Hospitality Design: What I've Learned

Raised for much of his childhood in Connecticut before moving to New York as a teenager, John Meadow developed a love for hospitality at a young age. He got his start as a dishwasher and sandwich maker at Au Bon Pain before attending Cornell’s hotel school. By 24, he opened his first restaurant, and in 2008, launched Scarpetta, which won accolades for its refined yet unpretentious take on Italian dining. As president and founder of LDV Hospitality, Meadow has built an empire that spans multiple countries and cities. His portfolio now includes the forthcoming Barlume, slated to open next month in New York, and his first foray into hotels with LDV at the Maidstone, which opened this summer in the Hamptons.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Settling in Seattle as a Vietnamese refugee, My Nguyen began her 22-year design career as an intern for Holland America Line followed by nearly nine years at NB Design Group. Now, Nguyen leads the interior design and interior asset management teams for Holland America Line and Seabourn fleets.Through her commitment to sustainability, Nguyen has pushed boundaries in the cruise industry, transforming design processes to focus on environmental responsibility. Whether leading a design team or tackling the post-pandemic travel surge, Nguyen's ability to balance creativity with practicality makes her a force in cruise ship design today.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Juan Bremer has a deep connection to nature that has shaped his journey into the world of luxury hospitality. Growing up as the son of an ambassador, Bremer’s early years were a whirlwind of cultures, spanning Moscow, Germany, and Mexico. (Today, he splits his time between Mexico and Italy.) This multicultural upbringing instilled in him an appreciation for diverse environments and languages, a foundation that continues to influence his philosophy around development.Bremer’s creative spirit was evident from a young age, leading friends on adventures and conjuring up games. This innate creativity, combined with a love for the outdoors, has become the cornerstone of his work. His entry into hospitality was born from a desire to preserve the untouched beauty of Mexico’s virgin beaches, and his first major project, the One&Only Mandarina via his RLH Properties company, set the stage for Xala, a 3,000-acre luxury development in the Costalegre region of Jalisco, Mexico. Found on the Pacific coastline, it will be home to residences and a Six Senses resort, slated to open in 2026.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Born in Florence and raised between Switzerland and Northern California, David Montalba, founder of Montalba Architects, was exposed to many different cultures growing up, which is evident in his work today from the rustic yet refined Whitepod eco-chalets in Monthey Switzerland to the bespoke Nobu Palo Alto in California.Today—with offices in Santa Monica, California; New York; and Lausanne, Switzerland—his multidisciplinary firm is celebrated for their thoughtful balance between modernity and timelessness, all while maintaining an approach that is as much about the people who inhabit the space as the space itself.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Eric Papachristos, who lived in Greece before returning to the U.S. at age 10, spent his life in restaurants, working at his father's diner as a dishwasher. It made sense, then, that his path would lead him back to hospitality after earning a degree in finance.With a keen eye for collaboration, Papachristos joined forces with celebrated chef Jody Adams to open Greek restaurant Trade Boston in 2011. Thirteen years later, he has grown his empire to count 10 restaurants under his A Street Hospitality Group banner.His latest venture, the AvroKO-designed La Padrona, is a culinary gem nestled within the luxurious Raffles Hotel in downtown Boston. As Papachristos looks to the future, his ambitions extend beyond the dining scene, with plans to develop a residential community in Boston—a pivot inspired from the challenges of the Covid era.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

After a 13-year stint at Chicago firm 555 International, Karen Herold, who grew up in Holland, went out on her own, founding Studio K Creative in 2014. A decade since she launched her firm, Herold has made a name for herself with a portfolio that includes restaurants for BOKA Restaurant Group like chef Stephanie Izard’s Girl and the Goat in Chicago and Los Angeles and BIÂN wellness cub in Chicago. Next up is a heli-ski project that marries Herold’s luxury background with the great outdoors. Here, she she talks about her time as a fashion student, what she learned from her mentor James Geier of 555 International, and building projects with people she admires.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

The industry lost an icon when architect and designer Jeffrey Beers passed away earlier this year at age 67 after a battle with cancer. But Jeffrey Beers International (JBI), the New York practice Beers founded in 1986, will uphold his visionary legacy and continue to shape the hospitality design sphere under the guidance of newly appointed partners Michael Pandolfi, Nora Liu-Kanter, and Tim Rooney.At the time Pandolfi joined the firm in 2000, JBI resembled a carefree artists’ studio more than an office. Beers took over a closet, turning the open space under a massive skylight in the main room over to his small team. Las Vegas was fast transforming into a high-end food and drink destination then and JBI was smack in the middle of that energetic shift, bringing to life venues like Tabu—the MGM Grand ultra-lounge flaunting tables with holographic images projected onto them—and Rumjungle at Mandalay Bay, a fantastical tropical restaurant and nightclub fusing fire and bongo drums. “Those were things that Jeff loved—crazy ideas that not everybody would propose to a client,” recalls Pandolfi, noting how Beers regularly encouraged his staff to share such wild notions in an office he treated as an open forum. “Nobody had titles. Everybody was equal. If you had a great idea, everybody would listen to it and it could be executed.”Here, the three partners share how they plan to continue their late founder’s legacy.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Growing up in Kent in southeast London, Mark Eacott was always a curious kid—inspired by his artist grandfather, who taught him how to sketch and draw, and his dad, who was a builder with a strong do-it-yourself skillset. Those influences, coupled with Eacott’s creative mind, fostered his passion for design. He majored in architecture at the University of Bath, where he studied abroad as part of the Erasmus exchange program at TU Delft, a specialized architecture school in Holland. That was a life-changing experience for Eacott, ultimately leading to an internship at OMA in Rotterdam where he worked alongside Rem Koolhaas. (Eacott went on to earn his master’s degree from the Royal College of Art in London.)His career took off from there, and he added a list of hospitality giants to his résumé including Soho House, Yoo, HBA, and SBE, before landing at Ennismore (the latter two companies were both acquired by Accor), where he’s been the global vice president of design since 2019. Eacott’s philosophy is centered around service and experience. He’s unafraid to retool brands that need a facelift or to call upon nostalgia for reboots of industry gamechangers, like the refresh of the Delano in Miami. Now based in Dubai, Eacott shares lessons learned along his impressive journey and how a successful brand is rooted in emotion.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

In 1979, as the Iranian Revolution swept through the streets of Tehran, Younes Nazarian and his wife Soraya Sarah made the decision to leave behind a successful construction business and move their family to the U.S., ultimately landing in Los Angeles. His youngest son, Sam, was only 3 years old at the time, but he watched his dad build a new life in America.  Younes’ business acumen led him to become an early investor in technology company Qualcomm and eventually chairman of Nazarian Enterprises, which focused on a variety of interests in the private, public, and real estate markets.SBLike his father, Sam, showcased a formidable drive. A smart, athletic kid, he played baseball and basketball in high school and college before attending NYU’s Stern School of Business. By 23, Sam had become the country’s largest distributor of Nextel, a wireless digital communications provider. A year later, he ventured into hotel real estate, buying the Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. By the time he was 26, Sam had invested in 10 hotels and had even dipped his toes into film production on the side.In 2006, he launched SBE—Sammy Boy Entertainment, a callback to a childhood nickname. After a series of successful nightclub venues, the first SLS hotel in Beverly Hills opened, a testament to his vision of blending F&B and nightlife into a cohesive luxury-meets-lifestyle experience.As the SBE brand grew, so did Nazarian’s ambitions. In 2020, he sold the company to Accor, and this January, he announced HQ Projects, a strategic partnership with Wyndham that provides hotel owners with the freedom to craft their own hospitality stories.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

New Jersey native David Barry studied law before getting into real estate development alongside his brother, focusing on redeveloping shipyards and truckyards. When the W brand was being developed in Hoboken, New Jersey, Barry entered the hospitality side of the real estate business. Today, he counts Chiltern Firehouse in London, New York's Chelsea Hotel, and Caldera House in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on his client list.Barry has always been a curious person and interested in exploring new frontiers, which led him to founding Urby in 2012, the hospitality-inspired urban housing concept centered on modern design, high-end amenities, affordable pricing, and programming.Simplicity is key to the success of Urby, which is currently found in six locations with four more on the boards in Philadelphia; Washington, DC; Wynwood, Florida; and Journal Square, New Jersey.As he looks ahead, Barry says his greatest lesson learned is to not get caught up in the noise and chatter of the present moment but to think longterm and plan accordingly.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.