Aileen Carreon, VP of sales & marketing at the Edward Thomas Collection of Hotels’ two properties in Santa Monica, Calif.—Shutters on the Beach and Hotel Casa Del Mar—has spent much of her career in the luxury segment of the chain scale, learning how to impress guests at hotels both large and intimate.
Carreon got her first taste of hospitality as a child when her household hosted family gatherings during the holidays. “I felt that hospitality was what I grew up with,” she recalled. After college, she began working at luxury hotels in the Los Angeles area, finding her niche in the sales side of the industry. She spent close to four years at The Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles and another two at the Four Seasons before she was recruited by the Peninsula Beverly Hills, attracted by the opportunity to be part of a smaller brand.
After almost 10 years with the Peninsula in Beverly Hills, Carreon felt the need to spread her wings, as she put it. A Waldorf Astoria was set to open across the street and Carreon was intrigued by the opportunity to open a new hotel. “I thought, ‘How exciting to be [there] from the very beginning,’” she recalled. “I was one of the first to be brought on and make things happen there.”
A year later, she had an opportunity to be the opening director of sales and marketing for the West Hollywood Edition. This time, she wasn’t one of the first to be hired—she was the first hire of all, ahead of the general manager or director of human resources. The brand’s mix of lifestyle and luxury appealed to her, and she spent nearly two years at the hotel. “Most of my time there was while the hotel was under construction,” she added.
A Love for Luxury
“My love for luxury travel really comes down to the guest experience,” Carreon said. “I love that luxury travel is completely bespoke. If a guest can imagine it, a true luxury hotel can deliver it.” That ability to deliver, however, depends on a hotel’s willingness to empower its team. When she was director of sales at the Ritz-Carlton, Carreon learned about the brand’s policy of freeing hotel staff to do whatever they needed to make guests happy and provide a true luxury experience without securing authorization first. “Not being hindered by, say, having to get an approval when a guest asks for something, will allow for that service delivery to be seamless,” she said. “I think that is what sets a luxury hotel apart.”
Carreon has carried that mindset through her career, listening to what guests want and finding ways to make and keep them happy. “I don't believe in prejudgment,” she said. “You take care of the guests, and you approach it as authentically as you can, and I think that that's real luxury.”
After working for years on the edge of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, Carreon joined the Edward Thomas Collection in early 2020, just before the pandemic caused a three-month shutdown of both hotels. Once the property reopened in the summer, the team took steps to remain connected to the local community, sending the recipe for its signature lemon ricotta pancakes out to loyal guests so they could have a taste of the property in their own homes.
The sales and marketing team at the Collection is “sizable,” Carreon said, with just over 30 people overseeing the two hotels. The team works with a range of people and businesses, including group clients, travel agencies and American Express' hotel collections. In addition to the marketing team, the sales side handles the property’s reservations rather than outsourcing the calls. “We believe [in] having someone here in-house that can really speak to the hotel rather than a call center,” she explained, noting that off-site workers in a call center may not necessarily know all the nuances of what is happening at the hotel.
As a leader, Carreon considers herself the coach of a team, and measures her success by what the Collection’s sales team is able to accomplish together. “I'm more goal-driven than competitive,” she said. “Being goal-driven means it's okay if everyone wins.”
Aileen Carreon's...
Advice to Hoteliers
“It's so important to do what you love, and if you are passionate about hospitality or … food and beverage, then this is the place [for you].”
Challenge
Like hotels nationwide, the Edward Thomas Collection faced low occupancies during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. “That's really challenging when you have the responsibility and the obligation to your staff to make sure that we still could keep the lights on.”
Success
As soon as travel began to resume, the Collection’s leadership brought the sales and marketing team back right away. “We were able to reach our clients. We were here for them.”
Secrets to Success
Measure your success based on your team: “It shows the kind of leader that you are.”
Take risks: “Don't be afraid to push boundaries and break the mold a little bit.”
Be resourceful: “Every day, a new hotel opens up somewhere in the world. The secret is to always be inventive and stay relevant.”
Edward Thomas Collection of Hotels
Opening year: 1993 | Number of guestrooms: 327 across two hotels | Owner: Edward Thomas Collection of Hotels | Management Company: Edward Thomas Collection of Hotels