Founded in 1979,
Minneapolis-based Graves Hospitality has developed many hotel properties. In
2003, it moved into the luxury-hotel market, developing and designing Le
Meridien on downtown Minneapolis’s Block E. The hotel was renamed Graves 601
last July.
“You
have to be very sensitive to every minute detail, from thread count of the
sheets to the type of caviar you use to the type of soap you have in the rooms.
The level of expectation is significantly higher with a four-star client. The
further away you get from selling a room, a night’s stay, and get into selling
an experience, the more successful you will be. If you drop the ball in one
area, you destroy the experience. As you ramp up the price for your product, you
also ramp up the expectation.”
