Podcast
Podcast
Episode 8: Hospitality from the Heart with ETC Hotels
One of California’s most iconic hotel collections sets the standard for long-term, luxury hospitality and stands as a masterclass in what it takes to build a truly beloved brand.
From a beautiful penthouse at Hotel Casa del Mar, I sat down with Charlie Lopez-Quintana, the Vice President and Managing Director of ETC Hotels. As the waves of the Pacific gently crashed on the picturesque Santa Monica beach outside our window, I reflected on my connection with this special hotel. Not only was ETC—comprising two flagship properties, Hotel Casa del Mar and Shutters on the Beach—one of AZDS’s very first customers, it’s also where the rehearsal dinner of my wedding was held. Needless to say, my nostalgia with the location set the stage for a wonderful conversation with Charlie about his personal journey in hospitality, the culture and legacy of ETC Hotels and how the properties responded to the Palisade fires earlier this year.
It’s no surprise to learn that ETC, which stands for Edward Thomas Collection, is a third-generation family hospitality business. The value placed on a positive company culture has paved the way for true luxury hospitality service in everything else. Employee retention is extraordinarily high, with many staff members serving for decades. Guests return to familiar faces and a genuine sense of “home”. Both Casa and Shutters are known for their timeless elegance, consistently high service standards and long-tenured, passionate staff.
“We want guests to feel like they’re coming home, not just checking in. That’s what keeps them coming back for decades.”
Charlie’s background is symbiotic with the company he works for. A seasoned hotelier with nearly 15 years at Ritz-Carlton, Charlie traces his hospitality roots back to his family’s restaurant in northern Spain. His grandmother, a chef and restauranteur, taught him early on that no detail is too small – lessons that continue to shape his approach to service today.
The seamless alignment between ownership and operation is what makes ETC Hotels so distinct. Unlike many hotel groups where the operator and owner have different visions, ETC benefits from having a unified direction. It’s a beautiful demonstration of trust, with everyone from Edward and Thomas Slatkin (owners of the collection), to the general managers and bellhops “rowing in the same direction”. The recent redesign of the Shutters lobby is a perfect example. Though Charlie admits to having initial reservations, guest reactions have been overwhelmingly positive, proving that great design evolves while honoring its roots.
Santa Monica as a destination offers a complete urban resort experience, and Shutters and Casa are the only two hotels directly on the beach. They stand as pillars of the community, and responded in kind to the devastating Palisade fires in January of this year. Luckily, neither of the properties were damaged and in fact, there was no fire damage to the city of Santa Monica as a whole. But proximity to Palisades made it a very scary experience. Both hotels hosted evacuees from the fires, some of them for over three months, and offered room rates at a 50% discount, along with discounted food and beverage, dry cleaning and laundry services. Charlie says that one of the most rewarding moments of his career has been receiving letters from such guests, thanking him for the level of care and comfort the staff provided during their time of need.
We ended our conversation with LTI’s signature rapid fire questions. For personal travel, Charlie is counting down the days until a very special trip through Spain and Italy to celebrate his dad’s 80th birthday. Beginning at the end of June, they will be traveling to Barcelona and Costa Brava for the summer solstice. Charlie and his wife will then go to the Amalfi Coast, Naples, Capri, Sorrento, and then to Menorca, perhaps the least known island of the Balearic Islands, finally finishing in Valencia for his father’s birthday bash. (I know who I’m calling when I plan my next trip to Spain and the Mediterranean!) When reminiscing about the glamour of travel in the past, Charlie remarks on wanting to fully luxuriate in an experience, whether that’s a long dinner or the special vacation you anticipated for months leading up to it. And lastly, when thinking about future innovation, Charlie would like to see hoteliers and restauranteurs return to simplicity. How to deliver simplicity at the highest level of quality? For Charlie, that is the embodiment of luxury and is something we should all be aspiring to.
“I think something that new customers are looking for…something that is simple, but that simplicity makes it unique.”
Thank you Charlie for joining me on this episode of Luxury Travel Innovators, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Youtube.
