Gary Sabbagh, General Manager, Hyatt Place Jacksonville St Johns Town Center

In an interview with Invest:, Gary Sabbagh, general manager of Hyatt Place Jacksonville St. Johns Town Center, talked about the importance of technological features such as digital check-ins to improve guest experience, how Hyatt’s rewards program has made its hotels more attractive to a diverse client base, and how competition has become a challenge in the local market.

What have been some of the most important achievements of the Hyatt Place Jacksonville St. Johns Town Center hotel?

We underwent a transition of ownership in the last two years, from Concord Hospitality to Schulte Hospitality. One of the biggest accomplishments in that process is the fact that most of my senior management team has stayed the same since the opening. Additionally, the hotel’s market performance has been great. We have eight other competing hotels, but this property has seen growth yearly for the past several years while some of the market has declined. 

What role does digital hospitality play in driving revenue to the Hyatt Place Jacksonville St. Johns Town Center?

Digital advertising and digital media help drive bookings to the hotel. Over the past couple of years, a lot of brands have used their apps to help guests experience the property. Things like digital check-in prior to arrival are now available. Moreover, guests now get much more information before they even arrive at the destination, whether that is email blasts or pop-ups on their apps with reminders of their travels. They also get the digital check-in prior to the experience, so they know what the property has and what the local market has to offer. 

What are some of the longer-lasting changes that can be expected in the hospitality industry going forward?

The biggest changes will be related to technology, whether that is tangible technology on the properties or AI. We need to see what role artificial intelligence plays in the guest experience in terms of what it will do for guests when they are on the property. Additionally, some of the meetings have changed; we now have hybrid meetings that we would never have seen in previous times. We have made investments in technology, such as video cameras for streaming smaller meetings across a bigger platform. 

How is Hyatt leveraging its marketing and sales team to increase demand in Jacksonville?

We have the Hyatt Global team helping us really get into the feeder cities where we do not have the manpower or the ability to put feet on the ground. We are also working with major airlines, such as American Airlines, to bring people through the front door. 

What are some of the key differentiators that help Hyatt Place Jacksonville St. Johns Town Center stand out from other hotels in the Greater Jacksonville area?

Hyatt has found a place within the market. The company’s rewards program has been a big part of that, and improvements have made the program much more attractive to everybody. Hyatt has really enticed its guests with the rewards program.

How does your hotel differentiate itself from other Hyatt hotels?

The typical Hyatt Place has a much smaller footprint and does not have a lot of meeting space. On the other hand, the Hyatt Regency brand has some properties like ours as well as some of those amenities. The Hyatt Regency is for the larger groups and larger venues whereas the Hyatt Place is for smaller groups. In our case, the property has 3,000 square feet of meeting space on the inside of the building and another 3,000 square feet on the outside of the building as well as a couple of boardrooms and a restaurant area.

What are the most important challenges that Hyatt Place Jacksonville St. Johns Town Center has encountered?

Competition. There has been a lot more competition coming to the market. Hyatt does not have the number of brands that a lot of the bigger hotel brands like Marriott and Hilton have. Whereas those hotels have more of a diverse clientele, we must try to steal that and change our strategies based upon what is in our backyard. 

What kind of amenities does the hotel offer to enhance guest experience?

We have a gallery on the property that offers 24-hour food service, including breakfast, lunch and dinner. Our property also has a beautiful pool area that is almost like a spa as well as the back deck, which is a 3,200-square-foot patio area that overlooks a beautiful 100-acre lake with beautiful sunsets.

Additionally, in terms of our location, the St. Johns Town Center is a huge outdoor mall that includes stores such as Nordstrom, J. Crew, Men’s Wearhouse, Target, and Costco. We also have 200 restaurants within a three-mile radius, so it is a huge culinary area. It feels like a downtown market that is not in the downtown area. 

What facilities or services does the hotel provide for business meetings, conferences, and special events?

We have three boardrooms on the property, 3,200 square feet of banquet space, and we do all our catering in-house thanks to our amazing executive chef. We also offer fax and coffee services, and we have hybrid cameras as well as other AV equipment that allow us to stream meetings. 

What sustainability initiatives has Hyatt Place implemented to reduce its environmental footprint?

One of the biggest things that the brand has done recently was to start providing bulk-use amenities in the rooms, such as shower gels, shampoos, and things like that. It has also implemented a recycling program at the property. We are also using some smaller, local vendors instead of big players that create more pollution.

What is the strategy of Hyatt Place St. Johns Town Center to use guests’ feedback to improve services and ensure satisfaction?

The brand sends out surveys to every guest, which is probably the biggest factor. Nevertheless, my team also watches online venues such as TripAdvisor, expedia.com, and Booking.com to see what guests are saying, which allows us to identify trends. That affects not only the hotel’s capital expenditures, but also some of the human resource expenditures.

What are some of the upcoming plans or developments for Hyatt Place, Jacksonville St. Johns Town Center?

We will be doing some soft renovations over the next year or so. We are getting to the point where there will be some major renovations because of the cycle of the business.