George Jordan – Building The Godfrey

Spring Improvements at IO Urban Roofscape

Chicago’s winter was a rough one – we heard new phrases on how to describe the deep freeze we withstood, including Chiberia, Polar Vortex (or really, Polar Vortices), among others. It felt like the worst winter ever but on the record books, it was only the third snowiest winter in Chicago’s history.

Now that spring is finally here, we’re rejoicing and beautifying our indoor-outdoor rooftop, I|O Urban Roofscape. Yesterday, we added more lounge seating, additional water elements and more flowers. You can see a photo below of the installation in progress.

Beautification at IO Urban Roofscape - Chicago's largest indoor-outdoor lounge. — Beautification at IO Urban Roofscape – Chicago’s largest indoor-outdoor lounge.

George Jordan, Area General Manger and SVP of Oxford Hotels & Resorts, relaxing for a minute at IO Urban Roofscape.

We love the new additions that add to the welcoming, lounge-feel to IO Urban Roofscape. Our Area General Manager and SVP of Oxford Hotels & Resorts, George Jordan (above), was spotted chilling out on our new lounges.

Be sure to stop by IO Urban Roofscape this spring. The restaurant just started serving full brunch on weekends, along with breakfast, lunch and dinner. To see the menu and details, visit http://www.iogodfrey.com. See you there.

Proud to Be Open – Welcome

We’re proud to be open since Feb. 1 and the first week has flown by…. smoothly! We’re happy to welcome our very first guests to Chicago’s newest boutique hotel. The name Godfrey means peace and welcome – and true to our name, our managers would like to welcome you to The Godfrey Hotel Chicago. We hope to surprise and delight our guests with our vibrant energy, sophisticated interiors and chic accommodations.

Below is a photo of Jermaine Anderson, Hotel Manager, along with George Jordan, Senior Vice President of Oxford Hotels & Resorts – on opening day, Feb. 1, 2014.

Pictured: Jermaine Anderson, Hotel Manager and George Jordan, SVP, Oxford Hotels and Resorts — Pictured: Jermaine Anderson, Hotel Manager
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George Jordan, SVP, Oxford Hotels and Resorts

We hope to welcome you soon to The Godfrey Hotel Chicago. Live in the Chicagoland area? Stop in and check us out – and enjoy cocktails on I|O Urban Roofscape, complete with fire pits and unobstructed views of Chicago’s southern skyline. Or, consider us for the next time you travel to Chicago either for business or pleasure.

How to choose the perfect amenity – Hotel News Now

Think selecting the soap for a hotel is pretty easy? Not so fast.

George Jordan, SVP of Operations at Oxford Hotels & Resorts, shares how a lot of thought and consideration goes into selecting the soaps and alarm clocks. For example, in-shower soap and shampoo pump systems didn’t test well with female travelers for a particular hotel.

To read the full article, visit Hotel News Now.

George Jordan, SVP of Operations at Oxford Hotels & Resorts and Area General Manager of The Godfrey Hotel

More about George Jordan: He is the senior vice president of operations for Oxford Hotels & Resorts, and Chicago area hotel cluster general manager for Hotel Cass, Hotel Felix and Godfrey Hotel (opening early 2014). Over the past 30 years, he has held key management roles with The Arizona Biltmore, The St. Paul, The Marquette, The Drake and The Raffaello Hotel. Jordan rose through the ranks while attending college at University of Southern California and Arizona State University, where he obtained a B.S. in Finance. He served as area food and beverage director for Hilton International, based out of The Drake Hotel Chicago, and also as hotel manager at The Drake. Today, he contributes his extensive operational, revenue management and marketing expertise to Oxford’s national acquisition activities.

The Autonomy of the Independent Hotelier

Our area general manager, George Jordan, recently published an editorial piece for Hotel News Now describing the myriad of responsibilities that fall on the shoulders of the independent hotelier. Jordan draws on 30 years of experience managing hotels including The Drake, The Arizona Biltmore, The Raffaello Hotel and our neighbor, Hotel Felix.

Without the manpower of a brand to fall back on, boutique hotel managers are required to wear many hats, from IT services to customer relationship manager. Jordan recounts confronting a major technology snafu on his first day as general manager at The Raffaello Hotel:

My initial thought? Call information systems management and investigate. But there was no ISM. In fact, all 30 lines on the speed dial just rang to the front desk. I got a sinking feeling. What happens if we lose our T1 line? What if the fax line goes down? Who the heck am I going to call for help?

For more on Jordan’s learnings as an independent hotel key decision maker, please read on at Hotel News Now.