Alumni serve up hospitality and more at hotels and resorts around the world.

By Elaine Iandoli

When Andrew Labetti (B.S. ’91) vacationed with his family 30 years ago at a Scottsdale resort in Arizona, ice machine treks and game room adventures were highlights of the trip.

“It was almost like summer camp,” says Labetti, describing all of the free time he had to roam the grounds with siblings and friends. “The memories were great.”

A passion for all things hotel took root during frequent vacations made possible because of his father’s job in the airline industry. Childhood trips to Italy, Spain, and other European destinations stoked his desire to work in the hospitality field.

“You want to do things that make you happy, that bring up great memories,” Labetti says. “Hotels are one of the things that did that in my childhood.”

Decades later, Labetti manages The Benjamin, a four-star, 209-room luxury boutique hotel in New York City, where even details like ice machines remain on his radar screen.

“Every guest experience is so important,” says Labetti. “You emotionally touch every guest who comes through your door. It can make or break you.”

Attention to detail, awareness of new technology, marketing prowess, and a customer-oriented mindset are among the attributes today’s hospitality experts must have, according to Labetti and several NYIT graduates who have leading roles in the industry. The NYIT School of Management’s hospitality management courses and emphasis on connecting with professionals in the field helped build a foundation for their success, they say.

With experience at the Loews New York Hotel, the Omni Berkshire, Hotel Wales, and the Four Seasons New York, Labetti also credits much of his success to paying attention to the people he believes are the “backbone” of the hotel: the housekeeping staff.

n his early days as a housekeeping manager, Labetti says he learned a key lesson: Listen to your employees and give them a voice. One room attendant, in particular, had a lasting impact. He hired the woman, who had no experience in the field, after hearing her story of emigrating from Romania, raising two children alone in America, and needing a job.

“Some general managers couldn’t live a day in her shoes,” he recalls thinking at the time. “I said to myself, ‘That’s who I want to learn from.’ That’s what this industry is all about. The secret is treating everybody the same, regardless of whether they play for the New York Yankees or they escaped communist Romania.”

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