Meet Brett Loehr | Hotel General Manager

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brett Loehr and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brett, as a parent, what have you done for you children that you feel has had the most significant impact?
I have six children. Obviously all children are different, they have their own strengths and weaknesses. The one trait or characteristic that I believe all my children share, and that I’m incredibly proud of is that they are hard-working. All of them started working when they were young, and learned the value of a dollar.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I was blessed to start working in the lodging industry when I was only 13 years old. I was able to get a summer job at a bed-and-breakfast located in Rehoboth Massachusetts. I knew from the first day that I stepped on the property that I had found my calling. That fall, I was able to secure a housekeeping position at a four star training hotel for Johnson & Wales University. I worked there through high school. I graduated early and started attending Johnson & Wales University when I was only 17 years old. I was able to be part of the opening of a hotel while attending college. I became rooms division manager and gained a lot of valuable experience. I graduated college at 21 years old, moved to Maine, and became part of a wonderful company that provided me with multi property management experience. It was during this time that I had an opportunity to join Linchris Hotels Corporation, and I’ve never looked back. I opened two hotels from the ground up in northern New Hampshire and Vermont. One of them became the number one Comfort Inn and Suites in the world out of 1500 hotels. The other was a Hampton Inn in Littleton New Hampshire, which became a lighthouse award-winning hotel ranking it in the top 2% of Hampton Inns worldwide. At the same time I became responsible for two additional hotels, and was named Vermont Innkeeper of the Year. I gave up my four hotels to relocate to the coast of Georgia, and take on the challenge of reinventing a large hotel with event and conference space. Nine years later, we’ve made a tremendous amount of progress and are wildly excited for our future.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My family and I are blessed to live on Wilmington Island. We are just 10 to 15 minutes away from downtown Savannah or Tybee Island. We often host, friends and family visiting. Tybee Island is famous for its beaches, we love relaxing and rejuvenating. Visitors love going out on the boat and exploring the local uninhabited islands and seeing our amazing dolphin population. On Tybee Island we love to eat at Sundae Café, Bubba Gumbos, Pier 16 and Zunzibar. We also love to take our friends to explore Savannah. We always use an Old Savannah Trolley to get around the city. Exploring River Street, Bay Street and Broughton Street are always highlights. Bonaventure cemetery is unlike any cemetery I’ve ever been to and definitely worth exploring. You can’t go wrong with all the amazing restaurants and bars in Savannah… there is something for everybody.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Almost 28 years ago, I had an interview with Mr. Chris Gistis that would change my life forever. He is the founder and CEO of Linchris Hotel Corporation. He was interviewing me for a general manager position in Augusta Maine. He has since semi-retired, but 27 years later I am still working with the Linchris Hotel Corporation. Over the last 27 years, we have grown from operating 10 hotels to more than 30 across the United States. I love my company and I’m so thankful for the opportunities that they’ve provided me. I currently operate a 208 room hotel on Tybee Island. It’s a small island located just off the coast of Savannah Georgia.

Website: www.hoteltybee.com

Instagram: Instagram.com/hoteltybee/

Linkedin: Linkedin.com/in/brettloehr/

Facebook: Facebook.com/brett.loehr. 7/

Image Credits
I owe the images