Valuetainment - March 17, 2026


“Give Me The Worst Hotel” - Horst Schulze BETS His Career On A New Ritz-Carlton Standard

Topics
purpose and leadership respecting customers
Hosted by
Patrick Bet-David
Mentioned
Capella Freund Horst
“Micropenis Mark” - Megyn Kelly vs Mark Levin WAR Of Words EXPLODES “Either You Work For Disney Or You WANT To” - Terrence Howard EXPOSES Disney’s Hollywood POWER Grip

Episode Stats


Length

15 minutes

Words per minute

149.75

Word count

2,258

Sentence count

204

Harmful content

Toxicity

8

sentences flagged

Hate speech

1

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode, my guest is a man of many talents, but let's talk about how he got his start in the hospitality industry. He started at the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago and worked his way up through the ranks to become the General Manager of one of the most famous hotels in the world, the Hyatt Palace of Versailles. He then went on to become a Director of Operations at Hilton Worldwide. And finally, he became the President of Hilton Worldwide, the world's largest hospitality company.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Okay, so walk me through when you're at Hyatt, you're making a name for yourself, Ritz comes and recruits you, and you take your opportunities to risk. What happened there?
00:00:11.500 First, I would like to say that because I would like to impact young people in the conversation. When you come to my age, you want to impact it.
00:00:19.020 Sure, yeah.
00:00:20.220 When I worked for Hyatt, I was food and beverage director. That means I was in charge of the food and beverage operation of the hotel in Chicago.
00:00:30.000 A year and a half later, I got a call from Mr. Freund, who was the president of Hired at the time,
00:00:37.300 and said, Horst, sit down, we have something wonderful for you.
00:00:40.500 You have done a great job with your European flair and all those things.
00:00:44.580 We have what is maybe the best hotel in the company, and you're going to be general manager.
00:00:50.940 This is a moment, a dream moment, the impossible moment,
00:00:54.640 a moment that you will never accomplish but dream from.
00:00:58.020 And here he said, you're the general manager of the finest hotel we have.
00:01:03.160 And I said, I won't take it.
00:01:05.720 And he said, are you not leaving the company?
00:01:07.580 I said, no, I'm not leaving the company because I want to be rooms manager first.
00:01:11.520 I never was rooms manager.
00:01:13.220 Stop it.
00:01:14.440 Yeah.
00:01:14.940 And he said, we're giving you a rooms manager.
00:01:17.760 And I said, yes, but I cannot be the best general manager in the company unless I have been rooms manager.
00:01:22.580 Wow.
00:01:22.980 What a message.
00:01:25.380 And he said, I'm coming.
00:01:27.740 He was in San Francisco.
00:01:29.000 I'm coming to Chicago and talk to you.
00:01:31.420 You're leaving the company.
00:01:32.440 I said, no.
00:01:33.040 He came and said, no, I want to be a rooms manager.
00:01:35.480 He said, we have the finest hotel for you.
00:01:37.860 I said, make me a rooms manager.
00:01:39.540 Give me the words to tell.
00:01:41.920 A year later, he called me.
00:01:43.620 He made me a rooms manager.
00:01:45.680 A year later, he called me and said, remember what you said?
00:01:49.140 Yeah, I want to be a rooms manager.
00:01:50.320 He said, no, no.
00:01:51.380 You said you want to have the words to tell.
00:01:53.980 We got it. 0.52
00:01:55.940 And I got Pittsburgh, which was a dump.
00:02:01.640 A real dump.
00:02:02.940 What year is this?
00:02:04.400 That is 1974.
00:02:09.020 Okay.
00:02:09.980 So I moved to Pittsburgh,
00:02:12.560 and two and a half years later,
00:02:14.580 I was promoted to a larger hotel in Detroit.
00:02:18.340 And a year later, I was promoted to regional vice president,
00:02:22.800 over 10 hotels.
00:02:24.780 And two years later, I was promoted to corporate vice president to Chicago.
00:02:31.180 And that wasn't good, because when you're corporate vice president, 0.91
00:02:34.220 you're one of a bunch of bums. 1.00
00:02:35.520 They're all vice presidents. 0.97
00:02:36.800 If you're regional, you're the king in your region, you know, but still. 0.99
00:02:41.300 Leader of bums. 0.89
00:02:42.520 Still, it was a promotion.
00:02:45.040 And so I moved to Chicago at that time.
00:02:47.260 And then I got that call after I was there for nearly three years.
00:02:52.360 to call that there is a job.
00:02:57.340 What they said, we are building two hotels,
00:03:00.660 a Holiday Inn, but we cannot come to agreement.
00:03:04.160 We want somebody recommended that we create our own brand.
00:03:09.520 And you were recommended to run that brand.
00:03:12.260 Who recommended you?
00:03:14.100 Somebody that had worked, a vice president used to be,
00:03:18.100 had worked in Hyatt.
00:03:19.600 At Hyatt.
00:03:20.300 Yeah.
00:03:20.460 If you would have stayed with Hyatt, who would you have become?
00:03:24.260 Probably CEO.
00:03:27.120 You would have become the CEO of the company if you would have stayed with Hyatt.
00:03:29.440 That was the trajectory.
00:03:30.940 Everybody knew.
00:03:31.560 Yeah, that was the trajectory.
00:03:32.000 Okay, it was obvious.
00:03:33.420 Yeah, oh yeah.
00:03:34.060 Okay, so why take this position, this opportunity that comes along?
00:03:41.280 Because at one word you said, when I asked them, what would you do with your hotels?
00:03:46.580 And they said, operations would be up to you.
00:03:50.460 and I started dreaming, and I saw a purpose, and it started to control me, and I said to my wife,
00:04:00.140 I will make this the best hotel company in the world, if they let me really
00:04:05.340 operation do what I want to do. I saw, because the leaders, mind you, the way individual hotels
00:04:13.020 were different. But the leaders of
00:04:14.940 company leaders in the hotel
00:04:17.200 business was hired.
00:04:19.000 Hilton International, Western
00:04:21.100 and so on. Intercontinental.
00:04:24.760 And they were
00:04:25.120 basically all doing the same thing.
00:04:26.980 And I thought I wouldn't compete with them. I just would go
00:04:29.060 over them and pull the best out
00:04:31.020 of them. And mix
00:04:33.160 a little bit more. Do not
00:04:35.140 get away from the relaxed
00:04:37.160 service element
00:04:39.080 of America. But put
00:04:41.180 a little bit more elegance
00:04:42.460 and customer attention into it.
00:04:48.020 And it seemed to me when I listened to other companies,
00:04:51.180 not hotel companies,
00:04:53.140 there seems to be a lack of understanding
00:04:55.940 that it's all about human beings.
00:04:58.780 There are two groups of human beings when you're in business.
00:05:01.800 The one group is your customer.
00:05:03.680 The other group is your employees.
00:05:06.420 So how do you...
00:05:07.520 And both groups have emotions, thoughts, wishes, dreams.
00:05:12.460 yet they're not taken into account by those that run companies.
00:05:19.260 I have to take into account.
00:05:20.820 I have to know what is my customer's expectation from my product.
00:05:26.960 What would they expect from me?
00:05:29.640 And then I have to know, as a good manager,
00:05:33.580 I have to create processes, systems, and controls
00:05:36.260 so I deliver the expectation of the customer,
00:05:40.200 hopefully superior to my competition.
00:05:42.460 But it only can be superior if I'm also a leader, not just a manager, and lead my people to want to do that.
00:05:53.300 This can only be done if my people are working for the same purpose.
00:06:00.560 There's purpose.
00:06:01.860 And I still believe I said that again.
00:06:05.140 It's not a job that's the biggest gift a company can give you.
00:06:09.580 The biggest thing a company can give you is purpose.
00:06:12.460 purpose and belonging you felt you didn't have that at Hyatt I felt that wasn't managed well
00:06:21.960 we still just hired people and then sometime decided that employee is not good wait a minute
00:06:31.920 If that employee is not good, why did I hire him?
00:06:38.280 It's leadership.
00:06:40.720 Either I selected the right employee or I oriented wrong or I trained wrong
00:06:48.220 or I have the wrong work environment.
00:06:52.380 So it's not the employee, it's me.
00:06:54.580 And that acceptance wasn't, was maybe there in some people, but it wasn't organized.
00:07:04.640 And I know if I organize my selection, my orientation, my training, and my sustaining the knowledge to create a right work environment, I could beat anybody.
00:07:17.260 I believe that. I still believe that.
00:07:19.160 Sorry. Sorry anybody.
00:07:22.220 Everybody thinks I'm very arrogant now.
00:07:24.180 I think I could take any company in the world, make it the best company in the world.
00:07:27.600 You still believe that today?
00:07:28.800 Yes, absolutely.
00:07:29.860 Based on what premise?
00:07:31.440 Based on the premise that I would offer purpose, that I would be very careful in selecting employees and not just hire people.
00:07:40.740 Come on, people are not selected, they're hired.
00:07:44.600 I would orient them to the job.
00:07:47.280 I opened every single Ritz-Carlton hotel and every cappella hotel myself.
00:07:54.260 I didn't go there to drink champagne.
00:07:56.780 Well, I did a little bit too.
00:07:58.340 But I went there to orient the employees as to who we are and welcome them.
00:08:04.380 And role play to them how we deal with customers and train them.
00:08:09.520 So I was connected to them.
00:08:12.020 So I made sure.
00:08:14.040 But what did I train?
00:08:15.280 and I trained what I knew the customer wanted,
00:08:17.880 not what I want, not what I want.
00:08:20.760 Come on, I have been on a board with many boards
00:08:24.520 and most CEOs, or nearly all,
00:08:28.480 full of egos, full of emotion, full of insecurities
00:08:32.160 like we are as human beings,
00:08:34.520 but has no respect that the employees
00:08:36.720 and the customer has the same thing.
00:08:39.340 What does a customer really want from you?
00:08:42.720 What do they really want?
00:08:43.680 I spoke to classic hotels of America not long ago.
00:08:49.860 And before me was a speaker who said,
00:08:52.320 everything is new, forget everything.
00:08:54.840 Everything is technology, technology, everything is new.
00:08:59.020 20 times, forget all you're new.
00:09:01.340 If you're not in technology today, you are lost.
00:09:06.040 I was the next speaker and I said, nothing is new.
00:09:09.540 Because you see, 5,000 years ago,
00:09:12.080 human beings want to be respected.
00:09:14.460 And this was true this morning,
00:09:15.820 and a minute ago tomorrow, and then 5,000 years from now.
00:09:18.240 And if my technology helps you, my customer,
00:09:23.940 to tell you that I respect you,
00:09:26.140 and at the same time care for you,
00:09:28.880 and do my best for you,
00:09:30.960 that's what it's all about.
00:09:33.120 It's caring.
00:09:33.960 And guess what?
00:09:35.880 There are studies.
00:09:38.400 And American consumer study, that's not very old,
00:09:41.080 where 80% of consumers says,
00:09:43.800 I deal with you if you care for me.
00:09:49.520 Even if I could buy the same product next door for less.
00:09:53.600 So on the end, an organization's,
00:09:55.980 the respect for an organization is how I care for people.
00:09:59.500 And that, because that creates trust.
00:10:01.900 People talk about loyal customers.
00:10:05.440 Well, what is a loyal customer?
00:10:06.580 A loyal customer is somebody who trusts you.
00:10:08.580 They're not trusting you because of the product.
00:10:11.660 They're trusting you because how you treated them,
00:10:13.680 that you respected them.
00:10:16.460 And that is not, seems to be not understood.
00:10:21.960 People work on the product, and they do their best,
00:10:25.220 they work hard, but I have to work
00:10:29.680 making sure that my customer knows I respect them.
00:10:34.700 So, you know, when you think about three things,
00:10:37.760 product service price in your eyes in order what would you put first product service price service
00:10:45.600 service first what second product product and then prices last because if you can get the first two
00:10:50.160 they'll pay anything for if i get the first i get more listen a good housekeeping was a magazine that
00:10:56.320 developed value or product they voted us in risk in the early years as best value
00:11:02.800 we were the most expensive but we were the best value you know that's the point that's what i
00:11:10.880 have and the best value look uh in in our first hotel there and and i never forget it because it
00:11:17.600 even shocked me we put a chandelier up in our as we were finishing it up in in the in the elevator
00:11:24.640 foyer this chandelier went up and and i realized there's a 28 000 chandelier hanging there 0.98
00:11:30.400 No guest ever commented on this darn chandelier. 0.96
00:11:39.420 Nor did I do on the $200,000 Oriental rug, nor on all the marble. 0.98
00:11:45.180 We both hold mountains in Italy.
00:11:48.520 Nobody commented, but they commented how we respected them, how we treated them,
00:11:53.400 how we were friendly, how we responded, that we cared.
00:11:57.180 So could you have gotten away with an $800 rug and a $600 chandelier?
00:12:01.980 You think you could have gotten away with it?
00:12:03.320 Yeah, yeah.
00:12:03.720 Look at that.
00:12:05.340 That was luxury.
00:12:06.660 Because I see your Capella Hotel.
00:12:07.800 Your Capella Hotels that you build, you know.
00:12:09.840 It's not chandeliers.
00:12:10.500 Oh, yeah.
00:12:10.860 It's still marble.
00:12:11.860 It's beautiful, yeah.
00:12:13.000 Oh, absolutely.
00:12:13.980 Oh, absolutely.
00:12:15.180 But the key thing that we did Capella, only 100 rooms,
00:12:19.180 so I can individualize service.
00:12:22.980 I couldn't individualize service in a 600-room Ritz-Carlton.
00:12:26.820 Because I had 450 check-ins today, 500 check-out.
00:12:31.720 But in a 100-room cappella with only individual and not conventions,
00:12:38.220 I can call you before you come and say,
00:12:41.160 if you're coming to Singapore, what can I do for you?
00:12:44.040 It's all about you.
00:12:45.500 As long as it's more legal and ethical, I'll do it.
00:12:49.620 There's no check-in time and check-out time.
00:12:52.300 We will have a room for you when you arrive.
00:12:55.220 You see, it works.
00:12:56.000 We figured out how that works.
00:12:57.360 I saw you explain somewhere where you said at Ritz,
00:13:00.440 customer would be unhappy if the check-in took more than four minutes, right?
00:13:04.140 At Capella, you brought it down to 20 seconds.
00:13:06.720 Yes.
00:13:07.060 In fact, that's the change of the human being.
00:13:10.680 We knew after four minutes they would get angry.
00:13:15.720 Today it's 20 seconds.
00:13:18.200 Oh, my.
00:13:19.160 The timeliness, we better know that as businesses,
00:13:22.680 timeliness expectations have become dramatic.
00:13:25.180 True.
00:13:25.880 including responses to emails or so on.
00:13:30.080 And we better know that there are two things
00:13:32.860 that are greatly different,
00:13:35.320 and that is timeliness and individualization.
00:13:39.460 The millennials say, do it my way.
00:13:41.960 Well, there you are again.
00:13:42.820 What business has ever met a study
00:13:45.000 what the millennials really want?
00:13:49.580 Shouldn't we, if we have a business,
00:13:51.420 shouldn't I know what my new customer's expectation is from me?
00:13:55.060 And one thing, expectation of a millennial is, do it my way.
00:14:01.780 Individualize to me.
00:14:04.060 The difference, look, if I would go to a McDonald's, I would say, I take a number one.
00:14:11.620 The millennial says a number one, but no tomato, two slices of pickles, individualization.
00:14:17.060 And if I run any business, I have to understand that individualization is expected.
00:14:22.260 was that not the case before or that was always much less much less so 40 years ago much less
00:14:28.800 really so you just expect that whatever you sold i accept it as a custom that's it success
00:14:33.140 is built on how you think influence is built on how you show up
00:14:39.340 every detail matters because presence speaks before you do this is more than style
00:14:52.260 The future looks bright.
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