Hospitality Design - July 2015 - 149

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"It taught me the importance of the images
the viewer sees," he says. "When you're
editing a TV show, one edit taken out of
context doesn't mean a lot. But thousands of
edits create a show. It's the same thing here."
He finally joined the company in 1980-
first as a sales representative, cold calling
potential customers and in 1982, he became
director of development. Two years later,
he built his first hotel, the Loews Ventana
Canyon Resort in Tucson. He then went on
to become president, president and CEO,
chairman and CEO, and now chairman.
It's currently a dynamic growth period
for the 23-hotel brand-in the last three

1. Loews Ventana
Canyon Resort in
Tucson, the first
property Tisch built,
is now undergoing a
renovation by Gensler.

3. A view of the Simeone
Deary Design Groupdesigned Apothecary
Bar & Lounge at the
Loews Minneapolis-
which comprises a bar,
restaurant, library, and
chef's table.

2. The Rottet Studiodesigned lobby at the
recently renovated
Loews Regency New
York.

4. A two-story stone
fireplace is a highlight
of the lobby in the
Loews Chicago, also
completed by SDDG.

years the company has bought six hotels,
built two from the ground up, and has
two under construction. Plus, Loews has
renovated a few existing properties and
recently launched new brand the OE
Collection, a management-based platform to
support existing or newly built independent
hotels. "Through my conversations over the
years with my cousins, with whom I run
Loews Corporation, we realized our guests,
coworkers, and the communities where
we operate have a favorable view of our
company," he explains. "That became the
impetus to consciously add to the number of
properties we own and/or operate."
Of note are the debut of the $100 million
redo of the Loews Regency New York by
Rottet Studio and Meyer Davis Studio and
the opening of a new 400-room property in
downtown Chicago with interiors crafted by
SDDG. The Chicago firm is also currently
handling the renovation of Loews' recently
acquired properties at O'Hare ("It is nice for
the two Chicago hotels to have a dialogue
in a design sense," says Tisch) and in
Minneapolis; the redo of existing properties
in Miami, the Royal Pacific at Universal
Orlando, and Nashville; and the new Loews
Sapphire Falls Resort at Universal Orlando.
And Rottet will handle the conversion of
the Mandarin Oriental San Francisco to a
Loews Regency. It's the refresh by Gensler
of the Loews Ventana, however, that is close
to his heart-"Thirty years later, I am saying
thank you to the resort," he says.
For each of the properties, which are
meant to be unique and locally informed,
Tisch is involved every step of the way, and
the design process is all about collaboration
for him. "There is a constant back-and-forth
in terms of ideas," he says. And design is
something he's always been fascinated by.
"It goes back to my mother-her best friend
was an interior designer," he says, and it's
been reinforced crafting his houses with
his style icon wife, Lizzie. His pet peeves?
Brown, paisley, and uncomfortable chairs
with the wrong arm heights. "Usually there
are chairs stacked up in the office so we
can sit in them," Tisch says. He encourages
pushing the envelope but is always conscious
of the bottom line. "There are sometimes
challenging conversations because I
understand the story the designers are
trying to tell, but we as a company are very
strict about our budgets."
Which is where his greatest lesson
learned may be most valuable. "What has
become apparent to me over the years is
how important the ability of listening is over
talking," he says. hd

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