Flip through any copy of HOTELS magazine (either our paper copies, which date back to the 1960s, or the virtual ones on our website) and you’ll find a wide range of topics. But they all have a couple of things in common: tracking the personalities and passions driving the hospitality business.
One such passionate personality who made a big mark was Robert Small, who had taken over as president and CEO of Fairmont Hotel Management Co. a year before he was profiled in HOTELS’ February 1992 issue. He was a true hotelier – disciplined, creative, visionary – with a big challenge ahead of him: Turn around a chain of five hotels facing deep-pocketed competition, in the midst of a U.S. recession.
Small was aiming to increase occupancy and make the chain profitable. But it was about people, too. He said he would know he’d succeeded if employees acted on their own, rather than waiting for instructions from a department head or GM. That people-centric approach would change the personality of the chain, too, from “arrogant and aloof” to what he called “the chicken soup company.” If a maid knocks on a door and is greeted by a customer with a runny nose and watery eyes, he said, “I want that maid to call the kitchen and order chicken soup for the guest.”
He brought his reputation as an achiever for Marriott and Disney to help the company thrive: Today, there are 70 Fairmont hotels around the world.
Small remained CEO and president of Fairmont until he retired, was active on professional and charity boards, and continued his legacy of mentorship. He passed away in 2014, and his obituary summed him up well. “5 Star Bobby was one of a kind.”
#ThrowbackThursday is running every week this year in celebration of HOTELS’ 50thanniversary.