In the latest edition of our Getting to Know You features, we speak to Matt Stray – Regional Vice President of Operations here at Interstate Europe Hotels & Resorts – about his role and responsibilities.

Tell us about your role and what it involves?

In my role as Regional Vice President of Operations, I oversee the performance of numerous hotels, restaurants and health clubs across the UK. I’m accountable for their financial and operational performance and act as the main point of contact with each property’s owner.

I’ve been in the role since 2015 and I really enjoy it. My role includes working closely with the various hotel brands and the general managers of each property to ensure every hotel performs to its best ability, maximising customer satisfaction and, of course, investment return for the owner.

What does a typical day in your role involve?

I am an early riser so I usually wake up around 5am and, if I’m near a gym, I’ll have a workout before settling down to review the critical tasks for the day.

Then, I am busy visiting our hotels, meeting with owners and carrying out commercial reviews, as well as keeping in contact with my regional team throughout the day through conference calls and various other touch points.

Every day is fast-paced and exciting, and that’s why I love it!

What’s your favourite part of your role?

My favourite part of my job is making a commercial difference to a business – I get a real buzz from it.

In my role I get to work with so many different people, from single hotel owners to PLC senior management teams, as well as different brands, independents and different sized properties, too, so it can be a challenging and complex task. However, seeing the hard earned results of our carefully compiled commercial plans come to fruition is a great feeling and one that makes me proud to be a part of Interstate.

What, in your opinion, makes Interstate stand out from the crowd?

Interstate is a very unique company. While the scale of our business provides many upsides for our clients, providing leverage and contacts, our business feels very friendly and accessible at every level.

As the UK’s only exclusively third-party hotel management company, our focus is firmly fixed on our clients’ properties – we have none of our own – and so we pride ourselves on providing outstanding service for each and every hotel we work with, giving world class commercial and operational support to make our clients’ businesses a success.