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After exciting start, Renaissance Hotel at International Plaza has settled in

 
Jim Bartholomay, Renaissance Tampa Hotel International Plaza general manager, second from left, leads a staff meeting in the newly decorated lobby area of his hotel. The Renaissance is in the midst of a major renovation.
Jim Bartholomay, Renaissance Tampa Hotel International Plaza general manager, second from left, leads a staff meeting in the newly decorated lobby area of his hotel. The Renaissance is in the midst of a major renovation.
Published April 9, 2015

TAMPA

Forget about the proverbial cloud — even a Category 4 hurricane can have a silver lining. ¶ The Renaissance Hotel at International Plaza opened in August 2004, three days before Hurricane Charley threatened to obliterate much of Pinellas County. As Charley loomed — closely followed by Ivan and Jeanne — waves of evacuees flooded across Tampa Bay and into a brand new hotel that had barely half of its staff in place. ¶ "You can't think up a better scenario to become immersed in the community,'' says general manager Jim Bartholomay. "By the third time, guests were grabbing their own bell carts.''

Thanks to Charley et al, the Renaissance was "wildly successful'' at the start, he adds, and has enjoyed high occupancy rates for much of the time since. Among its repeat guests: Former evacuees who return to celebrate the lack of hurricanes post-2004.

That frenetic opening also fostered a team spirt among employees that lives on and has helped make the Marriott-managed Renaissance a Tampa Bay Times Top Work Place for the third consecutive year.

"This is a lovely place with awesome people,'' says Mirna Martinez Santiago, a supervisor who has been with the hotel since the start and is a member of a "hurricane team'' that stands ready, just in case.

Close to Tampa International Airport, the Renaissance is also steps from Neiman Marcus, dozens of other upscale retailers and the Bay Street esplanade of trendy dining spots.

The hotel itself is home to one of Tampa Bay's top restaurants, Pelagia Trattoria. The award-winning restaurant is a point of pride for Bartholomay, who started his career with Marriott as a banquet chef in New Jersey almost 40 years ago.

Like Bartholomay, many employees — or "ambassadors'' — have benefitted from the ability to move about and rise within a hospitality company that owns and/or manages more than 4,000 hotels worldwide under brands that include Ritz-Carlton, Residence Inn and Fairfield Inn.

Debbie Torres used to work at a Courtyard Marriott in Boston where she was promoted from laundry assistant to making up rooms. After moving to Florida she joined the staff of the Renaissance where she is now a "stylist supervisor'' — employees who clean rooms are called stylists, not housekeepers — and hopes to keep moving up the ladder.

"I like the opportunity to grow in the company,'' she says. "I want to learn as much as I can in this department."

In 2006, Carlos Acevedo left his native Puerto Rico and began working for a firm that handled valet parking at the Renaissance. Although his English then was "terrible,'' he says, his willingness to help the bell hops and front desk staff impressed hotel managers.

"I guess they saw the potential in me and saw that I was always up for anything."

Acevedo hired on to the hotel's loss prevention team but spent enough time hanging around the maintenance department that he was offered a job there. Now an engineer, he was voted the hotel's 2014 "Ambassador of the Year'' by fellow employees and rewarded with a $275 bonus.

"All the training I needed, I got here,'' Acevedo says. "If you're like a sponge, this is the best place.''

The Renaissance has an active mentoring program and offers up to $2,000 tuition reimbursement for employment-related courses. There is also a 24-hour employee assistance line.

In addition to the usual benefits of health insurance and 401(k) retirement plans, employees get discounts at Marriott restaurants, gift shops and the online My Company Store, where they can buy everything from beds to TV sets to theater tickets.

But the perk that might make you wish you'd gone into the hospitality industry is the deep discount that employees and their immediate families receive on room rates at Marriott hotels — ranging from $35 to just $84 at a full-service domestic hotel or resort.

Dining room assistant Michael McClinton joined Marriott a year ago, first working at another Renaissance property, St. Petersburg's Vinoy Resort & Golf Club, before moving across the bay to be closer to his Tampa home. He already has availed himself of several stays in Marriott hotels, including the Renaissance SeaWorld and Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention in the Orlando area.

Jake Johnson, a front desk clerk, joined the Renaissance after moving from a JW Marriott hotel in New Orleans. His sister used Johnson's employee discount on a vacation to Peru, while his mother — who has "five children spread to the winds'' — has enjoyed stays in San Diego and Louisiana.

But as good as the perks are, Johnson says he most appreciates working for a company that values employee input. When he started at the Renaissance, he noticed it had no system for flagging reservations that required advance payment. He suggested a simple fix that has since been implemented.

In its 11 years, the Renaissance has come a long way, not only from its hectic, hurricane-driven opening but also a steep decline during the recession, when Bartholomay considered closing four of the eight floors to save electricity.

Now, the hotel — owned by Ashford Hospitality Prime and thrice-honored as the best performer in the Renaissance chain — is in the midst of a major renovation that will replace the bright Mediterranean colors with a more subdued palette of silver and cream.

The staff, which hit a peak of 220 shortly after opening, is now stabilized.

"When you open a hotel, you overstaff,'' Bartholomay says. "This was Marriott's first time with this owner, who was a very important investor, and we wanted to make sure we were doing it right. By the time we hit around March 2005, it was time to rein it back.''

Besides, Bartholomay notes, "the less people you have, the closer everybody is to the customer.''

Contact Susan Taylor Martin at smartin@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8642. Follow @susanskate