From here I watch the world go by
Saturday, February 26, 2005 • Posted by jcb
Two months down and what have we accomplished you might wonder. Taking a look around the site one might think it’s sandy beaches, coconuts and lovely ladies lyin in the sun, but I can assure you, the sand always finds its way into the vaseline. So lest our State side worldwide fans think our lives have melted into puddles of bacchanalian swill, let’s focus. What the hell are we doing down here? Aside from the obvious … living in a foreign country, learning a new language, adjusting to a completely alien culture, building a business from scratch in an brutally competitive industry with little experience… deep breath, deep breath. [reaches for brown paper bag] Seriously people, its happening. After two months our limitada is FINALLY up and running. Bring on the next set of hurdles. We had an amazing experience this week in Buzios. What started out as an informal meeting with the Senior VP of hotel development for an international hotel chain,
turned into our first pitch session. Inside of five minutes Raphael was down on our idea. Why Praia Brava? What’s over there? Stay closer to town. (Praia Brava is 2 KM away from the Centro) He took us to a few plots he thought were suitable. “See guys this is a location, this what you want.” Then Witzy and I tag teamed him. Off the top turnbuckle I laid the idea out for him. Without getting too specific here, we want to build more than just a hotel. We want to build a sense of time and place, a place that when you walk in, you feel the electricity in the air. If you have ever walked into the Delano you know what I mean. The wheels began turning and then we took him to our location at Praia Brava. After dragging our reluctant quarry to the top of the hill huffing and puffing, Witzy belts out in classic Witzy candor “See Raphael… Now THIS is a location.”
It was amazing, right there with that comment we flipped him. His face lit up like the Fourth of July. By the end he could see our vision and he was more excited than we were. Still we’re a long way off, but its progress.
In other news I think I have grey hair in my beard.. and its not even fully grown in yet. Grill.
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I was a fighter, I could turn on a thread. Now I stand accused of the things I've said.