Editors’ Note

Edward Staros was appointed to his current position in October 1999, after serving as Vice President of Operations for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. since 1992. He has also served as Vice President and General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead (Atlanta); General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta; and Corporate Director of Rooms Operations. Prior to joining The Ritz-Carlton in 1983, Staros worked for Hyatt Hotels Corporation. He holds a degree in hotel and restaurant administration from Florida State University.

Property Brief

The Ritz-Carlton, Naples (www.ritz-carlton.com), a Mobil five-star, AAA five-diamond resort located on Florida’s Paradise Coast, offers 450 guest rooms, including 35 suites and 60 Ritz-Carlton Club rooms, all featuring Gulf of Mexico views. Resort amenities and activities include six restaurants, a 50,000-square-foot spa, 1,000 feet of pristine white sand beach on the Gulf of Mexico, two pools, four tennis courts, and a variety of water sports. Just three miles away, The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples, features 295 guest rooms, including 38 suites and 51 Ritz-Carlton Club rooms, as well as two championship Greg Norman-designed golf courses. Amenities at the Golf Resort include two restaurants, a gourmet coffee shop, a billiards room, a bar, and an impressive Club-Level lounge with balconies overlooking the 18th hole.

What is driving the growth of The Ritz-Carlton Resorts of Naples?

The resorts continue to experience growth through a mix of business, with families, leisure visitors looking for a high-quality retreat, and sophisticated meeting guests. Through our variety of venues and amenities, including the six restaurants, extensive indoor and outdoor meeting spaces, the beach, tennis courts, pools, and golf course, we are able to anticipate the needs of all of those customers simultaneously. Our meeting rooms are separate from the rest of the resort, so our leisure guests don’t even know there are meetings being conducted on the property. In 2007, we experienced our best year to date. In 2008, because of our group business bookings, I’m confident we’ll see significant growth again.

The Ritz-Carlton is known as a high-end hotel brand that caters to business travelers and couples. Is the company dedicated to serving families as well?

Product and service excellence for our guests has been The Ritz-Carlton mantra since day one. As we’ve grown, we’ve held on to that mission, but have evolved by catering to a wider audience of sophisticated travelers, including families. We strive to provide guests of all ages with memorable experiences, and are thrilled about the recent launch of our Nature’s Wonders program for families. Led by a team of certified master naturalists, Nature’s Wonders promotes awareness and respect for Florida’s natural beauty and environment, while also providing an understanding of how to live more sustainably. We see our resort becoming a learning institute for families who are interested in the environment. They’ll walk away from their vacations with greater awareness and knowledge that will be important to them and generations to follow. Additionally, we continue to offer our signature Ritz Kids program at the Golf Resort, and were recently recognized as one of the top 10 family resorts in Florida by Travel + Leisure. The other nine are Orlando resorts.

No matter how much you invest in improvements to a property, is it ever enough?

The day I stop focusing on how we can improve is the day I should retire. I can’t just go through the motions; I have to focus on what we can do better every day. To be the best, we must continuously improve. We must be an innovative leader in products and service, put our ear to the ground to find out what the next generation of travelers seeks, and plan our strategy around that. In the last eight years, we’ve accomplished remarkable achievements. Our resort is now more than a couples-only resort – it is a world-class family resort. It’s one of the top-rated resorts you can go to anywhere in the world. We focus on creating the most memorable and desired experience for our guests. For instance, we can host weddings for five to 500 guests. Between the two resorts, we offer a variety of venues from the Beach House to the Grand Lawn at the Golf Resort. Last year we proudly opened our Gulf-front Beach House, a 3,000-square-foot, two-story multi-use facility, which is ideal for weddings with 100 or fewer guests. You cannot beat the location directly on the beach and the facility is second to none in Southwest Florida.

Does a resort like The Ritz-Carlton, Naples, also have to cater to the local community to be successful?

Absolutely. The local community has brought us 50 percent of our weddings. They treat the resort as if it is their country club. We enjoy a wonderful mix of local patrons and guests from all over the world, but catering to our local guests is a necessity.

What sort of dining experiences does the resort offer its guests?

We listen closely to our guests’ preferences. A majority of our guests are with us for five or six nights, and it is our responsibility to provide them dining variety – from formal to casual cuisine – by offering eight distinct restaurants between the two resorts. For example, the wine list at The Grill was recognized by Wine Spectator’s Platinum List, and our fine dining restaurant, Artisans, is one of only five AAA five-diamond restaurants in Florida. But our guests may also choose to enjoy a casual, sunset beach experience at Gumbo Limbo.

Does the resort boast a sizeable spa?

We have a tri-level, 50,000-square-foot spa featuring more than 30 treatment rooms, a full range of the latest advances in treatments, fitness and workout equipment, aerobics and Pilates studios, and a spa café.

Can you ever offer your guests too many technological amenities?

In a five-star, five-diamond property, the face-to-face moments between guests and employees are the most important. However, I want to offer my guests whatever they need technology-wise. If a guest wants to sit by the pool with his laptop or PDA, we should provide him with a good signal.

You speak about the business with a good deal of passion. Is it just as exciting for you today as it was when you started out 35 years ago?

I come to work every day trying to beat yesterday’s achievements. I always want to make today better than yesterday for our guests. I don’t believe you should be in this profession if you don’t jump out of bed wanting to get to work. I love this job, and I hate to miss even a day of it.