Joe Lavin ’75
The Story
Early Life
Joe was born in Boston Mass and lived most of his early years in the Metro area, graduating from Wellesley High School in 1971.
From the outset, it was obvious that he had the makings of being a Hotelie.
Why the Cornell Hotel School?
Joe’s father, also Joe, was educated as an engineer and evolved to a career in sales. A gadabout in Boston construction circles, he was well known for entertaining his clients at various local restaurants. He knew the managers and owners and enjoyed taking family out to dinner around town. Son Joe got the back-of-the-house tours and met the people behind the scenes. It seemed like an attractive career to be in the business of making people happy.
When it became time to consider colleges, the Cornell SHA was at the top of the list.
From the infamous freshman “Pig Book”
He recalls,
“We traveled to Ithaca and did the tour of the school; the ambassador (a role also fulfilled by my daughter, Allie ‘07 years later) was quite the charmer and had Mom all jazzed up about the Hotel School—I was too.
I think I was a bit tepid in the interview (parents joined in those days) and when we came out into the hall after, my Dad said, “Well, you sure flunked that interview.”
But I think what pulled me through was my answer to the question “If you don’t get into Cornell, what other hotel schools are you looking at?” I said, “If I don’t get into the best, I won’t go to hotel school—it’s Cornell or nothing.”
Off to Cornell
Now at “the Best,” Joe wanted to make “the best” of his college experience. Not a “Turbo Hotelie,” he was nonetheless a “Turbo Cornellian,” which was an early indication of how he strove to be a leader and make an impact. Organizations in which he was active include:
- Beta Theta Pi Fraternity: Vice President, Rush Chairman, Steward
- The Majura Nolanda “Social Society” (The Mummies): President
- WVBR: Hockey Reporter
- Student Management Corporation (buying co-op for Fraternities): Board of Directors
- Cornell Concert Commission
- Cornell Senate (one of two Hotelie reps)
- Cornell Hockey Fans Association: Vice President
Of course, this level of extra-curricular activity was not conducive to high academic performance but let the record show that he did graduate on time.
Joe reviving the Mummy at the Colgate game in 1974
First Job
1975 was not great year to graduate into the Hotel Industry but Joe got a little luck when he was recommended as a “Sleeper” by faculty member and Beta Theta Pi advisor, Jack Tewey. Western International (now Westin) hired Joe into their regional sales office in New York City.
The best thing about his stint in NYC was meeting his now wife of 49 years, Jill.
But there was a challenge ahead. After 2 years in sales, WIH thought operations would be better fit and transferred Joe to the Saint Francis Hotel in San Francisco one week after they got engaged.
Wedding November 1977
St. Francis San Francisco
At the St Francis Joe was set up to be the prototype for a new WIH training program. He was to spend a month or so in the various departments to learn the big picture of the business and develop into a GM someday (presumably). After completing the training program, he was promoted to Assistant Manager, a rite of passage that is a must for any budding GM. His 4 years of experience with WIH helped shape his understanding of the Industry and led to his next opportunity.
At the Historic St Francis
Laventhol & Horwath San Francisco
The next chapter, in 1979 was a real career shift. He joined Laventhol & Horwath, the leading consulting firm in hospitality at the time. The San Francisco MAS (Management Advisory Services) group at L&H was 90% Cornell Hotelies. When he became president of the Northern California Chapter of the Cornell Hotel Society, he had ample exposure to the active L&H Hotelies. The networking paid off and they hired him in what proved to be the pivotal move in his career.
He learned a lot about hotel feasibility while traveling all over the West researching markets. He had found his niche; looking at and helping to shape the future.
The Move to Marriott and DC
But about 3 years later, Marriott approached him about a job in Hotel Development Planning. L&H was a feeder to Marriott and many of the people in the department eventually evolved to senior positions in the company or in the industry. Joe was thrilled to get this opportunity.
Working for Marriott in its “formative” years was a great experience as Joe was literally surrounded by top executive talent. The Feasibility group was embedded with many of the leading executives in the company like Steve Bollenbach (future Hilton CEO), Matt Hart (another future Hilton CEO), John Dasburg (future CEO of Northwest Airlines and Burger King), Gary Wilson (future CFO of Disney). It was also a haven for Hotelies. During the 1982-84 stretch he helped to create and manage a team that included a plethora of Hotelies, many of whom remain close friends today.
The group was particularly proud of being a major piece of the rollout of the first Courtyards by Marriott; the company’s initial foray into segmentation.
The Move to Quality International
But then in 1984 another Hotelie became the catalyst for a change. Joe recalled, ”Fred Mosser ’68 called and said, “I have been promoted and have to replace myself—let’s have lunch.” At the lunch, Joe was subjected to the persuasion of the industry Icon Bob Hazard who said, “You come here and you can do anything you want—no one will get in the way—the sky is the limit for you!”
He was at Quality (renamed Choice) for 13 years in several roles. The
original position was VP of Development, then SVP when Mosser went to run
Europe. When the company reorganized around brands, he was named SVP of New Products which included managing Choice’s newer brands and with
the role of introducing more. This included overseeing Strategic
Planning and Partner Services (external vending relationships).
During his era at Choice the company grew from the original 400 hotels to over 4,000 and Joe was made a corporate officer.
Joe with Bob Hazard and Jerry Petitt
Back to Marriott
In 1997, feeling like it was time for a change, Joe called Steve Weisz ’72 (and fellow Hall of Famer), who was Chief Marketing Officer for Marriott at the time. He inquired about possible opportunities there. Steve said they were looking for a franchise executive to help take Marriott forward into a more aggressive and strategic program. Joe was hired to be SVP of Limited-Service Franchising. His boss and mentor inside the company was another Hotelie, Todd Clist ’66, President of North America lodging. Putting together a great team, they were able to achieve meteoric growth and profitability while gaining respect for the franchise business within the company.
State of Franchising address at the Marriott CFRST conference in 1999
Hotelies at the Marriott CFRST Conference In San Francisco 1998
Joe with Bill Marriott receiving his diploma as part of the Millenium Class of the Marriott Executive Development Program
One initiative that Joe was most proud of was the creation of SpringHill Suites. He brought the idea of a mini-suite brand to Todd Clist as a way to compete in that burgeoning niche and provide an alternative to the franchisees in the Courtyard market segment. That brand was foreseeably becoming saturated, and the company did not want to lose ground against others active in the segment. Clist gave full endorsement to the idea and put Joe in charge of pulling a team together to get it done. After an exhaustive, yet efficient analysis, the new brand was launched in 1998. Today there are some 600 SpringHill Suites open.
ExecuStay
In 2001, Marriott purchased one of the large corporate housing companies, ExecuStay. Joe was tapped to replace the outgoing CEO. The company had its own HQs in the DC Metro area, and it needed an “entrepreneurial Marriott guy” to run it. He inherited a challenged business which was struggling under the weight of risky leases and the impact of 9/11 on travel. The strategy became to evolve from a real estate intensive, managed model to a franchising format. This was accomplished during a 3-year period into 2005 wherein 35 managed markets were converted to a much more financially advantageous, low risk franchise model. It was time to do something else.
The Entrepreneur Era Begins
Joe always wanted to own his own hotel—he got the bug by being around so many successful franchisees and thought “Why not me?”
The Hotel That Never Was
Joe’s first step as an entrepreneur was a stumble. He and Pete Plamondon ’81 hatched the idea of a Marriott-branded hotel on the Ithaca Waterfront on Inlet Island. Ithaca had long wanted to have the city-owned site next to the Boatyard Grill developed into a productive property. They won the RFP and spent many months negotiating with the City for a feasible price. They arrived at a price, but the deal had to be approved by the Common Council. A 5-hour special hearing ensued with the net of it being that the deal was not approved.
Although they could have continued to pursue the project, such was the local political atmosphere at the time that Joe and Pete decided to abandon the venture. The site remains vacant 20 years later.
The Norwich Inn
Simultaneously with the Ithaca effort, Joe was in the process of acquiring the historic Norwich Inn, Norwich Vermont. It was a full-service country inn with its own on-site brewery (featuring Jasper Murdock Ales), located about a mile from Dartmouth College on the other side of the Connecticut River in Hanover, New Hampshire. Why this property? His son, Tyler went to Dartmouth as an undergrad and Joe and Jill were regulars at the Inn. He bought the 27-room property in 2006 and soon began work on an expansion up to 40 rooms, which opened in the middle the Great Recession, 2009-10.
Said Joe, “My whole career I was a champion of new, branded, limited-service hotels in markets that were friendly to quality development. So what did I do? I bought a 200 year-old, independent, full-service hotel in a town that is resistant to change. Go figure!”
Nonetheless, the Lavins managed to make a success of the venture and still own the Inn today.
Joe was active in the community, serving as Chairman of the Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce.
Cornell Women’s Hockey Team post Dartmouth game meal in 2008 with co-sponsor the late Rick Hayes ’75
The Norwich Inn has hosted the Cornell Lacrosse Team for its post Dartmouth game meal on many occasions
Cornell Stuff
Joe has always believed that paying it forward is a way to recognize the benefits he has enjoyed as a student and alum. “Helping future generations ensures the Hotel School brand will remain pre-eminent. Moreover, it’s really fun!”
Joe’s past and some still ongoing activities include:
- CHS President 2002
- Executive in Residence
- Entrepreneur in Residence
- Chairman of the Cornell Hotel Society Foundation
- MMH Leadership Development Program
- Pillsbury Institute Advisory Board
- Adjunct Faculty, teaching Franchising in the Hospitality Industry (2007-12)
MMH LDP Coaches 2018
CHS European 2002 Meeting with fellow HOF inductee Jeanne Sander
Joe is Chair of the annual Spawn Golf Weekend with mostly Hotelies–now in its 33rd year
The Hotel That Is
Joe and Bill Minnock ’79 MBA ’83 (fellow Hall of Famer) hooked up to front the acquisition of La Tourelle Inn & Spa, closing on March 1, 2024. There are 37 investors involved of which 28 are Cornellians (26 Hotelies).
They have undertaken significant infrastructural and operational improvements in an ever-evolving journey to eventual success.
Joe and Bill with investors at La Tourelle hosted CHS event during HEC
The Family
Joe and Jill, his wife of 49 years, are proud of their Hotelie Children, Allie ’07 and Tyler MMH ’10.
Allie ’07
Father-son duo (Tyler MMH ’10) at the MMH LDP 2021
Enjoying the 5 Grandkids in Stone Harbor NJ
Hotelie For Life
Joe’s final thoughts:
“When I hear the expression, “Hotelie for Life,” I know that it is a term that resonates with me. It means a lifelong commitment to engagement through and with the Hotel School. It means leadership, innovation, mentorship, networking, recruiting, financial support and friendship.
Not a day goes by when I don’t touch the SHA in some fashion. Whether it be through either of my children, Allie ’07 or Tyler MMH ’10, a CHS event, the CHS Foundation Board, as an Entrepreneur in Residence, MMH Student Mentor or just hanging out with my Hotelie friends.
Every job I ever had was through some connection with a Hotelie or the School. I have made it a point to give back by recommending prospective students while mentoring students and grads as they move up in their careers (and hired quite few along the way).
The philosophy of Hotelie for Life in our students and grads is what sets us apart, not only from other hospitality programs, but any business school, anywhere. We must do whatever we can to preserve, protect and defend this culture.”
