Skift Take
If there were ever someone who truly influenced and mentored an entire generation of hotel leaders, Bill Kimpton would be at the very top of that list.
Earlier this week we published a 60,000 word account of the early days and evolution of the boutique hotel industry in the United States, the Complete Oral History of Boutique Hotels.
The story featured interviews with over two dozen key players, and took us from fledgling brands in San Francisco and New York in the early 1980s to the biggest brands in hospitality in the modern era. We'll be running a series of related stories over the coming weeks.
In compiling the story, a common response we heard from nearly everyone who worked for Bill Kimpton at one time or another was this: he was simply a great boss.
Kimpton, with his hotels, was the pioneer of developing the charming, welcoming boutique hotel. His hotels were the kinds of places where you were always invited in the lobby for an afternoon wine hour. Or where you’d pop into the restaurant regularly, just because it was your favorite local hangout.
And each of those properties, especially the earliest ones, reflected facets of Kimpton’s personality, and his own vision of what hospitality should look and feel like.
Here’s what some of Kimpton’s former employees, as well as his daughter, had to say about the late boutique hotel pioneer.
Laura Kimpton, Bill Kimpton’s daughter and a contemporary artist: In terms of personality, [my dad] had the best charisma. He was very much about hanging out with the housekeepers and different people behind the scenes and letting them do what they want. He was a very personable boss; he didn’t even have a desk.
I also remember his dyslexia, which I also have. I’m an installation artist. I think my dad was an installation artist at heart, too, he just never knew it. He would go and see a space, and then he would “install” the space. He could move things around in his head, and that was his favorite part of the creative process.
Finally, I would just say he was a visionary. He always wanted to be in the hotel business since he was young. He was also a Buddhist meditator, so he ran the hotels from his heart. No one’s been able to repeat it because everybody does it from the mind, no one does it from the heart. He was able to do that and still be personable, loving and completely understand what people need. Kimpton’s always been about being warm, and accepting of everybody.
[caption id="attachment_223654" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Steve Pinetti (left) with Bill Kimpton in 1991. Pinetti worked with Kimpton on the
