Meet HALA Member Jeff Ragonese

Jeff Ragonese

General Manager at Hilton Los Angeles Airport
HALA Member

Can you talk a little bit about your career journey, moving from DC to CA and current position as General Manager at the Hilton Los Angeles Airport?

I started my career in security and was lucky enough to have a great general manager who believed in me and moved me throughout the hotel in order to learn other disciplines. Most of my career was spent in the East Coast, specifically in the Washington, DC area. As I discussed my “next steps” with my boss, an opportunity to move to LA and lead the largest airport hotel Hilton has was very appealing. We have great ownership, incredible team members and of course, you can’t beat the weather. Throughout my career, I always felt it was important to have a “yes, and” mentality and to always treat everyone with tremendous respect, as equals. 

How has the hospitality industry evolved during your career, and what challenges and opportunities have you encountered along the way?

When I first joined Hospitality with the Marcus corporation and then Hyatt, the industry was growing at record paces. It was very exciting, you were truly rewarded for good performance and there was a very strong sense of comradery within the divisions and hotel in general. Guests expectations were also not as high then as they are now. Guests demand more and are keenly aware of the competitors in our industry.  This challenge becomes much more strenuous for team members who really do work very hard each and every day to provide the best service possible, but ensuring guest satisfaction is a priority to ensure they keep coming back. As for challenges in the future, I would say that it is an aging employee base and trying to recruit young adults to do the difficult work in order to replace our workforce will be a major challenge. 

Can you talk about the importance of HALA as an advocate for the industry?

Nothing is accomplished alone and having an organization like HALA speak to the needs of our industry, whether it be advocating for more convention business, safety of our team members, ensuring fair and equitable financial laws and regulations are in place to ensure both the business and team members are protected is critical. 

What advice would you give to aspiring hospitality professionals who aim to reach leadership positions in the industry and make an impact?

I would encourage anyone to do more. When I say do more, I don’t necessarily mean hours worked, but encourage them to do their very best at what they are doing and remember that THEY ARE IN CHARGE OF THEIR BRANDING and, they have to ask for opportunity. 

Looking ahead, what do you envision for the future of the hospitality industry in Los Angeles?

It’s a challenging landscape right now. We need more convention business and better imaging of Los Angeles as a whole to ensure outside businesses think of LA as a favorable place to do business. We also need to make sure that we are truly understanding the impacts of small businesses that surround many of our hotels since some of the regulations and policies around small business is not necessarily favorable, which, in the end, negatively impacts our business.