Cristina Velez, general manager of the Hampton Inn & Suites Rockville Centre on New York’s Long Island, was named one of Hotel Management Magazine’s GMs to Watch in November. She earned the recognition by seeing her hotel through numerous challenges—and for being a steady rock for her team in tumultuous times.
Born in the Dominican Republic, Velez came to the United States as a teenager and went to work for Modiani of New York in New York City’s garment district, helping designers select fabrics for their projects and working with purchasing experts from fashion magazines to select clothes for upcoming shoots. The experience, she said, prepared her for a career in hospitality management. “You’ve got to make sure the customer is satisfied and make sure that they are happy, because if they are happy they will come back,” she recalled.
By 2003 she realized that she wanted to trade urban intensity for the suburbs of Long Island. Seeking a job, she interviewed for a position at the then-upcoming Hilton Garden Inn in Westbury, N.Y. Despite her lack of experience, she entered the industry as a housekeeper at the new property, and was promoted to executive housekeeper two weeks later.
A year later, she transferred to the Hampton Inn in the same role, and was quickly promoted to assistant general manager at the property. Since she already had experience with Hilton, the transition was fairly smooth. “The biggest challenge was getting to know everyone here and working with everyone one-on-one to make sure that everybody had the tools to perform their jobs.” She took over as GM in 2008 and has remained at the hotel since.
Velez credits her rapid rise to her “never say no” mentality and willingness to help anyone who needs assistance. “I find solutions,” she said. “I see opportunities.” As GM of the hotel for 13 years, she has encouraged her teams to follow the same path. “It's always an opportunity. Don't see it as a problem; it’s an opportunity to learn to serve and to do greater.”
Managing Through a Crisis
Over her years managing the hotel, Velez has learned how to keep a property up and running in difficult times. When Hurricane Sandy hit the region in 2012, she spent nine days straight at the hotel, sleeping on the floor of her office. When members of her team heard that she needed help, they walked for miles to get to the hotel and offer support. “That's the type of team that I have,” she said. “That's what we have created in this place.”
That kind of support extends to the broader community: During that storm, the hotel did not lose power, and a nearby family came by to ask if they could use a computer to submit a high school senior’s college application. “They were not even staying here, but I was like, ‘Here’s my computer. Just do it.’” Not only did the student get into college, she later got into law school—although the pandemic forced her to study from home. Six years later, Velez stepped up again, letting her young neighbor study and even take the bar exam from the hotel. Velez was one of the first people the student contacted to say that she had passed the bar and was now a lawyer—an accomplishment she can at least partially credit to Velez’s support.
When Hilton announced its new sanitizing protocols to combat COVID-19, Velez gathered everyone who worked at the hotel to train them and make sure they understood how to operate safely. The training has continued with weekly meetings to make sure everyone on the team understands not only how serious the pandemic is, but “what we need to do to make sure that everybody's safe.” While hotels in New York City are reporting occupancy rates between 20 and 30 percent, she added, her Long Island hotel has maintained 56 percent occupancy.
“It has been a challenge and a beautiful journey,” Velez said of her 16 years at the hotel. “We have gone through a lot in this place and we, as a team, can overcome everything, anything that comes to us.”
Cristina Velez’s...
Advice to GMs:
“Never give up. ... You're supposed to always keep going and keep doing the right thing. Keep doing what you love the most. I feel like [with] hospitality, you have to love this.”
Biggest Challenge
“Having major construction [in 2017]. That was the biggest challenge, I think, because we had to make sure that everybody was satisfied, but at the same time [I was] being a project manager myself and being a GM, doing both things.”
Solution
“We had a whole team meeting [with the construction team] every week and made sure that they understood about hospitality.”
Secrets to Success
Listen: “When you listen to your team, you can get the greatest ideas. It’s happened to me many, many times. I gained so many good ideas from [my team] just because I listened.”
Follow up: “You don't do [anything] with just listening if you don't follow up and do the right thing.”
Keep a positive mind: “There’s always a possibility of making things happen and making a difference.”