[BU Today] Career Advice from the General Manager of a Luxury Hotel
Alum Nicholas Farina offers career advice
“In our series “Jump-start Your Job Search,” BU Today brings you short interviews with BU alums who are leaders in their fields, such as banking, advertising, tech start-ups, journalism, or nonprofit organizations.
They talk about how they got to be where they are and what they’ve learned from their mistakes. They tell us what they look for when hiring and offer advice for those just embarking on a career.
Nicholas Farina (SHA’08) is general manager of 1 Hotel Central Park, a luxury lodging on New York City’s Avenue of the Americas. With 229 rooms and just one block from Central Park, the hotel markets itself as a place that combines comfort, convenience, and eco-consciousness, with amenities like organic cotton mattresses and sheets, bed headboards made from reclaimed barn wood, and “farm-to-fork” California cuisine.
As GM, Farina must understand every function at the hotel, from revenues to room service, as traveler expectations evolve and employee needs change. His job, he says, is “to manage the direction of the business itself and its future growth through the lenses of our hotel owners, employees, and guests.” Before his current position, he spent a decade in various managerial functions, among them restaurant, meetings and events, group sales, and entire hotels, at several New York hotels.
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BU Today: When did you know you wanted to pursue a career in hotel management?
Farina: I knew that I wanted to have a career in the hospitality world when I was eight years old. My parents let me make roast potatoes on my own for the first time, and I saw the look of enjoyment and gratitude from my family around the table. I am sure that I have romanticized their expressions in the 25 years following that event, but I still experience that same feeling every day when the team I have surrounded myself with works with me on their personal and professional goals. I love and live to take care of others—that is where I find joy and why I’ve chosen my career path.
Read the rest of the Q&A interview on BU Today.