The Hotel Gurus

ROBERT RAUCH AND CAMERON LAMMING OF RAR HOSPITALITY TAKEHOTEL MANAGEMENT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Robert Rauch got his start in the hotel industry as a banquet dishwasher more than four decades ago. To say that the founder and CEO of RAR Hospitality has come a long way would be an understatement. After experience as the Director of Education and Training for Best Western in the Eighties, helping people at the property level, he realized that the best way to be successful in the industry is “not just to run one hotel, but to teach others how to run hotels and to also be involved in more facets than what occurs at the property level, meaning marketing and finance too.”

His partner and Chief Development Officer at RAR, Cameron Lamming, came to the company after working with them while employed as the head of acquisitions or a real estate mogul in San Diego, California. When the project with Rauch completed, the two teamed up to invest in hotels and the rest was history. The creativity Lamming honed while working in development at Disney combined with his experience acquiring hotels, paired with Rauch’s operational expertise created a formidable duo.

These days, RAR Hospitality helps boutique and chain hotels innovate, renovate, and remain competitive in an ever-evolving industry. Rauch, Lamming, and their carefully assembled team— all of whom were personally recruited by owners of the company—put their expertise to work making hotels succeed.

Industry Upheaval

“The art of hospitality has become the art and science of hospitality,” explains Rauch when discussing the changes he has seen over his 40-plus years in the business. Whereas marketing a hotel used to be reliant on things as simple as buying print ads and hanging a vacancy sign, the internet and digital marketing have changed the landscape.