by Paul Heney
Last updated: 4:00 AM ET, Fri November 16, 2018
At the recent Grand Opening party for the AC Hotel Cleveland Beachwood, I spoke with Kim Soria, General Manager of the new hotel about the property. Soria has been with the DelMonte Hotel Group, the management company, for almost 19 years now, but this is the first time she's managed an AC brand.
"I've been here since January, I started in the pre-construction phase and worked on it until opening day," she said. "This is the second hotel I've opened, and I love it. I never thought I'd be a general manager. I got out of the military and I needed a job-I applied for front desk and here I am years later, running my own hotel."
Here are some highlights of our conversation.
TP: AC Hotels place a high value on design. What's the design philosophy, as you see it?
KS: With AC in general, the design philosophy is that we want to make sure everything is frictionless. It should serve a purpose, it should attract the eyes, it should be appealing. The idea behind it is to make the guest comfortable, relaxed and enjoy the space and not just sit in their room all day.
We want guests to enjoy the space and really connect with it. You'll see nice marble sculptures along the wall as you walk in and the art that's on the walls. There are pieces of art throughout that allow the guest to relax and think, "hmmm, that's interesting, that's a nice piece there."
TP: I've heard that you have an interesting philosophy on the hiring process. How does it work?
KS: Our target guest is called a curator, that's someone who wants to explore and enjoy and wants to know whether there are any types of festivals going on, things like that. So, we want the employee that knows that, someone who has that local knowledge and has that personality that can connect with the guest, and say, "I just went to this really great show last night, you really have to go."
We like to interact with the interviewee outside of a hotel environment. It's not necessarily with a straight-forward interview that's one-on-one one where you're asking questions like, "Give me an example of this situation"-everybody can do that.
When you're having a casual conversation with someone and they bring up something that interests them or intrigues them, through that connection you can gauge their personality. You can hire anybody and teach them how to work a computer, but you can't teach them how to connect with a guest and have good conversations and have a great personality.
TP: How does the AC fit into Pinecrest, this new high-end lifestyle center in Cleveland's eastern suburbs?
KS: The way Pinecrest is developed, there are a lot of restaurants and retail and brands that are new to Cleveland that people can experience, including boutique shops, places to have a nice cocktail. It's definitely higher-end than many other developments in the city.
Our clients, our target guests want to get out and explore that, and they enjoy the boutiques, as well as the nightlife and entertainment. We wanted to be involved with something like this-so we're not only attracting the guests that enjoy our space but they can explore so much within walking distance.
TP: Is there anything we should know about the marketing plan for this property?
KS: A lot of our marketing is social media. That's because our travelers love Instagram-they're posting stories, they're posting the most recent drink they've had at a cocktail bar. So, we do a lot of social media marketing to talk about the hotel, including Facebook posts, Twitter, and the like. We like to use eye-catching photos.
TP: What else should people know about the AC Hotel Cleveland Beachwood?
KS: August 28th was our big opening day, and it's been very exciting ever since. We have 145 guest rooms, we have a very good-sized meeting room, a little more than 1,000 square feet, as well as a boardroom. We can accommodate smaller meetings, larger meetings, and we've even done some breakfasts and after-wedding brunches.
We have a really great breakfast in the morning that we offer for our guests, it's European-inspired. Egg tarts are very common in Europe-they're one of those gathering foods that people love to sit around together and eat and enjoy. Our croissants are actually from France, so you can't get a flakier, more buttery croissant than that.
Breakfast is $14 per person, and it's all-you-can-eat. We also have freshly sliced prosciutto on our vertical slicer, so you can also indulge in meats and cheeses, it's fantastic.
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