03/12/2013
INTRODUCING PMR HOSPITALITY PARTNERS, HOSPITALITY REIMAGINED
After 14 years apart, industry veterans and widely recognised hoteliers, Tony Romer-Lee and Euan McGlashan are back together in their newest venture, PMR Hospitality Partners.
PMR Hospitality Partners is a boutique African hospitality management company based in Cape Town, South Africa and Atlanta, USA, through its sister firm, Valor Hospitality Partners (www.valorhospitality.com).
“We say ‘reimagined’ in our tag line, quite simply due to the fact our thinking towards modern day hospitality is not restricted, non-corporate and non-traditional,” explains Romer-Lee. “We are driven by maximising top line revenues and net profits through a strong team culture combined with personalised emotional relationships with guests, associates and trading partners.
“We had become extremely concerned by the quality of service delivery worldwide and have set out to reimagine and re-engineer all the possibilities to bring back ‘wow’ into the modern day traveller’s vocabulary,” McGlashan added.
Romer-Lee and McGlashan will operate the company from both continents and cross-promote through the USA infrastructure which includes strong sales and marketing representation and a significant network throughout the entire country. “The benefits include access to the latest industry thinking, technology, systems, techniques and ideas; coupled with the ability to manage sales and marketing seamlessly on the two continents from which the majority of the international business is derived,” McGlashan said.
Employing a small team of executives with highly specialised skill sets is PMR’s significant competitive advantage. The team covers all facets of hospitality such as due diligence, design and development, operations, management, sales, marketing and PR, human resources and financial management, deal underwriting, revenue generation, cost and expense controls all culminating in profitability maximisation. Services also include site selection entitlements, conceptual design, construction and project management, procurement, technical services, pre-opening management, and total operations management.
“PMR provides turnkey solutions”, said McGlashan and Romer-Lee. “As a comprehensive services provider, we represent a cost effective alternative to mainstream companies which are often focused on select services only. PMR can plan and oversee developments from ground up, refurbish existing properties, and assist ownership in positioning their property, be it independent or branded. As a preferred and approved management company for the larger brands in the USA, yet having operated some of the best boutique properties in Southern Africa, PMR is perfectly positioned to offer the best advice and knowledge an owner could seek.”
Driven by excellence and achievement of top and bottom line targets, PMR’s on-time/on-budget ethos, combined with a desire to be immersed in projects through its hands-on practicality, ensures it is aligned with ownership interests. “We have to roll our sleeves up and get stuck in!” says Romer-Lee. “We need some meaningful action and positive change.”
Whilst the achievement of financial goals and results is of utmost importance, the investment in the surprising and delighting of the hotel or resort guest is never relegated to second place. Romer-Lee and McGlashan’s decades of experience in the industry has been recognised from both perspectives, with dedication to philosophies which include honesty, respect, integrity, empathy and family values.
“There are two absolutes in our business,” McGlashan said. “Your relationship with your associates is cultural and your relationships with your guests are emotional. You need to understand both to operate the best properties from both an experiential perspective and a financial one!”
These two business men previously worked together both at The Bay Hotel with Halcyon Hotels and the V&A Waterfront’s Cape Grace Hotel with the Brand family, helping create the service excellence culture and standards which still stand today.
Known for building and developing teams both personally and professionally, Romer-Lee and McGlashan have track records of the highest industry awards. Over the course of their careers, they have been involved in turning around distressed properties as well as building and developing new ones, from luxury boutique, city centre luxury, luxury resorts, and safari lodges, to upper upscale, mid-market and select service hotels, and restaurants.
CEO for The Collection by Liz McGrath with responsibility for three Relais & Chateaux Hotels in the Cape, general manager at One&Only Cape Town, Singita and Cape Grace are only the most recent credits in Romer-Lee’s portfolio of more than 20 years in luxury hospitality. Known as one of the leading boutique hoteliers in Southern Africa, Romer-Lee realised that, through a partnership with McGlashan, he had more to offer on a larger scale and believed the next natural step was to create his own company.
McGlashan began his career in Scotland, followed by a stellar global career in hospitality in Europe, South Africa and the USA. The highlight of his South African career was to take Cape Grace to be recognised by Condé Nast Traveler as the Best Hotel in the World in 2000. He formed his own business in the US in 2007, developing, renovating, operating and leading many hotel projects for several ownership groups; creating unique guest experiences, passionate teams of associates and strong bottom line performances.
