Luxury Hospitality Recruitment Agency

Cornerstone Hospitality is a luxury hospitality recruitment agency for palace hotels, fine dining, luxury resorts and private clubs. It places the leaders who protect a luxury standard. Our search is led by people who lived that standard first.

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A luxury hospitality recruitment agency works to a standard that most search firms never have to meet. Some leaders run a palace hotel, a three-star kitchen, a members-only club or an ultra-luxury resort. Indeed, guests judge them on details felt long before anyone can name them. Placing those leaders calls for a recruiter who reads the difference between competence and mastery. Furthermore, that recruiter protects a house style that has taken decades to build. Cornerstone Hospitality brings that understanding to every luxury mandate it accepts.

Cornerstone Hospitality is the Hospitality, Travel and Leisure practice of Cornerstone International Group. Our consultants came into search after full careers as operators inside the industry. Most arrived from groups such as Mandarin Oriental, Shangri-La, Hyatt, Marriott and Hilton. They have stood on the floor of a luxury property during a full house. Similarly, they have settled a demanding guest at midnight. Ultimately, they lived the standard they now recruit for. That lived experience is what a luxury house is really buying when it engages a specialist agency.

Offices worldwide
Countries
Years operating
Titles and tenure on the surface with the deeper standard in the layers beneath

What the luxury standard asks of a leader

Luxury is a promise kept quietly, again and again, without visible effort. A leader in this world holds a property to that promise. Meanwhile, the market pushes on cost, on staffing and on speed. The finest of them protect the guest experience as if it were personal. Moreover, they read a room before anyone speaks. Finally, they carry real cultural fluency. In one evening they may host a family from the Gulf, a couple from Tokyo and a founder from California. Reading those qualities in a candidate is the work of a recruiter who has lived the standard. By contrast, studying it from the outside is not enough.

A senior leader reading the room with international guests in a luxury hotel atrium

Luxury is not a category. It is a standard somebody has to hold every day.

Guests notice the moment it slips, and they rarely say so. They simply do not return.

Recruiting for a luxury hotel?

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Two luxury hospitality executives in conversation in a hotel lounge

Judging a leader against a standard you can only feel

A luxury property is not run to a checklist. It runs on judgment about a hundred small things a day, and the difference between very good and genuinely exceptional is almost impossible to describe in a job specification. Our consultants have held those standards themselves in luxury groups, which is why the assessment tests for judgment and instinct rather than for a list of previous titles.

Why a luxury hospitality recruitment agency places better leaders

Three qualities separate a search built for luxury from a general hospitality search, and none of them can be improvised. The first is discretion. A search for the head of an ultra-luxury group is often confidential on both sides. Moreover, the leaders worth approaching expect the same care they show their own guests. The second is cultural fluency. Luxury travels across borders. The right general manager for a resort in the Maldives may today be running a palace hotel in Europe. Consequently, the search has to move confidently across regions. The third is a genuine feel for guest experience. Specifically, it is the instinct to tell a leader who delivers polish from one who delivers warmth. Furthermore, it means matching that reading to the house.

Discretion, cultural fluency and guest instinct overlapping at a luxury search

What sets the search apart

Discretion at every stage, cultural fluency across regions, and a true feel for guest experience. Depth a general recruiter cannot borrow, backed by a placement guarantee of six to twelve months.

The luxury hospitality and roles we serve

The practice covers the full breadth of the luxury hospitality world. That includes ultra-luxury and palace hotels, fine dining restaurants and chef-led groups. Similarly, it covers luxury resorts and spas, private members clubs, and luxury cruise and yachting brands. Finally, it reaches the guest-experience-obsessed independents that set the pace for everyone else. The mandates run from property leadership such as general managers and hotel managers. Similarly, they cover directors of rooms, food and beverage and guest experience. Furthermore, they reach the corporate and regional roles that carry a luxury portfolio. Finally, they include the board seats that guard the brand. Wherever a luxury standard is at stake in a hire, one path is safer. Ultimately, a specialist agency leads to the right leader.

HOW IT RUNS

How a luxury appointment is made

STEP 1

We define the standard, not the title

We establish what your standard actually is before we describe the role to anyone.

STEP 2

We approach quietly

Leaders holding a standard elsewhere are rarely looking. They are reached privately, by a peer.

STEP 3

We test for judgment

Structured assessment and first-hand references from people who watched them hold the line under pressure.

How an engagement with a luxury hospitality recruitment agency works

An engagement begins with a quiet conversation about the house, the role and the standard the hire has to protect. From that we agree the brief, the profile and a discreet search plan. We work the global market through the Cornerstone International Group partner network. Subsequently, we present a calibrated shortlist rather than a stack of resumes. Finally, we guide the client through interviews, assessment and a considered offer. After the placement we stay close through the onboarding period. Indeed, a leader who settles well is the whole point of a luxury search. Fees follow the work in fair stages. Moreover, every search carries our placement guarantee of six to twelve months.

Related: Owners weighing how to run a discreet senior hire can read our guide to engaging a hospitality headhunter. Meanwhile, our overview of the specialist firms serving the industry covers what to look for in a partner. The full picture of our work sits on the Executive and Board Search practice page.

“Florian played a pivotal role in my career transition within the hospitality industry.”

Stefan Savic

Hospitality Professional

“Over the years I have worked with Florian and he has continually delivered.”

Daniel Aylmer

Chief Executive Officer

Looking for a leader who will protect your luxury standard, not just fill the seat?

Tell us about the house and the role. We will tell you honestly whether we are the right agency for it.

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Frequently asked questions about our luxury hospitality recruitment agency

A luxury hospitality recruitment agency understands the standard a luxury house lives by and recruits to protect it. It reads the difference between competence and mastery. Moreover, it handles every approach with discretion. Finally, it reaches leaders who are quietly running the finest properties in the world. A general recruiter rarely carries that depth.

The practice serves ultra-luxury and palace hotels, plus fine dining and chef-led restaurant groups. Similarly, it serves luxury resorts and spas, private members clubs, and luxury cruise and yachting brands. The common thread is a standard the hire has to protect.

Discretion is built into every stage. We run sensitive searches quietly on both sides, and handle every approach with care. Moreover, we share names only when the fit is real. Leaders at this level expect nothing less.

Yes. Cornerstone Hospitality works within the Cornerstone International Group partner network. In turn, that network supports cross-border search and connects luxury houses and leaders across regions. Cultural fluency is part of the everyday work.

Our consultants came into search from inside the industry. Most arrived after full careers as operators with groups such as Mandarin Oriental, Shangri-La, Hyatt, Marriott and Hilton. The conversation with a candidate runs peer to peer. Moreover, the read on a leader comes from experience rather than a competency grid.

Our searches are backed by a guarantee that runs from six to twelve months. The risk of a senior luxury hire should not sit entirely with the client. So the agency stands behind the placement it makes.

Fees are project based and set out in stages against the work of the search. Moreover, we agree them clearly before an engagement begins. We are glad to walk through exactly how that works on an introductory call.