A few years back, a friend who runs a large hotel chain asked
Gordon “Butch” Stewart if he could help evaluate the problems
plaguing the franchise.
Stewart, founder and chairman of Sandals Resorts and Beaches
Resorts, took a tour of one of the hotels and sat in on some meetings. He immediately noticed a big gap in the little day-to-day
details that were slowing the hotel down, such as front-desk service, and the high-end conversation the executives were having.
“When we went, I saw what the problems were, and I didn’t really want to stick my nose in,” Stewart says. “But I was a little befuddled at how simple the problems were and how complex their discussion was. Eventually, I pulled my friend aside and said, ‘Why
not pull back and think about this in terms of simple fixes that cost
a lot less? What you’re trying to do is a lot cheaper than what you
think.’ I guess there’s merit in the saying, ‘Keep it simple.’”
Keeping strategy simple drives continued growth at Sandals and
Beaches, the all-inclusive Caribbean resort juggernauts, along with
their worldwide representative arm, Unique Vacations Inc., based
in Miami. With more and more vacation spots popping up, Stewart
doesn’t want to catch himself in the clouds overanalyzing problems. His success has been in the all-inclusive business, and it has
been based on a tireless focus on hospitality and improvement.
His driving force is to get that right, down to every little detail.
From his first hotel unit in 1981 to the 16 resorts and more than
8,500 employees he oversees today, Stewart focuses on getting the
basics right. He continues to move forward, with a concentration
on beating the competition by growing a company that’s well
ahead of the market. With that meticulous attention to the little
things shaping everything from how he makes improvements to
how he paces growth, Stewart has built a vacation empire.
