Hospitality Design - July 2010 - 99

are sought after for their layered, detailed spaces with a twist on the past by the likes of Richard Sandoval, Starwood, Michael Mina, and Thompson Hotels (Plein Sud in New York shown); opened their second self-propelled restaurant and bar, Double Crown and Madam Geneva; and have expanded into product and uniform lines.

says Mari Balestrazzi, senior vice president of design for Morgans Hotel Group. “Her support for handcrafts has added a new dimension of bohemian chic to the hotel world.”

Say her partners: “Besides playing the part of ‘the good looking one,’ Kristina’s conceptual compass and big picture vision has been an incredibly important component of our partnership. She’s an immensely talented abstract storyteller, an eerily insightful predictor of human behavior, and a highly capable (although completely unlicensed) psychiatrist.”

Dr. Lalia Rach
Divisional Dean Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management New York
During her tenure as divisional dean, Rach transformed the higher education programs in hospitality, tourism, and sports management at the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies (NYU-SCPS). Rach recently announced a welldeserved sabbatical at the end of this academic year followed by a return to teaching fulltime, conducting research, and mentoring students at the Tisch Center. “Lalia set out to build an exemplary model for higher education that did not walk in the shadows of the various industries; she wanted to be equal partners,” explains Jonathan Tisch, chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels. “With her 15 years of commitment and dedication, Lalia built a new model for higher education that has now earned a global reputation for ‘best in class.’ She can fairly be credited with having created the Tisch Center as it is today.”

The Customer
The oversized tub, the flattering lighting, the magnifying mirror, the high-end shampoos and lotions, all innovations courtesy of possibly the most demanding woman in hospitality design: the customer. According to Stephanie Holland, executive creative director for Holland + Holland Advertising, and creator of sheconomy, a blog about marketing to women, women account for 50 percent of all American business travel and are responsible for 92 percent of all money spent on vacation. Sure we can point to the birth of niche travel segments like women’s adventure or girls’ getaway packages, or the still controversial women-only floors (or Saudi’s women only hotel), or increasingly popular amenity packages like W Hotels’ Diane von Furstenberg Fashion Emergency Kit, or the launch of feminine steakhouses like STK, but the truth is women are not a consumer group to be marginalized. Boston Consulting Group recently named women the largest emerging consumer market: larger than China and India combined. If that doesn’t get your attention, here are some staggering statistics according to Women Want More: How to Capture Your Share of the World’s Largest, Fastest-Growing Market: globally women control nearly $12 trillion of the overall $18.4 trillion in consumer discretionary spending. By 2013, that number will increase to $15 trillion and by 2028, women will control 72 percent worldwide. In the U.S. and E.U., most college students (57 percent and 55 percent, respectively) are women while worldwide half (49 percent) are female. And women own or co-own 40 percent of U.S. businesses; solely women-owned businesses are growing at twice the rate of all U.S. firms and faster than male-owned businesses.

Robin Standefer
Principal Roman and Williams New York
It’s Robin Standefer’s 15-year career designing film sets around the world that influences her bespoke hospitality interiors she creates with her husband and business partner Stephen Alesch. Together, they have helped changed the New York hotel landscape with the much talked about re-do of the Royalton (shown), the Ace Hotel, and the Standard Hotel. Imminent projects are product launches (a line for Waterworks is the first) and a Willow hotel in New York. “Robin is steadfast in her beliefs and a stickler for quality,”

www.hospitalitydesign.com

July 2010

99
http://www.hospitalitydesign.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - July 2010
