Focus the Guest Experience with a Focus on Excellence

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Rock Row Medical Campus

In order to break the mold to create experiences that stand above and beyond the market, it is important to not accept the status quo. It is about bringing excellence to every part of your business and an intense focus to the customer. To help inspire our employees and healthcare leaders in the region, in November, Waterstone welcomed Horst Schulze to Boston.

Horst Schulze is a well-known figure in the hospitality industry, known for his focus on excellence and delivering exceptional guest experiences. Horst is the founder of the Capella Hotel Group and was formerly the president and CEO of the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company, where he helped establish the brand's reputation for luxury and exceptional service. 

Horst Schulze has always believed in the importance of paying attention to the smallest details and going above and beyond to meet the needs of guests. He has implemented extensive training programs for employees and a rigorous inspection process to ensure that every aspect of a guest's stay meets the highest standards. Schulze's dedication to excellence has helped him to create some of the most successful and highly regarded hotels in the world. His approach has been widely admired and has influenced many other professionals in the industry. 

Below is a short video from that visit and our first Healthcare Roundtable.

Waterstone Is Now a Talent-Based Organization

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Waterstone Is Now A Talent Based Organization (1)

In 2022, Waterstone made a commitment to its talent, bringing in new leadership to guide the company to blue ocean opportunities in retail and healthcare. We welcomed as our chief operating officer Gerard van Grinsven, a transformational leader who opened 72 hotels with Ritz Carlton before becoming the CEO of Henry Ford Hospital and then the Cancer Treatments Centers of America (CTCA).

To supercharge the company’s growth within healthcare, Waterstone added Ben Gray as chief administration officer and James Jago as chief investment officer. Ben is a seasoned professional with more than 15 years of experience in real estate, private equity and corporate transactions. He was most recently a senior partner at Quartz Lake Capital and previously managing director/general counsel at Bentall Greek Oak. James brings more than 17 years of diverse real estate and corporate transactional experience, most recently as a partner at Pebb Capital. Prior to Pebb, James worked at private equity fund manager Green Courte Partners in Chicago.

These three have brought a renewed energy to the company and we are extremely excited about their positive impact on Waterstone.

Under Gerard’s leadership, Waterstone has focused intently on the customer and the guest experience, adopting best practices from the hospitality sector. Recognizing that our employees are our most important customers, Waterstone engaged Talent Plus to help identify, develop, and retain top talent.

Talent Plus helps organizations create a culture of development and continuous learning, providing tools and resources to help employees grow and reach their full potential. The Talent Plus Method is a system used by several of the top hospitality brands such as Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, The Capella Group, as well as healthcare systems. With the support of Talent Plus, Waterstone is focused on creating an environment where employees can thrive by investing in their natural talents and putting them in positions to succeed.

Through this process, we have assembled a talented team, including Steve Yuen, director of marketing for Rock Row, Jennifer Aubin-Murphy and Lynda Adams to drive the guest experience at our flagship properties in New Hampshire and Maine.