The Suite Spot: Spotlight series is back with another one-of-a-kind episode that welcomes special guest, Christopher Calabrese, General Manager & VP of the Marriott Cancun Collection!

Podcast host and TMG Marketing Director, Ryan Embree sits down with Christopher to showcase the newly renovated Marriott: Cancun, an All-Inclusive Resort, and what exciting new amenities, views, dining options, and activities hotel guests can look forward to from the astounding 450-room property.

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 everybody, and welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your host, Ryan Embree. Thank you so much for joining me. We are continuing our Suite Spot: Spotlight series. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite series podcast series that we’ve done on The Suite Spot. Because of all the places we’ve traveled, we’ve gone up to New York, down to Miami Beach, and now we are going to beautiful sunny Mexico with a great guest, Christopher Calabrese, general manager and vice president of the Marriott Cancun Collection. Christopher, welcome to the Suite Spot.

Christopher Calabrese:
Thank you, Ryan. Good to be with you.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, and we talked off screen how very jealous of where you’re at. You’ve got a wonderful property over there, which we’re gonna talk all about. But before we do that, I always love, we live and work in such a wonderful industry, Christopher, with tons of backgrounds and stories. Tell us a little bit about your journey, your hospitality journey, and what led you to the Marriott Cancun Collection.

Christopher Calabrese:
Well, I’ve been with Marriott for 52 years now, which a lot of people don’t believe, but it’s actually the truth. I’ve had the pleasure to work with all three of the generations of the Marriott family, starting with JW Marriott Sr., Bill Marriott, of course, who was our ex-chairman of the board, and now our David Marriott, who of course is the grandson of the founder and he is now our chairman, executive chairman, as they call it these days. So it’s been an honor to work with all three generations. I started with the hot shops, which was our sort of founding company of restaurants. That’s how Marriott got started in the business. And most of my background, or let’s say half of my background to date so far has been food and beverage. I then became a regional director of operations in Mid-Atlantic. And I wanted to explore the world. I wanted to see international, I wanted to be a general manager. And so at that time I expressed an interest in Latin America and they said, well, you don’t really speak Spanish, so we don’t, we can’t really put you there at this time. So I said, okay, well what might you have? They said, well, we have a job for you in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia as general manager. I said, I don’t speak Arabic. And they said, yeah, but you know, your type of personality will fit in nicely in in that area, in that part of the world. So if you’d like it, let’s do it. We can fly you in if you want to have a look. I said, no, that’s okay. Let’s just go do a one-way ticket and I’ll work out there for a couple of years and hopefully one day get back to this part of the world. And, and sure enough, that’s what happened. And so that’s kind of my journey International. And then I moved to Puerto Vallarta as general manager of the Marriott there. And then I’ve been in Cancun the rest of my career, but I’ve moved 26 times with this company. So, um, I know what it’s like to see different parts of the world or at least parts of the US for the short time that I was there, half of my career. And it’s been a great journey.

Ryan Embree:
That is absolutely fantastic Christopher and such an inspiration to maybe some of our younger hoteliers that might be looking for a long-term career in this wonderful industry that we share in the possibilities of, you know, if you’re open to the opportunity, you know, I had Chip Rogers from the American Hotel Lodging Association last episode on, and we were talking about one of the things that makes our industry so special and unique is skills are transferrable. So you can travel to the Middle East, back to the United States and to Mexico and end up where you’re at. It’s really just an ease of transition as far as the job’s concerned, you know, obviously culture and things of that, which I’m sure you’ll be able to speak to a little bit more. There’s might be some differences there, but it’s just so cool to hear your path and journey like that. And it really just makes you appreciate our industry because it’s, it’s not every industry that you have those types of opportunities. And this series that we’re talking about today, I introduced at the beginning is the Suite Spot: Spotlight series. So for those of the first time hearing this, this is about highlighting some of our industry’s most unique, iconic hotel and one of a kind hotel. And that’s my transition into your property over there, Christopher. This is the world’s first all inclusive Marriott resort.

Christopher Calabrese:
That is correct.

Ryan Embree:
Fantastic. So perfect fit for this series. Can you share a little bit about the story and kind of what makes this property so special other than it again, being one of a kind?

Christopher Calabrese:
Well, Marriott has been for a long time trying to get into the all-inclusive market. One of the largest markets in the world of course is Cancun. So it’s always made sense for us to have an all-inclusive property here. I am just blessed to be able to do this for Marriott. I’ve got years of experience. I’ve opened probably more than 25 hotels in my career. So this not something that’s a stranger to me. I know that the concept is very different. I therefore took my team and Melissa down to Costa Rica because we have a similar concept there with the Westin and the, and the JW, which is a similar type concept that we have here to kind of get best learnings from that property. Since this is something that’s new for all of us, it’s a great opportunity, it’s unique. My team is excited. More importantly, for the last 18 months I’ve been on the road with our sales organization, specifically Sia and Melissa, to talk it up and to find out what the interest is. And I can tell you that from the group customer, they’re extremely interested to get this kind of hotel from a Marriott product and a Marriott that’s gonna be managed by Marriott people, which is something different. That too is gonna help. And those customers are very excited for us to have an all-inclusive property in this Cancun market. Finally, the demand is incredible. We booked an all-inclusive group site unseen. They didn’t even need to see the property. It was still under construction to book that. That’s gonna be, you know, March 4-7 of next year. We are so excited about this concept. I mean really, I personally am excited. My team is excited. We’ve hired talented people who have that all inclusive experience to help us get this off the ground. And I’m sure their futures are gonna be bright after this because we’re gonna get heavy into this all-inclusive market moving down the road. As for our location, you know, we’re right smack in the middle of the hotel zone. I mean, it’s not every day that you can really say these days that a hotel is located only 15 minutes from the airport. So that’s something that’s huge for us. And we’re right in the heart of the hotel zone. So all the tours, all the activities shopping are, is minutes away. And if you do want to explore other restaurants in the, in the hotel zone, they’re certainly available, some of which are in walking distance.

Ryan Embree:
Man, absolutely. So much to offer there. And I’m sure you’re gonna see more of those maybe sight unseen bookings just because you have the power of a Marriott brand behind you. And that marriage of the all inclusive concept, I’m sure there’s been a lot of people it sounds like have been kind of starving for that type of concept to come to Marriott finally. So, you know, such a pleasure speaking with you today and kind of talking about this property, but you know, this is a hospitality marketing podcast and my listeners and audience, you know, we talk a lot about how to market and advertise, you know, a resort or a property and I’m just curious, you just kind of scratched the surface on all there is to do inside and outside of this hotel. How do you kind of set expectations for someone coming to a new property where there, we’re gonna talk about in a second, where there might not be much review content online because it is opening up as part of a renovation. So how do you set expectations of we’ve got so much to offer and we want you to experience it all in this amount of time that you’re here with us?

Christopher Calabrese:
Yeah, it’s amazing. I mean, of course the Marriott powerful name with more than 8,700 hotels doesn’t hurt or a beautiful Bonvoy app that all of our customers pretty much utilize. They can find out, they go to the market, they decide which hotels to, so we’ve got a great start. The demand as I mentioned before, has been incredible already for groups and for transient customers are like, they’ve been waiting for something like this to happen. We are gonna have a personalized app, which is something very new and different. One of the frustrations that we have learned from our competitors all inclusive properties is you try to book a restaurant, it’s full or a guest, you know, will have several members of their family and each one is booking a different restaurant for the same night under their particular name. This app is incredible and we’re, we’re using it already at that West Ply Conal, which is one of our properties in Costa Rica. We’re gonna be using that app and everything you need to know about the resort is gonna be built into that app and at some point it will have the bonvoy logo attached to it as well which is good, you know, to give us that brand presence that we’re always looking for. You’ll be able to book those reservations. You can change the reservations if your favorite restaurant for that particular night is full, you’ll be able to book a different restaurant. You don’t have to go to a hostess stand or stand in line or talk to an operator on the phone to try to book a reservation. So that’s gonna be cool. We’re gonna have enhanced experiences. I didn’t even know that we named our new, Cabeus Ocean Breeze, Cabeus, but it really struck me with a beautiful name today. But that’s where we’re gonna be doing outdoor massages for our guests. Our concierge team are gonna be our local experts as you might expect. So anybody who wants to explore the destination is gonna be able to get all the information they need from our highly trained concierge about the popular natural parks, the otes, the shopping areas, golf courses and everything else you can do. That’s, that’s very close by.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, and I love that you talked about this, the implementation of technology into the guest experience and using that app. ’cause you’re right, there can be some headaches sometimes. You had a perfect example of the reservation system. So with travelers becoming more comfortable, as we’ve seen over the past couple years with using things like apps, reservation systems, all of a sudden you have the opportunity there if you implement that technology to kind of enhance the guest experience, really set the expectations. I’m sure, correct me if I’m wrong, are you able to download the app prior to staying?

Christopher Calabrese:
Yes, you can download the app prior to the stay. It’ll be attached to your reservation. Makes it very easy. You hit the download button and then from there they can start exploring our resort.

Ryan Embree:
So, you know, you can even have people not even set foot on property yet already doing things, doing research, you know, you guys have a great social media presence as well. You know, I had a whole episode on marketing renovations because it’s such an interesting window and I’m sure with your years of experience, you know, renovations are fantastic. They’re also sometimes headaches, right? With a lot of moving parts there. But to be a newly renovated property, you have that really unique window of opening up and being that wow factor, you know, so I’m curious, talk to our listeners a little bit at the renovation experience over there and what we should be excited about with this renovation.

Christopher Calabrese:
Well of course renovations start years in advance. I mean, it’s not something that you one day then the next say, Hey, you know, we’re gonna be an all-inclusive resort and then make the decision to close, which we did. There’s just too much going on with this construction and every aspect of the hotel, with exception to the original shell is gonna be fully renovated. We’re adding several new restaurants. We’re gonna have 9 specialty restaurants for a 450 room all-inclusive resort. It’s phenomenal. Most have 4 perhaps 5, I’m talking specialty restaurants where you can dine at nighttime. It’s just gonna be incredible to be able to shut this thing down on March 13th, which we did of this year. And to have it be ready by January 15th, 2024 is an incredible feat. It requires a lot of planning, a lot of execution. You know, we’re adding lazy rivers, we’re adding dual slides, we’re adding an adult pool. The outdoor space is gonna be phenomenal. We’ve actually pulled the front entrance out further so that our outdoor restaurants, which are not really outdoors, but you have to walk out the front entrance to, to get to those restaurants, are gonna be fully covered with a new sense of arrival of our main entrance area. That is just gonna be truly phenomenal. It’s hard to put it into words actually. You’ll see the renders and we’d actually love to have you come down and experience at one time when you get a chance. I think you’ll be impressed and I hope our guests and our group customers also will be very happy to see those changes.

Ryan Embree:
It certainly sounds like a see it to believe it type renovation, which those are absolutely so exciting and I talked about it before, you know, with this unique window of opportunity and for maybe those hotels that aren’t doing such an expansive renovation like yourself, you know, when you open up a new property like this, whether it’s a new concept or even a new build, you kind of have this blank canvas for your reputation. And if you haven’t heard me before, we always stress reputation, you know, guest feedback, responding to that guest feedback. So important, especially in today’s digital environment. So when you have a new property like this and you wanna make sure that you get full experience, everything that you just described online to a traveler that might be doing research, what are some strategies to kind of build that reputation the right way to make sure that it’s working for you and you’re building that foundation that hopefully just gets that momentum going with a new property like this?

Christopher Calabrese:
Yeah, we’ve got an incredible PR team. We’ve got a dedicated PR team is specifically for the all-inclusive Marriott brand. We have a brand team that’s dedicated to that. So once the construction is done, we actually have something that makes sense to an all-inclusive customer. But we have corporate PR, we have Mexico PR, we have our great and exciting senior manager, Melissa Basto, who has done a phenomenal job of helping us get the word out through our various social media platforms. All along the way, every stretch of the renovation we’ve been capturing images with our drone and images and photos and such like that. Those have been released on a pretty regular basis. All these messaging, all messaging has gone out to our customers and to those that are interested in this property. And they’ve helped us to build quite a bit of excitement around this new venture for Marriott as a company. And as you can imagine, there’s a bit of pressure when a company like this that’s so big and you get to be the first hotel to make this transition. So there’s pressure, it’s good pressure ’cause it keeps everybody on their toes and we know we’re gonna have a spectacular product once we finish.

Ryan Embree:
Absolutely, and you’re right that, you know, being one of a kind means got all eyes on you, but you know, the way that you’ve kind of described this experience certainly puts it into perspective. And like I said, I think a lot of travelers have been kind of starving for this concept and then for there to have a marriage there with the Marriott brand just takes it kind of to the next level there. Now the property is obviously one of a kind, but it’s also uniquely positioned due to its proximity to another Marriott resort, the JW Marriott, Cancun Resort and Spa, which obviously comprises that Marriott Cancun collection. So tell us the benefit of these two properties being together and maybe is there different marketing strategies for each? I know obviously there’s two different concepts there, but how do they work in tandem and how do they they compare?

Christopher Calabrese:
Well, they’ve always been two different brands as you know Ryan, one was the Marriott Cancun Resort, which was a EP hotel. And of course the JW is an EP hotel, but there’s always been a marriage between these two properties that are tied together through our SkyBridge that connects the best of both worlds and both hotels have 450 guest rooms. Our group customers love it ’cause it’s really the largest complex within Cancun Proper in order to be able to attract large groups, we do groups from size 10 people up to a full buyout of both hotels for 900 guest rooms. So we’re able to handle pretty much anything there and in between. The JW of course, it’s been two different brands, so we have to sort of keep the integrity of those two different brands going at the same time. But the JW being our luxury brand is a phenomenal brand and yet we also bring these two hotels together for groups and to give our transient guests a choice. Now they’re gonna have an additional choice. Do you want to be really all-inclusive, which the market is heavily weighted on, or do you want the EP experience at the JW? And then we’ve had to determine when we do sell these two hotels together as group, how is that going to be handled? Is Marriott gonna remain as an all-inclusive, a hundred percent all-inclusive? Is it JW? And there’s gonna be a certain amount of flexibility depending on the group, depending on the size of the group, depending on if it’s a full buyout for both properties or a specific group for each hotel in which they will maintain the integrity of those particular brands

Ryan Embree:
With that proximity there, you know, you’re certainly making it a tough choice for us, Christopher, but it obviously sounds like you sometimes, you can have the best of both worlds and depending on the size of your group might be able to experience both there. So I’m gonna get some rapid fire questions for you. Now, this is unique. We’ve done this a couple times, Christopher, but they’ve all been properties that are open and existing. So you’re gonna give some first of its kind feedback being that you are really have been the only one. Maybe you and your staff have been the only ones, but what’s your favorite view on the property that you’ve seen so far?

Christopher Calabrese:
The biggest best view of the hotel is when you enter, and this really speaks to both of our hotels. You enter the lobby and the first thing you’re gonna see is that beautiful view of the Caribbean Sea. So that’s my favorite view. You go into that lobby, you’re gonna see it. Everybody loves it. When you’re on the receiving side of the end of those customers entering the main lobby, their mouths are open. Look, most people think that a lot of the photos are touched up and they can’t believe how blue the Caribbean sea really is. But it’s just a phenomenal site to see. And I’d say that’s my favorite view from the hotel.

Ryan Embree:
A lot of listeners listening to this episode as we produce this, as we approach December, probably very daydreaming, very envious of, of that view right now. Now we obviously know a lot of fun quote unquote things happened during renovations, but any fun facts about the Marriott, Cancun, all-inclusive resort?

Christopher Calabrese:
Well, there was this time when Melissa Basto tripped in the lobby over a piece of wood while she was trying to take some photos. No, I’m just kidding. Fun facts, well, I have to say our amazing waterpark. That thing was just created, I mean, the footprint had to be maximized. We’ve got a lazy river that went in there. We’ve got these two giant slides that are gonna start around the third or the fourth floor of the hotel. So that gives you the level of height that these two slides are gonna have as they swirl around and go into a deep pool at the bottom. The Lazy River surrounds that. If you haven’t seen the renders, you should have a look at that. So that’s, there’s always action going on in that zone. We have the main swimming pool, which is the largest pool of the three. And of course we’re gonna have an adult pool off to the side. Each of them is surrounded by restaurants. We’ve got a ceia, we got a health food bar and we’ve got the Pizzeria. So those are areas that are dedicated to those outdoor spaces. There’s staging on top of the wellness bar that’s gonna be used for entertainment at night. So we’re not having to construct these type of staging areas for whatever entertainment we have or whatever shows we have. It’s gonna be built in. So it’s really gonna be a phenomenal look and feel lots to do once you go outside in the, in the external areas of the back of the back of the hotel.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, sounds like it. And for some of those families and kids that might be visiting the property, the top of that water slide might be their favorite view on property at the hotel. But you mentioned, correct me if I’m wrong, 9 different dining experiences at the property. Have you had a chance to have a signature dish yet at the property?

Christopher Calabrese:
Oh my God, yes. In fact, one of our restaurants is gonna be called Mo’s Shakes and [Burgers]. What’s it called? Shakes and Burgers, ’cause we’ve changed the name a few times, but that’s based on the Mighty Mo sandwich and you can actually go Google it and you’ll see the recipe for that. It actually came from our original hot shops restaurants that I actually worked in. So I think I’m the only living being left other than perhaps Bill Marriott that’s actually tasted one from the original recipe, you know, 50 years ago. In fact, we prepared them then. So that’s actually gonna be the signature dish, the Mighty Mo, which is a double hamburger with special secret sauces that I can’t talk to you about, and a sesame seed bun. And it is really an amazing hamburger, double hamburger that we actually, you know, I’ve got an exec meeting that we have every Monday and a couple of times we’ve already asked to have those brought to the meeting. They’re just delicious and you gotta come down and try it. Every restaurant’s gonna have a signature plate, but this is really the signature moment, the signature restaurant for the Marriott all-inclusive brand.

Ryan Embree:
That’s so cool too. I mean, you know, from, from where you started your career, it’s very full circle that is a, you know, signature dish over there, so. Very cool. Now last one and again, this is one of my favorite questions, just go into different hotels is favorite piece of art at the property?

Christopher Calabrese:
That’s an easy one for me because that also is, has a lot of historical value. And for me it’s always been the famous painting that’s in every one of our Marriott properties, which is the painting of Bill Marriott when he was, I think just given the CEO position, which was done in 1972 and his dad, JW Marriott Sr. Standing by him and they had some blueprints rolled up. And you’re gonna see that painting in every single Marriott product throughout the world. You walk by it every day. It’s an inspiration for me to see his dad and himself. That’s one of my, I know it’s kind of hokey, but it’s my favorite artwork that, that you’re gonna see in every Marriott product when you go into any hotel.

Ryan Embree:
I was very fortunate to be a Marriott employee for a period of time in my hospitality experience, and I could close my eyes and still see exactly that image. And I’m sure a lot of our listeners see the same thing. So, you know, as we approach 2024, you know, what’s, what’s your vision for the property? Maybe maybe we connect together, hopefully in person, but we’re, we’re talking 1 year from now, what’s, what’s your vision for the property?

Christopher Calabrese:
Well, just to have tremendous success. Our owners have financially spent a lot of money on the investment. Of course, they’re expecting to get a return on that investment. Marriott is looking this as sort of the first one of many. So we’ve gotta have a lot of success there, a hundred percent confident that we will, we have a great team. We’re gonna be a sort of balanced hotel between group and F.I.T I imagine we’re gonna do a lot of weddings. We already have several weddings that are already booked for 2024 and beyond. We have groups that are booked for 2024 and beyond. So like I say, the demand, the interest in Marriott getting into this game has been phenomenal for me. I think it’s gonna be a great success story that can be built on in other properties that are coming online and are in the pipeline, in fact, for 2024 and beyond.

Ryan Embree:
Such a pleasure to speak with you. Such a unique opportunity. And you heard it, all those engaged couples and listeners out there, it sounds like they still have some spots available, so make sure to, to contact Christopher and I’m sure he’ll get you set up at this beautiful new resort and all-inclusive property. Christopher, thank you so much for, for joining me. Any final thoughts on today’s episode? We covered a lot of ground.

Christopher Calabrese:
We covered a lot of ground. Ryan, I just want to thank you for the opportunity and thank all of your listeners and we welcome everybody to come down and have a look. I think you’re gonna be impressed. I think you’re gonna be satisfied with your experience and we’d love to have your feedback once you get here and give us a chance.

Ryan Embree:
Thank you so much, Christopher. Thank you for listening to The Suite Spot. It’s such a pleasure to showcase on the Spotlight series, the Marriott, Cancun All-Inclusive Resort. Thank you to our guest Christopher, and we will talk to you next time on the Suite Spot. 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.