THE SNYDER INN

The Giants got what Sunday’s are generally intended for last week, rest. After back-to-back road games against two of the NFL’s better teams, they’ll have an extra week to prepare for a home game against the Washington Redskins. In theory, the Giants should have the advantage here. But as it’s been incessantly stated, the Giants are generally awful when coming off their bye. They also know that Washington will be ready to play after coming off a big OT victory against Jacksonville the week before.

It’s hard to gauge what kind of team the Redskins are this year. While Clinton Portis was hurt for the first two games, and Mark Brunell was ready to be shipped to the mothball fleet, it looked as though the Redskins were looking at yet another season that failed to live up to the hype. Now after trouncing Houston and beating the bruising Jaguars a week later, the ‘Skins are looking like a team that’s indeed to be reckoned with.

Nevertheless, despite the cottage industry that Daniel Snyder has turned his favorite football team into, when it’s come to winning overall, it’s been a whole different story. To use an everyday analogy, the Washington Redskins are like that poorly located hotel which every city has. One year stands a Howard Johnson’s, the next a Days Inn, and the year after a La Quinta. In other words, lots of new looks but the same old results. Would things be any different for The Snyder Inn?

In 1999 it was The Snyder’s Inn’s turn to see what they could do with this hexed location. The new owner (Daniel Snyder), short in stature but shrewd in nature, has lofty goals and begins to shake things up right away. His first step is to fire the existing manager (Norv Turner). Apparently he’d been there for way too long. The staff was getting complacent; making beds and cleaning toilets with a noticeable lack of joie, not to mention that the hotel was seldom full. Unfortunately it happens to be peak season when this decision is made, and so the market for a new GM is tight. Begrudgingly, Mr. Snyder promotes his Assistant Night Manager (Terry Robiskie) to ride things out, but isn’t encouraging about him being his man for the long haul. Seeing the writing on the wall, Robiskie soon finds greener pastures in Cleveland. Not sure what to do, Mr. Snyder takes a more conventional route, and offers the management of his property to an industry veteran who’s been around the block (Marty Schottenheimer). He’s not the sexiest recruit, but at least Schottenheimer knows what he’s doing. Neither men seemed thrilled with the situation, yet both realize they need each other for the time being. Schottenheimer is known as an old retread who can get a place turned around, but never up to the five star level. He’s also aware that his new boss knows this, and sees that he’s still meeting other potential managers for lunch. For at least the next year or so, Schottenheimer knows he’s got a steady paycheck, but afterwards, well, who knows? Nevertheless, regardless of who’s running the place, Snyder needs to spend money and jazz things up. He decides first to build a modern exercise room (Bruce Smith). Then he goes about building a swimming pool (Deion Sanders). With no limit to what he can spend, he puts in a restaurant that spins (Jeff George); then he installs satellite TV in every room (Dan “Big Daddy” Wilkinson). But where are the guests? Why isn’t the Snyder Inn booked solid three months in advance? Something is still amiss.

So Mr. Snyder realizes his fledgling hotel still needs something else to make it sparkle. No doubt a lot of money has been poured into the place, and people had been taking notice, but what was keeping the Snyder Inn from really taking off? “Ah-ha”, the ambitious young owner thought, it was no longer about bells and whistles, it was about themes and style; an unorthodox way of doing things. Schottenheimer was fine at keeping the books and seeing that the place was clean, but it wasn’t enough to get the staff, or his guests, really exited. While attending a hospitality convention, Mr. Snyder met this hotshot professor from the University of Florida (Steve Spurrier). Apparently, he gave a whizbang presentation that immediately struck a chord with Mr. Snyder. It was all about numbers, big numbers…the kind of numbers that would instantly make the Snyder Inn one of the hottest properties in town. Mr. Snyder had something to prove, and he didn’t like seeing these expensive amenities being underutilized. But Snyder’s ego yearned for more than just proving something to his critics, he wanted to embarrass them as well, and there was no better way of doing it then posting gaudy numbers for everyone to see.

There was only one catch. Steve Spurrier’s theories had never been tested in the real world. While ensconced in the provincial world of academia, he was a star. Some even said he was brilliant, though he never practiced his own work where the going got tough. This posed a huge dilemma for Spurrier, either remain in his cozy little hole in Gainesville, or step beyond his comfort zone to show he was for real. The former gave empty security; the latter, precarious fulfillment. Either way it was a tough call until Mr. Snyder broke out his tattered checkbook.

As he expected, Schottenheimer got his one year managing the Snyder Inn before being let go in favor of a man who was sure to make a big splash no matter what. Snyder, who was no stranger to generating publicity himself, announced a big press conference once Spurrier came to town. He said all the right things, and gave hints about his big plan to turn the Snyder Inn into a stalwart property, though without ever getting specific. At last Daniel Snyder had the guy he really wanted running his place. Happy days were finally on the horizon.

Naturally, things didn’t shoot right out of the gate. But that was OK, Snyder figured the magic lamp just needed some extra rubbing. Spurrier organized various promotions that had worked marvelously in Gainesville, such as Hawaiian luaus, beach volleyball, clambakes and two-for-one Jell-O shots on certain nights. To some extent, he got the locals to stop by once in a while, but what the Snyder Inn desperately needed was full occupancy – overnight guests – to achieve the stratospheric numbers that Spurrier was supposed to bring. It seemed that all Spurrier could do was bring a party atmosphere to a place where people didn’t really come to party. Sure they moved a lot of booze and chicken wings, but the real money was renting rooms to folks with deep pockets -- adults in other words. And after a short while, it was clear that Spurrier’s head was still in the deepest galaxies of the collegiate universe. He was damn expensive to boot.

Once again Snyder was in a pickle. Not only was the Snyder Inn considered the Edsel among local hotels, there was considerable snickering going behind Snyder’s back as well. The gist of the chatter was that the whole is always greater than the sum of the parts, and the fancy, brand name parts that Snyder purchased were grossly overpriced, didn’t fit, and had expired warranties. “He had enough lemons to sink a fleet of barges”, one tradesman said. “But they only made enough lemonade to fill a thimble.” Snyder felt both fleeced and humiliated, but he was smart enough not to fling Spurrier back to the world of tweed and bubbly co-eds; at least not yet. Snyder knew that firing Spurrier too soon would be a huge admission that he hadn’t a clue to what he was doing; which is the last thing in the world he wanted to admit. And since Spurrier was still under contract, and making the sum of a small state’s lotto jackpot, Snyder decided to change things up with a laissez-faire approach. In essence, he was no longer going to be that rich micro-managing owner, instead he was going to let his guys run things their way, have some breathing room…maybe even a little fun. By doing it this way, when Spurrier got fired the following year, it wasn’t by Snyder’s volition, but because Spurrier pushed his head through the noose on his own. Secondly, while letting Spurrier do his little rah-rah thing by himself, Snyder had more time to pull what would be the ultimate coup in his brief history with the Snyder Inn.

Rather than focus so much on the future, Snyder delved into the past. It seemed that distancing himself from the day-to-day operations of the Snyder Inn was doing him some good. He did some research, and went to the library to learn more about the hotel he was struggling to own. At one time, he learned, the location where the Snyder Inn now stood was one of the region’s most prestigious properties, the Cooke Hotel. Adored by his staff, the hotel’s founder, Mr. Jack Kent Cooke, was known as a bit of an eccentric, not to mention a philanderer. However, when it came to running a first class operation, few other owners were ever in his league. It was here where the movie stars, foreign dignitaries and senators stayed. In fact, one of Cooke’s most frequent guests was Bobby Kennedy. So often did the Senator stay at the Cooke Hotel, that after he was assassinated in 1968, Mr. Cooke renamed his main banquet hall the RFK Room. It was in the RFK Room where the hotel’s most glorious memories took place.

Cooke though, didn’t do it all on his own. He was a great judge of character, often hiring solid managers who’d ultimately do even greater things, but there was one particular manager who elevated the Cooke Hotel to the top echelons of the industry (Joe Gibbs). Gibbs was a modest man with a Southern drawl that at first seemed like a misfit for such an established property. Nevertheless, he commanded respect that his reserved manner might otherwise conceal. Despite Gibbs’ illustrious career, he didn’t go without his challenges; showing his resiliency by reaching the pinnacle of success while forging through two labor strikes. In addition, he also had the misfortune of witnessing one of his best employees lose his leg on the job. Perhaps what Gibbs was best remembered for was getting the everyday worker to be as productive as possible. “He had a bunch of these big fat guys working here called ‘The Hogs’,” recalled a former employee. “But after a while those ‘Hogs’ became the backbone of the hotel. They were a hard charging bunch of guys, and everyone else followed suit.” Still though, with all the accolades and adoration Gibbs’ received after twelve years of service, it was time to move on.

While researching, Snyder learned about all the supporting characters that made the Cooke Hotel so special. There was a crazy bartender named Riggins countered by a more sedate concierge named Monk. The poor guy who lost his leg was named Joe. All these different personalities working as one cohesive unit. Snyder thought if he could only get a guy like Gibbs to run his place he’d be set. Then the “eureka” moment struck him, why not try to lure Gibbs himself?

Gibbs however, had left the hotel business all together and was now immersed as a team owner in the world of motor sports. Racing was big business, and watching cars speed around an oval track was far less stressful than running a major hotel. But even if it was an easier lifestyle for Gibbs, Snyder thought, there had to be void from the hotel business that racing just couldn’t fill. Was rubbing elbows with mechanics really as glamorous as schmoozing the Hollywood A-List? Not that the Snyder Inn even catered to the Hollywood G-List, but, well, Gibbs didn’t need to know that right away. In any case, Snyder would keep things open-ended to gauge Gibbs’ interest. If Gibbs still gave Snyder some pushback, Snyder figured he could just buy him off. He was right.

While Gibbs and Snyder secretly hammered out their negotiations, Steve Spurrier started whining about how homesick he was for campus life again. Even the most grizzled alumni were nothing compared to the sharks who stayed at the Snyder Inn. And now of all things, several rooms had become infested with mice. Spurrier tells his boss that if he has to remain in the awful world of accountability for much longer, he just might have a nervous breakdown. “Forget about the contract,” Spurrier pleads. “Just let me go home.” Snyder happily acquiesced, and, just as he planned it, made sure that Spurrier publicly blamed himself for squandering the dream job of working for him. The revolving door spins again.

The announcement of Joe Gibbs returning to where it all began took place on a frigid January morning in 2004. Had the President been shot that same day, it’s doubtful if anyone would have noticed. Of course it was a whole new organization, where the industry had rapidly changed since he stepped down in 1993, in a building that’s completely foreign from the Cooke Hotel. Nevertheless, it was still on the same piece of land, and now he was a far richer man than he ever needed to be. Which made many wonder…what the hell was he doing this for anyway?

Regardless of Gibbs’ motivation, it was pretty clear what Snyder’s was, and that was to tell the rest of the hospitality world to GET OFF MY BACK. Snyder’s attempt to lob a grenade at the naysayers, via Spurrier, only resulted in the same grenade blowing up in his lap. He learned his lesson about gimmicky hires, and now by orchestrating Gibbs’ comeback, Snyder pulled off the recruitment version of D-Day. People were impressed, and more importantly, they shut up. Snyder was finally for real, he hoped.

Since Gibbs came on board, the Snyder Inn has seen a healthy boost in occupancy. Room rates, naturally, have been jacked-up, and there’s now a gift shop where Snyder Inn sweatshirts can be bought for $30.00. Parking which previously was for free, now costs guests an additional $17.50 a day. And for $21.00, one can have a lukewarm cheeseburger sent to their room. For the most part, staying at the Snyder Inn feels no different than paying $36.00 for free-range chicken at a celebrity owned restaurant. Seldom does having one’s wallet siphoned feel so good.

While Gibbs’ presence is still felt throughout the Snyder Inn, he’s relinquished some of the control that he kept in the past. Sales and marketing have been almost entirely delegated to a seasoned professional (Al Saunders), while operations is completely in the hands of another (Gregg Williams). With this management team in place, the Snyder Inn is confident that while increasing profitability they’ll achieve what they’re ultimately striving for, credibility. As for quality control, there are still some consistency issues. Overall satisfaction from the guests isn’t quite where it needs to be yet, and there are some noticeable swoons with the production of certain employees. Job related injuries are also a concern. But all in all, if Snyder’s dream of having a five star property is ever going to be realized, this is the team that’s going to get it done. If not, then it’s time to see the Snyder Inn boast the name of another billionaire with bigger ideas and an even bigger head.