148 – Suite Spot: Spotlight – Regent Santa Monica Beach

Suite Spot: A Hotel Marketing Podcast

The Suite Spot is spotlighting the beautiful and newly renovated Regent Santa Monica Beach with special guest and General Manager of the property, Younes Atallah!

This episode covers all the exciting things travelers can look forward to from their stay at the property including dining, amenities, local attractions, and much more.

Tune in now!

Episode Transcript
Our podcast is produced as an audio resource. Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and human editing and may contain errors. Before republishing quotes, we ask that you reference the audio.

Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in, and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your host, Ryan Embree, with another amazing episode for you today. Very excited to feature this episode. We are gonna be continuing our TMG Spotlight series, and if this is your first time hearing this, it’s one of my favorite series that we do on this podcast. It’s, it’s taken us all over the world at this point, right across the country, and today we are headed to beautiful Santa Monica Beach. With me today is my guest, Younes Atallah, General Manager of the Regent Santa Monica Beach. Younes, thank you so much for joining me on the Suite Spot.

Younes Atallah :
Thank you, Ryan, for having me. Good to be here.

Ryan Embree:
And this series, if this is your first time hearing, this is all about highlighting and showcasing some of the world’s most unique new properties that we’re gonna be talking about. Younes, your property over there, the region, Santa Monica Beach certainly fits the bill. But before we get talking about that, share with our audience a little bit about your hospitality background. We’d love to hear these stories and where we started, where we end up, and, which led you to becoming the first GM of the Regent Santa Monica Beach.

Younes Atallah :
Again, thanks for having me. It’s great to be here and I was born into travel and hospitality. My family owned a travel agency growing up. And, I’ve told this story a few times. It was a rite of passage for all the kids to work at the travel agency as part of our indoctrination. It was about a 50/50 success rate and the kids sticking to hospitality and travel. But I certainly did and went the hotel route, went to hotel school in Florida. My first job was, picking up the phones at what was then the Orlando Marriott downtown. I don’t even know that hotel still exists. But that was probably 30 ish years ago. I kind of jumped in with both feet and never looked back. I’ve been very fortunate. My career has taken me to some amazing places in the country in North America, actually. I’ve lived in Florida and Texas. I lived in Canada for a few years. And then more recently I was in Hawaii, in Arizona and then landed in California just about four years ago. So not terrible places to live, overall. So it’s been, it’s been a fun ride.

Ryan Embree:
Well, certainly. And that hospitality has taken you all over the country. We talk about all the time on this podcast how transferable, skills are, and I think that’s one of the beauties that is lost in our industry is that people serving people, you can do that in Florida, you could do that in California, Hawaii, even in different countries there. So to be able to take your talents across the country, I’m sure you have some incredible experiences in the hospitality and started your hospitality roots right here where we are just north of Orlando, Florida. So that’s, that’s incredible to hear. But before we start talking about your journey to the other side of the country, let’s talk about the Regent Hotel and Resorts brand. We got locations worldwide, but this is actually the first one in the Americas. Introduce our audience to this brand and what they can expect from it.

Younes Atallah :
Absolutely. This is really, an exciting time for region. Some of your listeners, Ryan, may actually be familiar with the Regent brand, especially if you’ve watched one of the most iconic movies of our time, which is Pretty Woman, which was, filmed at Reach Beil the region, Beverly Wilshire at the time. And that was the last region in the Americas. It’s really not a new brand. It’s a brand that’s being reintroduced and reinvigorated as we speak. Region has been around since the early seventies and has gone through various iterations throughout its history, but most recently in 2018, IHG Hotels and Resorts added region to its luxury and lifestyle portfolio. And we’re very much in Regent 2.0 land, if you will, in the last few years, we’ve added and opened some amazing properties in, like the region of Hong Kong, the Carlton Khan in the south of France. The region in Shanghai just opened a few months ago. And so to bring back region to the Americas and to Los Angeles specifically, it’s a little bit romantic because the last Regent was left the Americas from Los Angeles. So to bring it back to the LA area is pretty great and lots of growth in the pipeline for Regent and what IHG is doing with the brand and really growing. It is pretty, pretty impressive and very exciting. So keep an eye on it.

Ryan Embree:
It sounds like it, and it’s cool to have a history to a brand like that and then to reinvigorate, reintroduce it here like this in such a spectacular form with your property, which we’re gonna talk about in a minute. Have you had the chance to visit any of the other regions?

Younes Atallah :
I have. I’ve been fortunate in the last year to actually stay at the region, Hong Kong and the region, Carlton Kahn, and both pretty impressive properties, not just from a location and physical product, but really the heart and soul of what we do, which is the people in the service. The brick and mortar is a brick and mortar, pretty building is a pretty building wherever it might be, but the level of service and engagement is really quite special.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah. And we’re gonna talk about that in a minute and kind of how you’re telling your story as you’re set to open here and invite your first guest into the property, to your incredible Regent Santa Monica Beach. You know, you talked about it, uh, as, as a romantic journey. I’ve learned with new build & renovations, it’s typically a labor of love, sometimes there’s those missteps along the way, but at the end, it, that’s what makes it special, right? So tell us the story about this project, what made it special and how it came to be.

Younes Atallah :
Absolutely. So, this is a transformation. It’s not a new build. The, the building has been, really an anchor in Santa Monica for 30 years. I personally have been involved with this project and, and have been working in this building for the last four years. And so Santa Monica is one of those cities that is very close knit. People know people, people know each other. The community is very passionate about itself and about its iconicness. And so to have the support of the community is really kind of the first thing that was very important for us. As we embarked on this pretty lofty project, we closed the hotel in its previous form, if you will, in March of 2023. So about a year and a half ago, as you mentioned, we’re going to reopen in just a few weeks. The coolest thing about this transformation is that the vast, vast majority of the employee base who worked for many years in the building have stayed on, which is really great. Just so when we go back and we say, yeah, it’s an impressive project, and it’s a beautiful building and a beautiful location, but the heart and soul of of it is the people are all still here, which is great. But talking about it being a labor of love, we’re about to really bring luxury to Santa Monica for the first time in a long time, just to share a few stats with you. But the property is going to open with 167 keys, which includes 34 suites. It’s going to be the largest room offering in the market, really, probably in greater LA area at 720 square feet is our entry level rooms, which is a suite for a lot of our other friends and competitors. Not only will we have, obviously incredible views, which is very much a region brand distinction, if you will, as kind of these picturesque views and of the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Monica Pier. But we’re gonna have an amazing food and beverage offering. We’ve collaborated with Chef Michael Mina to have one of his concepts in the hotel. It’s called Orla. I love saying this. It kind of goes back to the romance. It’s Michael’s love letter to Egypt, which is his roots. So it’s a Mediterranean eastern, middle Eastern cuisine, which is amazing. We have a really great collaboration with Ayesha Curry for Sweet July, which our cafe concept. And then last but not least, we also have a 10,000 square foot spa that we’re working with Urla, out of Paris to bring, to bring their first West coast flagship, if you will, as far as a spa and well wellness facility is concerned. So lots, lots on the go.

Ryan Embree:
I love the collaboration between where you started that conversation, talking about the community and the people, and the people that stayed on and, and that are gonna know the property and in and out. And then the new concepts that you’re blending that old in the new and staying local, but also looking for inspiration worldwide. I think is gonna make this, and correct me if I’m gonna make a really unique experience for anyone that goes there. Now, there’s a common expression in our industry, location is everything. It certainly helps when you’re right, the located right in the middle of the most, one of the world’s most famous beaches. But for those who haven’t been in that area, Younes, could you paint us a little picture of the location, what’s around the hotel? What really makes that location so prime?

Younes Atallah :
The first thing I would say is if you haven’t been, this is an open invitation to come and visit Santa Monica ’cause it truly is one of the most amazing places in the country and very iconic. And, whether you’ve watched, Beverly Hills 90210 or whether you’ve watched Arnold Schwartzenegger training. This is our backyard. It’s really, it’s really pretty cool. But the property itself, the resort itself is located right on the beach, toes in the sand, just south of the Santa Monica Pier. We are, if you were to, I always like to say Santa Monica is a city on its own. We are our own city. We’re surrounded by Los Angeles on three sides and the beautiful Pacific on the fourth side. So, you just have to look west, just look at, look at the ocean, don’t worry about what’s behind you. So, the most amazing sunsets are very much can be witnessed from our pool deck with the Santa Monica pier right in the forefront. And after the sunsets, that Ferris wheel, which is probably top three postcards out of the country is lit up. You can see the reflection of the light on the ocean water. It’s really pretty spectacular. Whether you’re coming to do a little bit of shopping or whether it is to do a little bit of body surfing, a little bit of tanning, it’s all right here, literally in, in front of the hotel.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, I was gonna say, I don’t think you’re gonna have many problems with getting some pituresque things for social media, which we’re gonna talk about here. Being a digital marketing podcast, we love to talk about, you know, sharing experiences, but it helps when, you know, your guests are doing the majority of the sharing, right. We can, as businesses try to put out photos and all these pictures and sometimes we pay a lot of money to have things framed up. But when your guests are sharing authentic experiences, sometimes that is the stuff that’s most powerful out there. So that sunset that you’re talking about by the pool, having hundreds of pictures out there on, on Instagram and, and social media, I’m sure is gonna help already just help propel the reach of this incredible property. And we’re gonna talk about that in a minute, but you mentioned some of the partnerships, renowned chefs, celebrities that you’re pairing with. What are you most excited about? You know as those doors are yet to open, right? I’m sure there’s a lot of anticipation, excitement. What do you want those first guests to feel and experience when they walk in through those doors?

Younes Atallah :
This is not rehearsed. This is truly how I feel. Being in an urban area, the one thing that I think you get out of your car, look, Los Angeles is a busy city. LAX is a busy airport. We are not necessarily the closest destination for a lot of people. So it’s a commitment to come out here and sometimes it takes a long time or have to deal with traffic. And so the one thing I’m most excited about, as soon as our guests walk through the doors or really get into the driveway, it’s this elevating them above the noise. It’s this feeling that they’ve arrived. They don’t have to worry about all the noise in the background. We wanna take all of their worries, all of their stresses, regardless of why they’re coming to visit us and really have them step into a haven of sorts.

Ryan Embree:
I absolutely love that. That’s the type of experience that you hope, again, talking about digital marketing, you know, you hope that shared and you see those feelings and sentiment shared on online reviews, feedback from your guests, whether it’s face to face through to your employees of just being like, feel like I’ve kind of escaped here. A really, really cool to hear, and, you know, you can’t, can’t really spell luxury anymore in hospitality without incredible food and beverage. I think that’s part of the experience and the escape. And you mentioned it before your Mediterranean cuisine style, Orla, I’ve been seeing a lot of it in the press and the news. Share some details of what guests can expect for this one of a kind dining experience.

Younes Atallah :
Absolutely. And not only can I share it conceptually, but I actually have experienced Orla now twice in the last week because the Santa Monica location’s actually gonna be the second location for Chef Mina with Orla. The first one opened just a few months ago, in Las Vegas. And I happened to be there last week for work. And I got to, got to experience it twice. And I have to tell you, not only is the service on point, the cocktail programming is, is on point, but the food is very flavorful and very authentic. And I should know a thing or two about Mediterranean cuisine having grew up in, in that part of the world. That’s really such a wonderful takeaway. The restaurant itself, the outlet itself was designed by a roco and they really captured the essence of the beach, but also some of the aspects of that Mediterranean design that you would kind of imagine if you were to step into a restaurant in Egypt, for example. Or something like that. So when you take the design, you take the beverage, and then you take the flavorness and execution of the food, and you sprinkle it with Chef Mina’s love and passion. You just really can’t go wrong.

Ryan Embree:
This is why I love this series so much, Younes, because it, everything in these types of hotels are so purposeful from the design to the, the programming like you were talking about. And high praise is when you can come out of a food and beverage outlet and say the term authentic. That is what we are craving right now in a world that unfortunately, you know, AI is, we love it, technology is great, but it is also causing some inauthenticity. And so when people see authentic, they feel authentic, that little piece of home. And so really, really eager, excited. Thank you for sharing that. You’ve done a couple interviews that I’ve followed leading up to this grand opening and one recent interview you said, we’re eager to share this incredibly special property with the world and welcome guests to indulge in a modern evolution of traditional luxury. And that was the part that really stuck out to me, that modern evolution of traditional luxury. Can you speak what that means to you and how you’ve implemented it into the guest experience and operations at the region? Santa Monica Beach?

Younes Atallah :
Yeah, absolutely. This is what I love about these podcasts subtypes, that it’s, it becomes so natural because we did not rehearse this. And, and you just kind of gave me a perfect segue talking about AI and authenticity. I think, and I believe that these days are very dependent on technology. No one can argue that, obviously, whether it’s with our phones or whether it’s with but inherently, especially in for a luxury traveler, we still want to have those authentic moments with other humans. Technology, AI has to be in the background. It has to make things easier. It doesn’t have to be in the forefront. You know, it has to create conveniences, not stresses. You know, sometimes you are, you know, you’re trying to order something and there’s 16 buttons to push and there’s stand in this line and then pick up in this line and then do this, and you’re just like, oh my God, I just want a coffee.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah. Trust me, I’ve been in front of my hotel door trying to open with that remote key, right. Which was so convenient, and now all of a sudden it’s not working for me.

Younes Atallah :
No, exactly. Absolutely. So it’s really kind of understanding what the other thing is, the word luxury has evolved tremendously even in the time that I’ve beendoing this. And then more recently, even in the last 5-10 years, really, I think the pandemic has allowed a lot of people to experience luxury and want to experience luxury in a different way. And it’s no longer pinky out and tea with the Queen type of it still exists, and it’s still wonderful. It’s no longer just that. And with Regent, we take a lot of pride in saying that the way that we behave and the way that we execute on luxury is in a modern way, it’s modern luxury. It’s bespoke, it’s really not a one size fits all. You know, I mean, when you look at statistics and studies that tell you that Gen Z they’re going to be the biggest spenders on luxury in the next X number of years, well, you gotta pay attention because you can’t continue to cater to not even their parents, but their grandparents, which I think is the more traditional way.

Ryan Embree:
No, you’re, you’re absolutely right. And to your point about the AI and technology and we talked about this at the top of the episode of what you’re trying to cultivate over there at the Regent Santa Monica Beach, as you said, you wanna remove the noise, the outside noise. And sometimes that can be physical noise, and sometimes that can be digital noise. And sometimes when you elevate guests and customers above that digital noise, sometimes that’s when the authenticity really blooms and you create some really memorable experiences there. Now, all that to say we are a digital marketing podcast. And so I’m gonna talk about a little digital because as you mentioned, I mean Gen Z, and sometimes this is good and sometimes this helps. I mean, this was something that 20-30 years ago in hospitality, when you’d introduce a new property or brand like this, you didn’t have the benefits of social media or online digital marketing like you do today. And it can help propel and accelerate the pace. I look at your Instagram, I follow your Instagram, follow your social media. You guys already have 3000 followers on social media and you haven’t even opened, had that first guess yet. And that can do a lot of things for a property. And we talked about that. So how have you used social media or digital marketing to introduce the new Regent Santa Monica Beach to travelers?

Younes Atallah :
I mean, it goes without saying that it was probably one of the very first things that we did was to make sure that our handles were correct and we had the right ones and go through that process, both Instagram and Facebook. You know, the two big powerhouses that we’ve leaned into at the moment. It’s been incredibly instrumental for us to showcase the brand’s identity as the big brand, but also also the resort itself. We’ve been really sort of teasing for the last year and a half because to your point, we want to create excitement and that I want more so that you can continue to come back and see what we have coming. Social media is a way to, for a new brand, is to share really a visual story of what guests can anticipate when they arrive, whether it’s teasing through looking at the views or certain angles of the accommodation or the restaurant. You know, that being said, as our audience continues to grow across the various platforms, there’s gonna be a lot more to share. You know, you start having more user generated content, you start having more actual photography and more relatable programming that that is being executed. And that’s really what people want to dream. And social media, Instagram especially allows us to do that. It allows us to dream. I mean I’ll share something personal. I booked a trip for a year from now to somewhere that I’ve never been. And literally it’s like in August of next year, and I’m already looking at, oh my God, what am I gonna do? Oh my God, look at this. Oh my God, I wanted to, you know, heart this and favorite this and all of that because I’m already dreaming about it. And that’s really what people that’s the sense that we want people to feel before they get here.

Ryan Embree:
Absolutely. And building anticipation, setting expectations. I love the way that you that you’ve used social media over there as a way to tease, we talk about it all the time, but that is a great strategy. It wasn’t just to throw everything out there give everyone, you wanna build that excitement, build that anticipation just like you’re doing for your own personal trip. And we continue to do so. Very cool to see. We’ll continue to follow. We’re getting closer to the end, but wanna do some rapid fire questions. This is always something we do for the Spotlight series to get to know you and the region. Santa Monica Beach a little bit better. Best view at the property?

Younes Atallah :
It’s the ocean front rooms with a fire pit and a big terrace.

Ryan Embree:
Alright. Yeah. You can’t really argue with that one there. Yeah, fun fact about the property. I know you have already shared a couple, but any any fun facts?

Younes Atallah :
Funnest fact is our atrium suite used to be open air. It actually was two stories of nothing, two floors worth of literally air that we have now built into a two bedroom, two bathroom suite.

Ryan Embree:
Whoa. I think that was probably some fun blueprinting and construction there for that. Most anticipated dish at the property? You mentioned you were at Orla in Vegas. Have you had the chance to try anything over there?

Younes Atallah :
I have. I will tell you, I’m gonna go with my favorite, which are the lamb chops, the harissa grilled lamb chops. They’re pretty delicious. I’m not gonna lie.

Ryan Embree:
And then finally favorite piece of art at the property?

Younes Atallah :
That’s, that’s kind of an easy one. I’m gonna say probably an 800, maybe a 1000 square foot area in the restaurant. And the floor is a handcrafted mosaic piece of art, an ocean scene with an octopus being kind of the highlight of it that was constructed by 15 artisans in Italy and shipped to Santa Monica in pieces. And witnessing it being put together by hand was awesome. I didn’t my video, but then seeing it being put together on the floor has just been amazing. I can’t wait for people to see that something else.

Ryan Embree:
That’s so cool. Again, just to put this in perspective, if you’ve been counting or playing bingo at home, we’ve talked about artists, chefs, celebrities, designers, all a part of this, and we’re just talking about one property. So Absolutely fantastic. You know, I’ve, I’ve had the pleasure of, of interviewing a few GMs and leaders of brand new, new properties or introductions to properties like the region as they prepare for travelers for the first time. And you kind of walked us through today, but how you want people to feel as they walk in. Give me a sense of what you want travelers to feel as they check out. What, what is that as gm do you want them to say about their stay at the region, Santa Monica Beach?

Younes Atallah :
I want them to say that they want more. I think that’s, that’s the first thing I would want them to feel is when do I get to come back? I think we all hopefully have had chances, whether it’s at hotels, destinations, restaurants, any kind of experience to say, I can’t wait to go back. And so if someone says, if a guest says, I can’t wait to go back, I’ve done my job, my team’s done their job, we’ve arrived. Right? We’ve accomplished what we need to. And I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. We’re in the business of creating raving fans. We want people to our guests to become our biggest ambassadors. And you kind of touched this on this a little bit earlier. I can say whatever I want about myself, we can say whatever we want about our hotel, but until people, until others are really talking about us and are our ambassadors, that’s what we really would love to have happen.

Ryan Embree:
Well, from today’s episode I certainly, do not see that being a problem for your property and your team over there. Younes, thank you so much for joining me. We covered a lot. Any final thoughts before we wrap up today?

Younes Atallah :
You know, again, open invitation. Please come to Santa Monica, please come visit us. We’ve got an amazing destination. I’m incredibly passionate about this city. I’ve been coming here for many years before I moved here. It’s a wonderful place to come and visit year round. We’re opening here in just a few weeks, just under a month from now. And have an amazing introductory offer for our guests, sort of our opening offer that will be, available really for anyone who wants to book from now through the beginning of next year, like now, I encourage on, RegentSantaMonicaBeach.com. Follow us.

Ryan Embree:
There you go. It’s spirit of the today’s episode. Well, Younes thank you. I encourage all the listeners and audience, check out the Regent Santa Monica Beach. A wonderful addition to our incredible hospitality industry we have here. We’re very excited. Be sure to follow and hear all of those ambassadors praising their experience, that they had there. So congratulations to you and your team. Younes we will look for those doors to be open. Just a couple of short weeks. I’m sure you cannot wait to see those first guests arrive on property.

Younes Atallah :
That’s right, that’s right. Thank you, Ryan, for the opportunity.

Ryan Embree:
Thank you so much and we’ll talk to you next time. To join our loyalty program be sure to subscribe and give us a five star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.