HE “BUILDS ’EM, WE BOOK ’EM, THEN COOK ’EM,” says Vito Palmietto, corporate director of food and beverage and procurement for John Q. Hammons Hotels and Resorts. And, with 72 properties and 4 million square feet of meeting space in his portfolio, John Q. Hammons is still building. Palmietto thinks people just feel and see something different when entering a John Q. Hammons property. And that difference attracts and keeps top-notch people at an evergrowing hotel company.

Originally referred to as “Heartland” hotels, that’s an old tag and not literally true because John Q. Hammons properties span the country, coast to coast. But the character and values that John Q. Hammons says the company was built on reflect what is fundamental to the American culture—or Heartland. To name a few: honesty, hard work, individualism, vision, competitive spirit, innovation— and the ability to provide something people need and will pay for.

Palmietto grew up just 30 miles from the Culinary Institute of America, located in Hyde Park, New York. A subliminal part of his childhood, his family drove by the school frequently, and he knew he wanted to go there. After starting out as a dishwasher and short order cook, he graduated from the CIA and went to work at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, New York. He has always worked in hotels because, “There’s constantly something happening, new challenges daily, and nothing stays the same ... not like a restaurant with one menu,” Palmietto says.

After having worked for Marriott, Wyndham, and Davidson Hotel Company, Palmietto joined John Q. Hammons Hotels in 1995 as a food and beverage director “because there were so many exciting things on the horizon at John Q. Hammons.” He joined the corporate office team in 2001.

It has always been clear to Palmietto that banquet and catering is the company’s bread and butter. That’s where they shine. Not that he isn’t committed to having excellent restaurants offering superior service within the properties, but destination dining is not a primary goal.

“Our restaurant philosophy is to offer menu items that are proven American fare presented with a twist. We believe the traveler looks for things that are comfortable, good American food executed flawlessly. We offer a BLT, for example, but with six ounces of smoked turkey and candied pepper bacon. Our hamburgers are grilled on a flat-top griddle the old-fashioned way.

“It’s a real juggling act,” says Palmietto. “We have 11 different flags in the portfolio. Overseeing them all, I’m more of a consultant to the field, looking at the big picture, creating programs that encompass the entire company. The programs, such as purchasing specifications, inventory control, and food and beverage promotions, must run the gamut of every brand ... because every brand has its own standards.”

Although restaurant chefs are encouraged to create the basics at their very best, chefs can go wild in banquet and catering, Palmietto emphasizes. “Our business model is to focus on catering and exhibition space,” says Palmietto. “And the goal is to offer an à la carte experience.

“In banquet and catering, for example,” says Palmietto, “using small plates and platters has given a whole new feel to buffets in our banquet areas. We use less product, and our waste is down tremendously ... Marriott has been a market leader in all of this.

“As far as menus, it’s all about customizing. Our menus are used mainly as a guideline for our customers.

“People come in and say, ‘I have this much money and want to know what you can do for me.’ Upselling is, of course, a goal ... the catering manager does a great job of getting people in to see the hotel. But we prefer to have the chef make suggestions when it comes to menu development. Instead of offering a carving station with just plain turkey, he may suggest one that is mesquite smoked and stuffed with andouille sausage. Presented from a chef, it’s 10 times more impressive and effective.

“We also utilize a closing room, which is the chef’s office converted to a private sanctuary with audiovisuals for presentation,” says Palmietto. “This is for our top clients who are trying to decide between us and our competition in the area. It is a very effective way of showing our clients that we appreciate their business.”

His vision of the future: “I believe menus will go by the wayside. Everything will become customized. Hell, I think we are already there,” Palmietto says.

A CROSS-COUNTRY SAMPLING
Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village, St. Augustine, Florida
Jim Wynn, who has a culinary background, has been with the company for three years. As assistant GM and food and beverage director of the Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village, he tells why he came to work there.

“They immediately acknowledged how important food and beverage is. Since I’ve been with the company, I’ve seen the best chefs, the best food and beverage ever. And, even with 16 years prior experience, I’ve learned a lot,” Wynn says.

Wynn points out that, “Even though we answer to two companies, Marriott and John Q. Hammons, there is still a lot of room for creativity. Yet, it is a carbon copy, standardized operation. There are consistent controls at each property ... we have to work the format. For the company to maintain its integrity, there is no other way to do it,” Wynn says.

Located between Jacksonville and St. Augustine, “this property was a little slow to take off,” says Wynn. Now in the midst of a $10 million renovation headed by Carver & Associates, “the new Asian Colonial influences make it look and feel like it is in a big city.”

The hotel has 40,000 square feet of banquet and catering space, plus it does all of the catering for the offsite World Golf Hall of Fame, adding another 70,000 square feet of space.

What kind of trends does Wynn see?

“There are fewer hosted bar functions, and more cash bars ... this year there are half the number of hosted bars from what we’ve had,” says Wynn. But an increase in wine consumption has driven wine sales way up. Specialty martini bars are popular, with Grey Goose and Ketel One being in big demand. Although there are few requests for alcohol-free beverages, Wynn says some new nonalcoholic beers, like amber and lagers, are being offered.

This Renaissance has received some renown for hosting Indian weddings. Typically elaborate four-day events for about 400 guests, they can be quite lucrative. At one such event, an Indian chef was brought in from Orlando, bringing along a tandoor oven and a wok, which were set up on the hotel’s dock. As part of the marriage service, the groom boarded a live elephant, and the bride was presented in a “cage.” The customer, by the way, provided the props.

In situations like this, the hotel still provides all of the service, buffet set-ups, china, etc., and there is a per head fee that is very close to what is charged if preparing all of the food.

“When we observed that the [visiting] chef was in trouble, our executive chef had to come in and assist,” says Wynn. “That taught us that our chef must be involved from the beginning.”

Another spectacular banquet and catering event was created for an “all-white” wedding. The hotel, closed to the public for four days, was transformed into a white wonderland; furniture, carpeting, even window treatments were white. For a dinner for 400, they used 5 tables of 80. To pull it off, a task force was created by asking other properties to provide chefs, engineers, and 40 management-level staffers.

Three months ago, they set up an event in the parking lot when hosting a large grocery company event. Dubbed the Jimmy Buffet night, all guests dressed the part. And a cooking contest between company vendors was judged by hotel chefs.

It’s not an unusual day for the hotel to host seven events in seven places: a golf tournament, five parties, an offsite Hall of Fame event, etc.

“Our customers recognize and appreciate what we do here,” says Wynn. In fact, he points out that most of the awards from Marriott and Hilton are John Q. Hammons properties.

Marriott University Park Hotel, Tucson, Arizona
“The sun, moon, and stars aligned to create the perfect hotel here,” says Tom Quatrochi, assistant GM and food and beverage director at the Marriott University Park Hotel in Tucson.

With a unique background, he was once a drummer for a rock band that backed up Jethro Tull on a cross-country tour. “But I learned about truly good service when kicking around Playboy Clubs for seven years. They did it right, and it was a good training ground,” says Quatrochi. After several years with Sheraton, the Davidson Hotel Company, and Starwood, he moved to Tucson to work for John Q. Hammons.

“This is one of those rare properties where you can turn down business because you have so much, where you can be very selective,” says Quatrochi. Perfectly fitting the ideal John Q. Hammons model, the property is located at the main gate of the University of Arizona.

“John Q. Hammons primarily looks for markets that will become significant down the line, where he perceives development will be taking place,” reminds Quatrochi. “Once a city grows big enough for a convention center, nine out of ten times he already has the land ... and the city offers him incentives. And it’s all settled with a handshake.

“That’s the culture that permeates the organization. And there is remarkable longevity, with many managers having been here over 20 years,” says Quatrochi. “Servers are more of a challenge because we employ mostly students who leave after a few years.”

But the service starts with the bellstaff, even before entering the lobby (which, like most John Q. Hammons properties, is distinguished by an atrium and water feature). “It’s apparent whether someone will make it in the first 10 days. [To make it] one must be aggressively hospitable.”

This is a relatively small property with about 12,000 square feet of meeting space. Space is flexible, and used in a variety of configurations, including the atrium, lounge (holds 30), and patio (holds up to 40).

“Our events range from intimate dinners of 10 up to 650 people. About 75 percent of the time, there is an event during the day, 62 percent in the evening,” Quatrochi says.

“As far as banquet and catering, à la minute is big at Marriott, as are handcrafted cocktails using the freshest ingredients and served the way the inventor [of the cocktail] had in mind. Customers also pay a premium for popular drinks like flavored vodka with Red Bull.

“Marriott’s catering template is tremendous, and once we know what customers think they want, it only takes minutes to send them menus from which to select breakfast, breaks, lunch, and dinner,” says Quatrochi. Breaks, for example, range from coffee and a dozen Danish to chocolate and energy breaks, which are becoming more popular.

With a significant Latino population in Tucson, the hotel does a lot of Quinceañeras, coming-out parties for young ladies. Hosting 75 to 500 people, it is often a two-part event with dinner for 250 and a cocktail reception following for 500.

“Here, we see more packaged events and fewer requests for à la carte,” says Quatrochi. “They just want to know what it costs. We are also seeing more smaller, intimate gatherings where patrons spend more for upper-end food and wine. We sell more filet mignon than top sirloin now.

“Customers also want more teas, and we offer awesome flowering teas,” says Quatrochi. “I’m also finding that meeting planners underestimate the number of vegetarians who will attend a meeting, which now number eight to ten out of a hundred. And the chefs are becoming very creative, offering [vegetarian] items like risottos with colorful roasted vegetables, for which we charge as much as other entrées.”

Embassy Suites, Seaside, California
Chris Elser, executive chef at the Embassy Suites, Seaside, California, has been with the company just nine months. This property, located on the Monterey coast, exemplifies a philanthropic attitude supported by John Q. Hammons. For example, the hotel adopted a school in Seaside and over the holidays hosted a dinner for 500 of the children, their siblings, and parents.

Chef Elser is especially enthusiastic about a program they participate in through the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Although this is only being done in their restaurant, he bases all of his seafood menus on the Seafood Watch program (www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp), which indicates what’s endangered, regional guidelines, tools for retailers and restaurants, and much more. He doesn’t use Chilean sea bass, orange roughy, swordfish, and farm-raised salmon for the restaurant, for example. Alternatives include black cod, Barramundi, and sand dabs, which do not further endanger the local wildlife.

“But I do use farm-raised salmon in banquet and catering because of the high cost of wild Alaskan salmon,” Chef Elser says. “There is a huge demand for salmon at banquets.”

Chef Elser comments on the unusual longevity of the staff he inherited. “The lead cook has been here five years, the sous chef twelve, and the banquet manager three. And I get tons of applications.

“The banquet facility here is very well-maintained,” says Chef Elser, “and a Koi pond and 250-gallon saltwater aquarium offer a real sense of place.”

THE DESIGN FACTOR
The “difference” experienced upon entering a John Q. Hammons property has much to do with how the properties look. For starters, almost all are designed with a dramatic atrium lobby. But it doesn’t stop there. Designers, both in-house and independent, play a big role, creating a sense of design that carries through—in spirit and detail— to all departments, including banquet and catering.

Palmietto works with Dallas-based designer Barbara Elliott to create visually appealing, contemporary banquet and catering spaces. Together, they decide upon the visual trends that should be adopted for buffets, furniture for coffee breaks, size and versatility of banquet rooms, tabletop, and lighting.

Is Mr. Hammons involved with this aspect of the hotels? Palmietto laughs. “He is involved with most everything we do.” And he notes that the properties are trendy but still break the mold.

“Hammons is big on the sports bar concept so popular now,” says Palmietto. “But we don’t offer a traditional sports bar because we feel it alienates some of our clientele. The female traveler, for example, is not as comfortable going into a sports bar alone. So ours are designed to consider the needs of women and children.

“Flatscreens may be on the wall but are grouped in a particular area, so if you don’t want to see TV, you don’t have to ... and we don’t decorate with the typical sports bar memorabilia,” says Palmietto. It’s just one example of taking a trendy concept and making it even better.

“His [Mr. Hammons] favorite hotel is always the newest one,” says Elliott, who is responsible for the unique and dramatic look of at least 25 John Q. Hammons properties. She has worked with the company since 1993.

“When people enter the public spaces of these hotels, it is exciting and different. What’s unusual, though, is that this first impression is carried through to the meeting spaces, from preconvene to ballroom spaces, as an extension of the entire hotel.

“Touring a John Q. Hammons property is almost like a museum tour,” Elliott says.

“The newest property, a Renaissance in Glendale, Arizona, has a very definite sense of place. [When designing] I think about people coming from all over the world, and I want them to have an authentic regional experience.

“In Glendale, the entrance is contemporary and edgy. Warm reds, golds, oranges, and purples are carried throughout the lobby, bar, dining room, and meeting areas, even tabletop details. It all melds. Striking geometrically shaped Art Deco light fixtures in red and orange tones enhance the spaces, including the ballroom. In the pre-convene areas, we used huge sepia photographs of local subjects.

“Too often, meeting areas consist of white walls and grey carpeting, but not in a John Q. Hammons property. He recognizes style ... is very intuitive about design. And his properties always have an ‘oh my gosh’ spot. At Glendale, it’s a fabulous art display at the registration area,” Elliott says.

What about cost? “It doesn’t cost a dime more to do it right, to create this powerful sense of design continuity,” Elliott says.

Most everyone who knows or knows about John Q. Hammons has heard the “rabbit story,” an event that Hammons feels changed and directed his life. When he was 12 years old, to make money, he trapped rabbits on the Missouri farm where he grew up. He rose every morning at 6 a.m. to collect them and sold the pelts for a nickel apiece. Then, abruptly, for several mornings he found no rabbits. When he learned that a neighbor was getting there at 5 a.m. to steal his rabbits, he started arriving at 4 a.m. The early bird got the worm, but, most importantly, he took the initiative to solve a problem and, at the same time, gained an important insight. “I learned about honesty,” says Hammons. That, according to him, was a defining moment ... and the result is a group of some of the finest hotels in the United States.