Hilton’s CEO Has Hotel Pet Peeves — and They’re the Same as Yours

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Most, if not all of us have our pet peeves. Especially when it comes to hotels.

But frankly, we can voice our complaints about I dunno, let’s say “hotel pillows,” as much as we want on those post-stay surveys (and -ahem- blog posts). But until either (A) those complaints have an effect on the hotel’s bottom line or (B) you have enough status (and I don’t mean being Rhodium level), the hotel’s pretty much going to say, “too bad, so sad” and not a whole lot will change.

But what if you DO have that type of status? What if you’re the CEO of the company? Do your hotel pet peeves count for anything then?

Introducing Chris Nassetta

Hilton wasn’t doing well when Blackstone Group purchased the company in the summer of 2007. But Blackstone had an ace up its sleeve and knew how to turn the company around – in December of that year, Christopher Nassetta became president and CEO of Hilton Worldwide.

Of course, the Great Recession hit not long after that, and the company found itself with $20.5 billion in debt. According to Investors Business Daily, “Blackstone’s deal was derided as one of the worst of all time.”

Fast forward a few years. The recession ended, Blackstone sold its stake in the company, and it once again went public. Since then, Hilton’s net income soared nearly 500% to $769 million in 2018. And the stock has risen to close to $300 a share (its first-day closing price $45.34 a share). All while Nassetta stayed at the helm.

So to say Chris Nassetta has clout might be something of an understatement. But besides clout, the CEO also has opinions.

Nassetta’s hotel pet peeves

He was recently interviewed by Dawn Gilbertson of WSJ’s weekly newsletter. And do you know what I can tell you about this big shot head honcho CEO guy who reportedly spends about 80% of his time on the road? When it comes to hotels, he has a lot of the same pet peeves as the rest of us. Take a look:

Showers

“I’m famous inside the company about being a nut about showers. How you turn the water on, making it easy, not getting cold water in your face, pressure, hot water.”

Funny, we said the very same thing!

Lighting

“If people need to have a Ph.D. and put glasses on to turn on a light, that’s a problem.”

Holy crap, YES! Why do hotel rooms have switches for each lamp…and then “master” light switches, to boot? And then for some hotel rooms you have to go searching for the switch?

Towels

“The number one thing (Hilton) customers said three or four years ago was, ‘I don’t have enough towels’ and ‘I don’t like the quality of the towels.’ We forced the whole system to replace all of their towels and make sure they have enough.”

What? Hotels that have more than 2 bath towels that are thicker than a single sheet of paper? What a concept!

I’ll be honest – If we’re staying for just one night, I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to the hotel room’s lighting or towels. But if you look at our stays in Hilton hotels over the past year, the towels in 2 out of the 3 hotels did seem fluffier:

• Hilton Boston Logan, in Boston
• Hilton Penn’s Landing, in Philadelphia
• Hilton Garden Inn, at Heathrow Airport (this was the only one where the towels were meh. But it’s also just a Hilton Garden Inn, so that’s pretty much “on brand,” despite what Nassetta says. I mean, how often does the CEO of Hilton stay at airport Hilton Garden Inns?)

Nassetta’s travel must-haves

When you travel 80% of the time for your job, you obviously develop some preferences on what to bring. Chris Nassetta is no exception:

Portable Bose speaker

Nassetta said he never travels without his speaker – Gilbertson said he packs it in his briefcase and puts it in the bathroom when he gets to his room. “I love music and I play music when I shower,” he says. “It’s what gets me going and sort of, like, mellow on the day.”

Funnily enough, I bought my husband a new speaker (not Bose; sorry not sorry. Marshall) because the one we use for travel could barely hold a charge anymore.

Collapsible phone charger

This isn’t just any collapsible phone charger. It also, “…turns his phone into a bedstand clock with red numbers telling the time. “Don’t ask me how it does it,” he says.

You know what? That sounds pretty cool. If it could also charge my watch at the same time, I’d be interested in one of those, too LOL!

In conclusion

So there ya go – a big shot hot shot hotel CEO who has pet peeves and must-haves that are right along the same lines as all the rest of us.

Of course, there are some things that Hilton does that I’m not so thrilled with – particular more recently. But at least when it comes to their showers, lighting and towels, they’re going in the right direction.

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