HotelChatter

Interviews / Raul Leal / Desires Hotels / Concierges / Hotel Services / Hotel Amenities / → All Tags

How Desires Hotels Are Making Sure Your Desires Are Met

Raul Leal, President of Desires Hotels

With a name like Desires Hotels, this small collection of boutique properties has a lot to live up to. After all, don't all guests want their every desire fulfilled whenever they check into a hotel? And look no further than the recent introductions of specialized services in hotels like pillow menus, bath butlers, shopping concierges and even iPhone applications to understand that today's hotel guest is becoming increasingly needy.

But in speaking with Raul Leal, the president of Desires Hotels, we learned that his hotels have a few subtle ways to make sure that your need are taken care of when staying overnight.

For starters, the concierges at Desires Hotels (which include The Ironhorse Hotel in Milwaukee, The MAve in New York and The Besty Hotel in Miami) are called, Managers of Desires. Their sole purpose is to spoil you whether it be by accommodating special room requests, securing restaurant reservations and planning a day (or night out) on the town. Have a desire and want it fulfilled? This is a good place to start. But remember, these managers are not genies. Keep your requests reasonable (and clean.)

more ›

Desires Hotels / Hot Hotelier News / Hotel Hype / Richard Millard / Raul Leal / → All Tags

Hot Hotelier News: Who's Behind Desires?

Desires Hotels is the boutique hotels division of Tecton Hospitality which has 12 hotels, open and pending, in the U.S., mostly in Miami Beach. For instance, this is the company that now manages the Sagamore Hotel (once a Thompson Hotel) and that manages the Hotel Mela in New York.

Upcoming hotels include the Cassa Hotel & Residences in Midtown Manhattan, an all-suite luxury hotel, set to open in the winter of 2009. Another is the Betsy Hotel (formerly the Besty Ross) in Miami Beach which is undergoing renovations and will re-open in Winter 2008. There are other hotels in Milwaukee, Atlanta and Puerto Rico.

Overall Desires Hotels seek out guests that are "tech-savvy, enjoy trendy restaurants and seek personal recognition, comfort and attention." What these means for you hotel guests is that Desires Hotels are stylish places that offers a different experience from the "cookie-cutter" hotel chains. Which sounds decent enough.

So who are the people behind such Desires? Why that would be Richard Millard, chairman and CEO and Raul Leal, president and partner.

Richard Millard (in the chair) mainly oversees the company's business development efforts. His hotel background is extensive having managed over 150 hotels before becoming president of Tecton Hospitality in 1995.

His partner Raul Leal (in the tub) oversees all the day to day operations of Tecton Hospitality. In fact, he co-developed the Desires Hotel boutique division within Tecton. And he obviously marches to a different beat. Most hoteliers like to jump on the bed in their professional photos but Raul stood in a tub! A stylish tub at that.

Unlike many hoteliers we cover here, these two seem to have a low-profile. Hence, no celebrity girlfriends or Google image results where they are surrounded by models. But we are sure the titles of Chairman of Desires and President of Desires must come in handy at many social gatherings.