Much like the company for which he serves as CEO/president, hotel industry veteran Rob Smith pivoted from what he originally planned to do with his career.
“I went to school to be an accountant, and I worked in a hotel in accounting,” he said. “But I realized it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I’m a people person, and when I was in accounting, I think there were six people in the office I worked with, and I just I liked getting out of there and talking with people.”
His GM at the time, Dave Johnson, who would go on to found Aimbridge, suggested he try something else in the industry.
Smith recalled, “He said to me, ‘You know what, Rob, you don’t belong in accounting. You belong in the front of the house. You’re a people person.’ I just quickly took to it once I got to the other side of the business.”
Johnson suggested he go into an operations program “and I never looked back,” said Smith.
His hospitality career took off quickly. By the age of 26, he secured his first GM role, marking the start of his journey in managing hotels and resorts. Over the next several years, he would continue to build his experience, primarily in the resort sector, eventually expanding his expertise to include running hotels, resorts and casinos in the Caribbean.
“I spent 20 years in the Caribbean, both running hotels and resorts, as well as working on the broader tourism efforts for Aruba,” Smith said. “I worked in Jamaica for a period. I helped build a water park at Rose Hall while managing the hotel. I also ran a resort in Vieques, Puerto Rico, and worked at El Conquistador and Las Casitas. I spent time in St. Thomas at the Sugar Bay property as well.”
His experiences in the Caribbean were crucial in shaping his deep understanding of hospitality management. “In my role in Aruba, I had the opportunity to work on just about every island,” he said. “So, I’m very market savvy on most of the Caribbean.”
Despite his success in the Caribbean, Smith eventually decided to move his family back to the U.S.
“My wife is from Aruba, and so I had to twist her arm and move our four kids back to the States,” he said with a laugh. “But I knew that if I was going to build a career where I wanted to be, I needed to get back stateside.”
This marked the beginning of a new chapter for Smith, as he transitioned to the third-party hospitality sector in 2012. Before his role at Stonebridge Companies, he reunited with Johnson, serving as president of Ambridge’s full-service luxury resort division for 12 years, where he helped manage and grow the company’s portfolio.
Looking back on his career, he credits much of his success to a mix of adaptability, hard work and the mentorship he received along the way.
“Sometimes, the best career choices come when you’re willing to pivot and embrace something completely new,” he said.
