the whole project, from a design, logistic, financial, and legal standpoint. We also assist in establishing the concept, design aesthetic, layout, various menus needed to service the clients, and staffing at the management level.

HotelChatter:
Can you name any properties that you served as a consultant for?

Kamali:
A few of the luxury brands we have worked with and continue to are the Thompson Hotel Group, Shangri-La Hotels, and Viceroy Hotels, along with a number of New York City and Miami-based real estate developers that have delved into the hotel business such as Fortis Property Group, Peter Moore & Associates, Flagstone Property Group.

HotelChatter:
In the past few years, there's been an explosion of hotel restaurants, bars and even nightclubs. Do you think this trend will continue? In fact, is it even a trend anymore or is it now a mainstay for the hotel world?

Kamali:
I would not consider it a trend; in fact I think it's definitively a part of the most basic formula in the Hotel business along with the Concept and Design.

HotelChatter:
What do hotel guests want from the hotel outside the rooms? Aside from restaurants and bars, what are some of the newest services/amenities that people are concentrating on providing?

Kamali:
A lifestyle experience that you would expect when you're the owner of a $25 Million + home; a Chauffer, a Butler, and a Personal Assistant to make arrangements, schedule dinners and nights out on the town...

Kamali is a co-owner of the Surf Lodge in Montauk, Long Island.

HotelChatter:
You're the co-owner of the Surf Lodge in Montauk. If we're correct, this is the very first property that you've been a partner in. What have been some of the challenges in this endeavor? The rewards?

Kamali:
Yes, I have the pleasure of being a partner in The Surf Lodge, along with Jamie Mulholland, Jayma Cordoza, and Robert McKinley. Our first summer in Montauk operating the hotel, restaurant & bar has been incredible! The experience has been a tremendous personal and professional growth for my partners and I.

Our greatest challenge was renovating and opening in the matter of 7 and a half weeks if you could believe it. Spending my summer's in Montauk is all the "reward" I need.

HotelChatter:
Any expansion plans?

Kamali:
Yes, in fact we are currently considering offers in various cities across the United States and Caribbean.

HotelChatter:
What do you look personally for in hotels when you stay overnight?

Kamali:
I am most interested and focused on comfort, a true sense of "home" makes for a wonderful experience and then of course location must be central, but most importantly its appeal to my clients and friends, I want to be in a place where my clients would truly like to visit and is conducive for us to meet.

Lastly, I am typically not very adventurous when traveling, so I appreciate having various entertainment outlets in the hotel where I'm staying to avoid the nuisance of going out.

Thanks Steven!