Michael Glennie: Resorting to Excellence
Ready to celebrate a decade as president of the Boca Raton Resort and Club, Michael Glennie’s clipped British accent starts to soften slightly when he describes his baby, “the most profitable non-gaming resort in the country.”And his cool, continental urbanity turns all but bubbly when he talks about the home runs that keep on coming in the resort’s 70th year. This ace hotelier may have “been there-done it” elsewhere — the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, Lincoln Hotels in Washington, D.C., and Rockresorts all over the Caribbean — but Glennie still gets a rush when he anticipates a new way to mix the resort’s history and tradition with the expectations of today’s sophisticated travelers. With their record season the winter of 1996, he isn’t missing the learning curve by much.
On any given day, Glennie presides over a fiefdom as grand as any in the world — determined to keep the playing field anything but level; rather, competitive and compelling. Since he chooses to resort to excellence, and is responsible for the resort’s financial, operational and marketing achievements, his staff must satisfy those standards in a challenging environment: the physical property of two hotels; a dizzying array of amenities spread over three locations on 356 acres; multiple menus for dining and venues for entertaining; a retail village; the expectations of private club members; the weekly programming of their 350-plus activities; and superior, personalized customer service on all fronts.
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He devotes considerable effort to the latter, offering a decidedly international mix of 1,850 employees opportunities for staff-development programs, literacy classes and wellness seminars. His commitment to cross-cultural understanding and respect led to receiving the Silver Medallion Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
Glennie’s management methods are modeled beyond the resort, where internal and external monitoring lead to expert quality control. “Every time we entertain a ‘mystery guest’ auditor, I get a report about an inch thick that describes every single interaction with an employee that occurred during their stay.”
“Big Brother” Glennie monitors industry standards as well — “noticing what some of the top equity clubs are doing.” So he knew when it was time to add hydro-grid clay tennis courts, which are systematically moisturized from underground for optimum texture.
And noting opportunities to spruce up the bottom line, he began reclaiming most of the resort’s retail operations about five years ago. Recruiting buyers from the best in the industry, and merchandising an extensive logo line, he took profits on a $5 million annual spree.
His concept for the Premier Club is financially sound for the resort and more attractive for members than many leading equity clubs in the area. Joining costs $30,000, but the fee is refundable, and members don’t end up paying assessments for capital improvements over the years. Popularity of the fee structure, top-shelf amenities and appealing programming have led to another discussion about temporarily closing out memberships.
The member profile varies but includes people who live in gated communities, some of them two-career families, busy with a variety of demands on their time. At the resort, they meet and socialize with others who appreciate the variety of programming that saves them time and money: whether it’s tickets for a sporting or cultural event, a tee time, an educational class or just time out for a massage.
“Memberships aren’t unlimited, of course, and we’ve been very successful. There’s so much new wealth moving here and joining the club . . . we closed it off once before, and we’re almost at that point again.”
Glennie is anxious to complete the expansion of meeting and conference areas, anticipating significant growth in the demand for banquet and catering business.
“People need to book events one year out, which we’ll be able to do with larger facilities. Until now, we’ve had to turn away business.”
Having a full house may soothe others in the industry, but then, not everyone in the industry has the proverbial catbird seat for a vantage point. From where Glennie sees things, he runs an historic property that’s been world-famous for seven decades, couldn’t be reproduced anywhere, has a magical heritage and the brightest of futures. Tourism is globally warming and steadily heats up Palm Beach County, where he runs the largest hotel. He has room to expand his auxiliary businesses, increase revenue and still offer summer packages that boost off-season occupancy.
Glennie, 45, was born in East Africa and educated in England, where he studied hotel and catering administration at the University of Surrey. He also attended Vieux Bois Hotel and Restaurant School in Geneva, Switzerland.
He’s a past director of the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce and is a trustee for the Boca Raton Historical Society.
He and his wife, Dianne, and daughters Hayley and Allison live in Boca Raton.