Special Report: Real Estate Magnate Shares Secrets to his Success

Orlando, Fla.—“Take good care of your employees and they’ll take care of you” is a well-known adage, but one that Harris Rosen, president & COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts, Florida’s largest independent hotel company, takes to heart. Rosen operates a medical center for the employees of his seven Orlando-area hotels—an innovative idea that fosters employee loyalty while also saving money.

“In this business, where you’re serving others, employees have to feel their best,” Rosen noted. “Our philosophy has always been to treat our associates with great kindness.”

Rosen shared his cost-effective management strategies with attendees at Multi-Housing World, which is being held at his newest property, the one-year-old Rosen Shingle Creek Resort.

Rosen keeps a close watch on his properties, inspecting each one once a month. “It’s important to let your people know you care about your properties,” he said.

To find out what’s really going on, Rosen also schedules a lunch once a week with hourly associates in a certain department in one of his hotels. “You can’t find out the truth from behind a desk,” he noted.

Rosen has embraced “green” strategies, such as replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents, tinting windows to reduce heat absorption, installing light sensors and water-saving devices. He expects annual savings to be $500,000.

“The nice thing about green is that you don’t necessarily have to be an [ardent] environmentalist,” Rosen said. “There is a direct connection between green and profits or losses; I believe, the greener, the more profitable.”

Any regrets over the years? None, he said. “Even incredibly stupid decisions were valuable,” Rosen said. “I learned to think through things differently.” He also pointed out that he had to sacrifice to achieve his goals but “if you have a passion for something, you’ll put in the effort required.”

Rosen earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1961 from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, and then served three years in the United States Army as an officer in Germany and South Korea. He began his career in sales in New York City at the prestigious Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, where his father had also worked.

Eventually, Rosen joined the Disney Co. in California as director of hotel planning, and then moved to Orlando when the company began work on Disney World. After parting ways with Disney, he became his own boss, buying the 256-room Quality Inn on International Drive in 1974.

With Rosen Shingle Creek, the company now owns more than 6,300 guest rooms in central Florida, approximately six percent of the area's total rooms.

A few years ago, he donated land and provided funding to build the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management.

By Teresa O’Dea Hein, Managing Editor