Name: Pascha B.
Position: General Manager
Hotel: W – Union Square
Dream destination: I don’t have one single one. I can tell you that Mexico is on my bucket list at the very top.
Most used emoji at work: 🙂 Keep on smiling
Some people spend their careers trying to find the perfect role. Pascha has spent his looking for the next challenge.
That mindset has taken him from luxury hotels in Barcelona to Shanghai and now to New York City, where he leads W New York – Union Square at a defining moment in the hotel’s history. But ask him about his career, and he doesn’t talk much about titles. He talks about curiosity. About saying yes to opportunities that push him outside his comfort zone. About learning from different cultures, different brands, and different ways of thinking.
It’s a philosophy that’s shaped the way he leads today: stay open, keep learning, and never get too comfortable
What made the opportunity to lead W New York – Union Square stand out?
The hotel, the city, the brand, and the moment. W New York – Union Square is an iconic property with a remarkable history and a very distinctive place in the New York landscape. After years in Europe and Asia, I was also excited by the opportunity to lead in New York and bring the perspective I developed working across different cultures and luxury environments. Also, the hotel had also just undergone a significant renovation, and it felt like a unique opportunity to help lead the property and the brand into a new era.
What excites me most is the opportunity to bring the transformation to life through the people and the experience. A renovation can change a hotel’s physical environment, but it is the team that ultimately defines how the hotel feels.
Luxury hospitality is constantly evolving. How do you create experiences that feel fresh while staying true to a brand??
I believe the best luxury experiences are created with intent. Every detail and interaction should have a reason for being there, whether it is rooted in the brand, designed around the guest, or connected to the local culture. For me, staying true to a brand doesn’t mean protecting every tradition. It means understanding the intent behind the brand and bringing that to life in ways that feel relevant today. At W, that means creating experiences that are bold, energetic, culturally connected, and unexpected, while still feeling unmistakably W.
How do you bring that philosophy to life in the guest experience?
Today’s luxury guest is very good at recognizing when something has been done simply because it is expected. I think the details that resonate are the ones that feel considered and purposeful. Sometimes that means adding something special; sometimes it means taking something away.
I ask our teams to ask themselves a simple question: Why are we doing this? If we have a compelling answer, we are probably creating something with meaning. If we don’t, we should challenge whether it belongs there at all.
Some leaders may assume large organizations leave less room to innovate. What’s been your experience at Marriott?
I don’t see global scale and individual leadership as opposites. In many ways, the scale of Marriott gives leaders more freedom because you don’t have to build everything from scratch. Marriott provides incredible resources, expertise, brands, data, and a global network. The opportunity for a leader is to use those resources without becoming dependent on them. I’ve always tried to understand the framework first and then ask where we can push it. My experience across Marriott’s luxury portfolio has given me both the confidence to challenge things and the network to turn good ideas into reality. Another great advantage of being part of Marriott is the scale of opportunity.
How would you describe your leadership style in three words?
Curious. Empowering. Authentic.
What are your best tips for aspiring General Managers?
Number one, become exceptional at making the people and businesses around you better, regardless of your title. Learn the operation, understand the numbers, and become obsessed with the guest, but focus on people just as much as performance.
Seek experiences that make you uncomfortable. Different brands, markets, cultures, and challenging assignments can teach you more than staying where you already know how to succeed. Stay curious, remain humble, and continuously invest in your own development.
And don’t try to become someone else’s version of a great General Manager. Learn from the leaders around you but develop your own point of view. Marriott provides an extraordinary platform to do that, with world-class brands, a global network, and a genuine investment in its people. Your career is not a straight line. It’s a collection of experiences and challenges that, over time, give you the perspective to lead something bigger.
