We were lucky to catch up with Mychal Milian recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mychal, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

Some of the biggest trends I am seeing in hotels are obviously technology, sustainability, and evolving workforce.

Technology – many of our guests now use their app to check in, and they dont even have to come to the front desk anymore. The keys are now on their phones. Once they get to their rooms, they can log in to their personal netflix account on the tv in the room now. Marriott is currently working on a room that even lets you control your temperature, light, and power from a device or tablet in the room.

Sustainability is an evolving trend as well. Hotels are using solar power to heat up their pools now. Theyre removing plastic from their properties and tying this into to bonus programs of their management to ensure its getting done. At my property, each room has a trash bin and a recycle bin. Our restaurants have meat alternatives, such as the beyond burger.

Our workforce is changing, rapidly. There is hotels working with apps like instawork to get staff as soon as you need it. The employees can cash out right after their shifts and get paid instantly. The gig economy will be a big player for the foreseeable future.

We also have Gen Z entering the workplace now as well, and they have never lived without the internet, so their views around technology will be different than previous generations.

Mychal, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a native of South Florida, where I was born and raised. In 2011, I graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Hospitality Management and Tourism, and recently went back in 2020 during the pandemic and completed my Master’s Degree in Hospitality Management. My hospitality career began in 2010, when I joined Economos Properties as Food and Beverage Supervisor at the 263 room Courtyard by Marriott Miami Beach Oceanfront, the historic Cadillac Hotel. I’ve held multiple Front Office Manager positions for brands such as Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Hotels, SLS Hotels, and the historic Raleigh Hotel Miami Beach. Mychal has also task forced in iconic properties such as Doubletree Times Square, the Park Lane Hotel New York, and The Redbury Hollywood.

In 2017, I became the Director of Rooms for the popular 100-room Standard Spa Miami Beach. I later transitioned to other Director of Rooms positions at reputable hotels like the Conrad Miami and the COMO Metropolitan Miami Beach. In 2020, I was honored by Florida International University with the 2020 Hospitality Rooms Division Rising Star by the Chaplin School of Hospitality.

In 2021, I then re-joined Economos Properties as the Opening General Manager of the AC Hotel Fort Lauderdale Airport, and Director of Operations for the entire hotel complex (Marriott Fort Lauderdale Airport & AC Hotel Fort Lauderdale Airport).

As well as my day job, I sit on the Board of Directors for the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association’s Broward Chapter, he is the Chair for the Marriott South Florida Business Council – Serve 360 Broward Chapter, and I am a professor for the hospitality program at Everglades University.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

For me the best way to stay in touch with clients is through social media. Linkedin is my favorite social media personally, because it’s the only social network that I feel brings me a return on investment at least in my line of duty. I can always showcase what we do for our employees, and what activations we are doing at our hotel.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Going through the pandemic in the hospitality industry was the ultimate show of resilience. From laying off an entire hotel, closing it down, staying in the hotel while closed down, rehiring, and reopening. This was the most draining, emotionally and physically, tenure in my career.

Florida obviously stayed open for the most part, so we were dealing with influx of travelers from all over the state and the country. Dade County had one of the highest positivity rates at the time.

I had to figure out how to keep my staff safe, and the rest of my guests.

We implemented everything recommended by the CDC and our local government. We had to separate staff members, by shifts and days to ensure no one risked infecting another.

It was very methodical, and especially very stressful.

The government was giving out the stimulus payments at the time, so the challenge to find staff was very hard as well, because people were making enough money where they didnt have to work at the time, or they were too scared to come into work.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://marriott.com/fllmp
• Instagram: 1ina_milian
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1inaMILIAN
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mychalmilian
• Other: http://marriott.com/fllac