WESTERLY — When Daniel A. Hostettler moved to Westerly with his spouse and children in 2008, to head up the $145-million Ocean Home renovation job, he imagined it would be the remaining move in his by now stellar 25-12 months job in the luxurious hotel and cafe enterprise — until Michael Dell came contacting.
Hostettler, a considerably-admired, hugely respected chief, beloved by personnel and group leaders alike, tendered his resignation not too long ago as president and team running director of Ocean Residence and its sister attributes, to settle for the posture of president of the Boca Raton Resort & Club, a home owned by Dell’s non-public investment company, MSD Money.
“I appreciate Westerly,” Hostettler claimed thoughtfully a single afternoon last week as he sat in the lobby of the majestic Check out Hill resort reminiscing about his past 12 decades at Ocean Household. “I considered this was my endlessly position … but how do you say ‘No’ to Mr. Dell?”
The Boca Raton Vacation resort & Club, one of South Florida’s most iconic motels, had been seeking for the proper human being to lead their $350 million rebranding and refurbishment efforts and they established their sights on Hostettler, who is also North American president of Relais & Châteaux, the luxury lodge chain.
The initially couple situations time they requested him, he actually did say no, Hostettler reported as he explained his hard determination-earning system.
“How could any person go away Westerly,” Hostettler mused. “My daughter was born right here, my kids and my spouse are content listed here … there are not quite a few places like Westerly.”
From the “Norman Rockwell-esque” sensation of Westerly to its proximity to New York and Boston, and the feeling of neighborhood, Hostettler stated, Westerly is genuinely the excellent location to stay.
“The men and women below are so incredibly warm and real,” he claimed. “Even nevertheless we were being transplants, we have normally felt like this is home.”
When the 51-12 months-old Hostettler described his dilemma to the folks from Dell’s crew in Boca Raton, they urged him to continue to keep his residence in Westerly but to come to work in Florida.
In the finish, he explained, that’s what he and his spouse, Katie, resolved to do. Katie Hostettler, who is also a hospitality qualified, and the two Hostettler young children, Will, 13, and Anna, 10, will stay by way of the summer and sign up for Daniel in September. He’ll travel back and forth right up until then.
When he completes this “just one, last mad problem,” Hostettler reported, they prepare to return to reside in Westerly.
Hostettler’s obstacle will be to rebrand the 356-acre Boca Raton Resort with its 5 hotels, two 18-hole golf courses, 30 tennis courts, 13 dining places, 8 bars and a marina into an independent assets and aid usher in its “new golden era” ahead of its 100th anniversary in 2026.
“I am thrilled by the scale of the undertaking,” mentioned the Swiss-born Hostettler. “The owners want a similar substantial level of neighborhood involvement … it’s comparable but a whole great deal more substantial.”
If any one is up to the job, explained financier Charles M. “Chuck” Royce, principal operator of Ocean Dwelling Resort Associates, it’s Hostettler.
“Daniel,” Royce claimed in a the latest letter to stakeholders, “is genuinely 1 of the great hoteliers of his generation.”
“Below Daniel’s management,” Royce claimed, listing Hostettler’s accomplishments, “Ocean Household is now one of the biggest hotels in the earth.”
Commencing in 2008, Royce claimed, “when he took an workplace in our building trailer and spearheaded our opening in May perhaps 2010, the awards that have been supplied to Ocean Home and its sister houses are due to Daniel and his senior staff’s superb eyesight, leadership and creative imagination.”
Hostettler has “consistently obtained Forbes’ best rating,” Royce explained. “We are thrilled for Daniel and what this exceptional option will suggest for his vocation development and for his family.”
The lookup is underway for a new chief, Royce explained, a changeover staff has been established and the Hostettlers will normally be section of the Royce-Ocean Residence spouse and children.
Through his tenure, Hostettler not only grew to become president and team handling director of Ocean Dwelling and its sister homes — Weekapaug Inn, Check out Hill Inn, Maintain Sporting Club & Residences and Inn at Hastings Park — but observed to it that Ocean Residence collected jewel following jewel in the crown of the hospitality industry. Just one of only 4 motels in the United States — and 13 worldwide — to obtain a triple five-star rating from Forbes Vacation Tutorial — for the resort, spa and cafe — Ocean Home also has a double five-diamond ranking from AAA for the resort and restaurant. Weekapaug Inn has also been awarded a Forbes five-star designation.
“He did place Westerly … and Observe Hill … again on the map,” explained Antonia Korosec, Ocean Residence basic supervisor.
Twelve a long time ago, she added, “people used to say we were being an overflow for Newport.”
These days, under Hostettler’s guidance, she stated, “we can say with self-confidence that our attendees do occur to see us … we are a location, for the reason that of what we’ve created.”
Not only for resort guests, she claimed, but for working day guests and the Westerly group.
“It doesn’t matter if you are from the other facet of the globe,” Korosec additional, “when you function here, you have a sense of belonging to a new household … and a community.”
“Daniel has perfected the art of offering excellence,” mentioned Lisa Konicki, president of the Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce. “He is really artistic, inspiring to his group and obsessive about the tiniest of facts, all of which add to extraordinary and memorable experiences for Ocean Residence guests.”
Some of these unforgettable experiences had been not constantly Forbes five-star-ish, Hostettler mentioned laughingly as he recalled the to start with-at any time Fourth of July Lobster Boil on the seaside in front of Ocean Property.
“It was the worse second of my life,” he joked as he described the scene.
“We didn’t have a great deal of New Englanders at the time, so there we were being, standing on the beach boiling lobsters in little pots a person at a time, even though the line of hungry, not happy attendees grew extended and longer.
“But people today are so forgiving,” he additional. “We hardly ever made that oversight yet again. The Independence Day Beach front Ball is now a person of our signature summer months activities.”
Hostettler truly added a variety of signature situations to the calendar, like the now conventional lights of the Christmas tree in entrance of Ocean Home that a lot of say has forever adjusted the way locals rejoice the holiday getaway time.
Each individual yr, in the course of the Thanksgiving weekend, the general public is invited to obtain on the front garden at Ocean House to enjoy Santa get there by way of firetruck and the lights on the massive evergreen get turned on though carolers, dressed in Victorian garb, sing tracks of the time. Afterward, every person is invited inside for cookies and warm cocoa.
The weekend right before Xmas, locals are invited again for the “Christmas in Tune” musical occasion at the Observe Hill Chapel. The activities are complementary.
Hostettler, identified for his adore of the Xmas season, said he will miss out on all the hotel situations — the children’s Disney events, the wine tastings, the themed-dinners, the fireworks displays — and some of the abnormal experiments — the taco truck on the seashore and the gondolas-for-fondue. But he will typically overlook the men and women he has satisfied: the visitors, and the men and women he has worked together with for the last 12 yrs.
“I’m heading to miss out on the workers,” he reported, brushing absent a tear. “There are so quite a few persons nevertheless with us from the starting.”
You can find a special delight that will come with teaching employees in five-star-type excellence, he additional.
“Everyone is so proud to function below,” he stated as he spoke warmly about some of the longest-serving team customers.
The Royces, he reported, Chuck and his wife, Deborah, have produced “a happy legacy of local community involvement” he hopes will go on.
“The Ocean House is a very good community associate,” claimed Rhode Island state Sen. Dennis L. Algiere, “and a whole lot of that is owing to Daniel’s management.”
“Daniel has generally stepped up to the plate,” Algiere additional. “Whether you can find been a organic catastrophe or, now, by the pandemic, he is constantly been completely ready to enable … whether supplying food stuff or resources.
“I’m likely to miss out on him,” he ongoing. “I want him all the very best.”
Korosec claimed all through the previous times of Hostettler’s times at the Ocean Household helm, she and other customers of the hotel’s administration workforce saved reminding a single yet another of a single thing:
“It truly is not a goodbye,” she claimed, “but a see you yet again.”
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