We met Manfred Hörger, one of the most successful hotel directors in Zurich, in the recently renovated lobby of the Savoy Baur en Ville. For over 25 years, he and his wife Christina have devoted themselves to running the luxury hotel founded in 1838 on the city’s well-healed Paradeplatz.
The meeting place is no coincidence. Hörger never lets the hotel out of his sight, personally greeting every ‘regular’ and always on hand with words of welcome for newcomers to the Savoy. You won’t find his management strategy in the Harvard Business Review, but it works. “Managing by wandering around”, he calls it. And indeed, Hörger is everywhere. One minute you run into him checking the kitchen, the next he can be found scanning the list of scheduled arrivals on the reservations computer. And the next he is doing the rounds again, inspecting the new rooms and suites that have just been completed. Almost incidentally, a number of smaller rooms have now been merged into spacious junior suites. The total number of rooms has thus been reduced to 104. Hörger knows what he is doing, though, as he knows what his guests expect. He and, above all, his wife, oversaw every last detail of room conversion and fitting. The Savoy has an exclusive style all of its own; nothing is allowed to interfere with its harmonious distinctiveness. So the Hörgers reviewed the patterns of the carpeting, checked the quality of the weaving, had the last say on the choice of marble for the bathrooms and, by no means least, tested the luxurious comfort of the mattresses. While we were still taking in the noble elegance of the rooms, Hörger gently indicated the need for us to press on.
Getting a date for an interview was a minor miracle in the first place. Though he likens his hotel to a theatre, Manfred Hörger has never been one to hog the limelight. The guests, he says, not the director, play the lead role.
Mr. Hörger, how do you define luxury?
MH: We all define luxury in our own way. It has a lot to do with cultural and ethical standards, and with the social standing of the person passing judgment. In the Baroque era, luxury was associated with opulence and a life of leisure – a lavishness far beyond what was perceived to be normality. In the present day and age, luxury has become a very different concept.
Looking at the state of the financial markets, can there still be a case for defending luxury?
MH: Since people regrettably equate luxury with money, it will always be difficult to find common ground. Money should really just safeguard a measure of personal freedom. It shouldn’t be a provocation, which we sadly see happening today.
Would you say that, in the hospitality industry, luxury is more about the respect with which guests are treated?
MH: Hotels are run either by a married couple, which is what my wife and I do, or subject to a management agreement – as is the case with Hilton or the Four Seasons, say. Small luxury hotels such as the Savoy can still be managed the traditional way. In light of the number of rooms alone, however, the big hotel chains often have to offer special cut-price deals. So they have to save money somewhere – usually on staffing costs, which naturally limits what you can do for the guest.
That gives you at the comparatively small Savoy an obvious advantage…
MH: A small luxury hotel with no more than 150 rooms is effectively a private villa that you can use for a fee. No more and no less. As in any private household, you split the work between the people you have. My wife is in charge of the housekeeping and I handle the finances. We live here in the hotel, which makes it so much easier to look after our guests. We employ more than 200 people to cater to our 104 rooms. 60 percent of the staff have been with us for 20 years; 30 percent for between ten and 15 years. That too helps ensure that guests receive personal attention in every area. Privacy and discretion are further powerful arguments for guests who stay with us.
What advice would you give to young people today to help them succeed in the hotel business?
MH: I think many of them attach too much importance to university degrees, back-office processes and bottom lines. They forget that the guest is the focal point of everything we do. If you don’t look after them, you won’t have any bottom line to worry about! I advise anyone going into the hotel business to do an apprenticeship. Two or three years will show you whether this is for you. If it is and you work hard, you can always specialise in this or that and do your degree later on.
You said you have 200 staff for 104 rooms. Not a few of your peers would turn green with envy!
MH: Our prices are undoubtedly at the higher end, and we don’t do special deals. We know that our guests associate our name with luxury and prestige. I don’t strive for 100 percent room occupancy at all costs. I’d rather have 50 percent occupancy but all those rooms paid for 100 percent. Less, as they say, is often more. If you want good staff, you have to pay them a decent wage. But a genuine luxury hotel cannot target profit maximisation. When I serve as a consultant for investors, I always advise them to plan in enough room for private accommodation, offices and shops. Running a hotel alone is never going to give you above-average returns. It is a commitment to a certain lifestyle. But we have the backing of a board who are very understanding.
Aren’t a lot of corners being cut in precisely this lifestyle at the moment? Guests turn up without a tie or even in training shoes. How do you regard this development?
MH: We just smile and insist on our dress code! Our guests used to know how to behave – we could learn a lot from them. Lately, however, this has increasingly been reversed, and that can quickly get you into an awkward situation. Take the dress code issue. We should be able to take it for granted: the information is laid out in every room. Yet we repeatedly have guests who are shocked to be barred from eating at the Restaurant Baur in shorts and T-shirts. When that happens, I give the guests a private salon in which to take their meal. There is nothing personal about it. The issue is simply maintaining the high standards of our hotel and showing respect to other guests.
Your success certainly lends weight to your arguments. On some days, the list of events in the lobby reads like a who’s who in the Fortune 500. Mr. Hörger, thank you for talking to us.
