Hospitality Design - May/June 2024 - 37

hdac awards of excellence
DARIUS DAVIE
Cofounder + Creative Director
Groom Guy
The Hospitality Diversity Action Council's (HDAC) Awards
of Excellence honors individuals who are doing exemplary
work in the hospitality fi eld and are working to advance
the industry through the promotion of diversity, equity, and
inclusion. The fourth annual winner is entrepreneur Darius
Davie, cofounder and creative director of Groom Guy.
Raised in New York, the Maryland-based Davie's Groom
Guy venture blends luxury hairstyling with wellness in
hotels. Davie discovered his passion for business at an early
age, and his ambition to become a top men's hairstylist led
him on a global journey to hone his craſt .
Identifying a unique opportunity in the hospitality
wellness sector, he launched Groom Guy (along with
partner and marketing director Matt hew Sears, Davie's
childhood friend), debuting its fi rst physical space in 2020
inside Yours Truly DC Hotel. A second location opened last
year within the V Starr-designed spa at the PGA National
Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida (shown above).
" The essence of our approach lies in the understanding
that wellness is not a one-size-fi ts-all concept, " Davie says.
" We've recognized the importance of personalization,
treating each client's journey as a bespoke creation. "
Describe the ethos of your Groom Guy brand.
Groom Guy's vision is to be the wellness brand of choice
in luxury hospitality by bridging the gap between
traditional wellness and the oſt en-overlooked domain of
men's grooming. Groom Guy carries a fresh perspective of
design: creating havens for the modern guests where every
experience is custom fi t to match personal desire.
Why did you want to set up shop in hotel lobbies?
The genesis was as a pop up [at Yours Truly DC]. Because
of the pandemic, I was seeing the mental health and
wellness of my own clients, and the space for hairdressers,
fall apart. I was able to reposition myself and see that a
pre-vaccine haircut could do so much for a person. We
thought we could cultivate hairdressers into a healing
element. A lot of that starts with our locations. We
understood that the barbershop could be a support line
for the hotel as a whole, and we found ourselves as a new
amenity space.
How did your partnership with the PGA National
Resort come about?
The spa space was already built out by V Starr. We were
able to come in and put our unique spin on it. PGA National
and Yours Truly are very diff erent, but we wanted to [create
spaces] with a timeless feel from a diverse lens.
How do you approach the design of your spaces?
It was a big shiſt when the [hotel] owners saw there
was intentionality in the design. It wasn't just 'Oh, let's
put a couple of chairs and try a barbershop.' With my
background, I've been able to explore and travel the world.
I thought about design in places like South Korea, the West
Coast, and even the Caribbean-all of those pieces started to
play into building out this [fi rst location in Yours Truly DC].
But I also wanted something boutique with customization
and personalization to it because there's a certain level of
intimacy to cutt ing hair. hd
hospitalitydesign.com May/June 2024
037
Photos courtesy of the GROOM GUY
http://www.hospitalitydesign.com
Hospitality Design - May/June 2024

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