Andro Nodarse-Leon fell in love with hotels when he visited one that he was not allowed to stay in.
Born in Cuba, he was awed by the historic Hotel Nacional in Havana, but as a Cuban he was not allowed to be a guest there.
Decades later in 2015, he realized a dream and bought his first hotel — the iconic El San Juan in Puerto Rico — as part of a joint venture. His company invested $65 million in renovations only to have the property severely damaged shortly afterward by Hurricane Maria. And after a post-storm $55 million renovation was completed late in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Despite the challenges he has faced in his relatively brief hospitality career, Nodarse-Leon is fully committed to expanding his portfolio. Now CEO of LionGrove, which he formed in 2018 and which owns three major properties in Puerto Rico, he has plans to grow on the island and beyond.
In addition to what is now the Fairmont El San Juan, the Wyndham Palmas Beach & Golf Resort and Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Golf & Beach Resort are both LionGrove-owned and managed and the company is on the lookout for further acquisitions in Puerto Rico and in Sunbelt states in the U.S.
Nodarse-Leon is optimistic about his massive commitment to Puerto Rico because he sees this as the island’s “moment” for three reasons:
- A tax program that has made the U.S. territory very attractive for companies in high-tax states;
- A tremendous amount of offshoring onto the island by manufacturing companies with almost half of Puerto Rico’s economy being manufacturing based; and
- Rich culture and arts, epitomized by celebrities such as Bad Bunny, one of the most popular recording artists in the world and Americans of Puerto Rican heritage such as Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Nodarse-Leon said despite financial struggles in recent years, the balance sheets of island banks are better than they've been in a long time.
“When I look at Puerto Rico now, I see Miami in the late 1990s and early 2000s,” he said.
The LionGrove name is a mashup of his family name as an homage to his mother and grandmother — combined with the image of a group of lions “strategizing” in a grove and a corporate mission of “healthy aggression.” The company has offices in Miami and San Juan.
With a strong background in finance and development, Nodarse-Leon began his career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs. Later, through his own investment banking company, he started a private school operator called Endeavor, which he said grew to be the 14th largest owner of private schools in the country.
Nodarse-Leon said the connection between private schools and hotels is that his passion is in “content-rich, highly programmed enterprises.” LionGrove is meant to be transformative and enriching hospitality — acquiring assets that are under-programmed, under-managed and under-capitalized and transforming them into enterprises that enrich the lives of guests and employees, as well as the communities around them. Toward that end, the company is aiming to buy hotels that are “locally important,” with a mission of “touching souls and providing memories.”
The El San Juan hotel reminded Nodarse-Leon of the Hotel Nacional because of its “internal energy.” After the post-hurricane restoration, LionGrove brought in Fairmont to brand the property as the Fairmont El San Juan. Since Fairmont does not offer management contracts, the brand manages the hotel. In most cases, however, LionGrove prefers managing as well as owning. In addition, he lives three blocks from the hotel and is “extremely hands-on” with its operations.
The 388-room hotel is now performing at levels not seen in 15 years, Nodarse-Leon said. It has an extensive music program, including workshops for talented musicians. Many internationally known musicians perform at the hotel’s cabaret, he said, adding that the programming “is our way of investing in the island and its culture.”
Fairmont El San Juan is an official partner of the island’s fashion week and is the official hotel for Miss Universe Puerto Rico and Miss World Puerto Rico. The $120 million that has been spent on the hotel, much of it on local construction trades, has had “a massive local impact,” he said.
The 2021 acquisition of the 107-room Wyndham Palmas is part of a planned community in an area that Nodarse-Leon calls “the Hamptons of Puerto Rico,” referring to the glitzy beach area of Long Island, New York. Located 50 minutes from San Juan airport, it features an equestrian center, two championship golf courses, the largest tennis center in the Caribbean, and a yacht club and marina. The community has 3,600 homes ranging in price from $500,000 to more than $10 million. The Wyndham Palmas is the only hotel in the development.
The resort emphasizes wellness and “taking care of body and soul,” Nodarse-Leon said.
Many guests spend several days in San Juan for the bustle and history, then come to Palmas for an outdoor experience. Key to the programming is a food-and-beverage concept featuring James Beard finalists Janine Booth and Jeff McInnis, a couple who are veterans of TV’s “Top Chef” and who are also consultants on LionGrove’s other properties.
The Wyndham flag has been maintained because of the brand’s long history in Puerto Rico with a strong local following and a lot of brand equity, Nodarse-Leon said. The resort has two pools, secluded beaches and easy access to a forest on the 2,000-acre community of which it is a part.
The third property, the 400-room Wyndham Rio Mar, was purchased from Wyndham itself in 2022. It is also a residential community with 900 homes located 35 minutes east of San Juan and nestled between Yunque rainforest — the only rain forest in U.S. territory — and two miles of pristine beach. There are also rivers on each side of the resort, three pools, two championship golf courses and a tennis center.
Both the Fairmont El San Juan and Wyndham Rio Mar have casinos, the former in partnership with Foxwoods.
Chief Operating Officer Chris Sariego, a veteran of multiple luxury hospitality operators including Ritz-Carlton, Sbe and Atlantis, said his job is to position the properties so they attract the clientele the operator wants from different feeder markers. Once there, the question becomes: “how do you keep them there so they stay longer?”
Even when a hotel is branded, he said, “we try to push the brand into being a little more innovative by showing them the importance of changes we want to make that might not be on brand, but that will be a win-win for the hotel and the brand.”
Sariego said his whole career has revolved around “being inquisitive and understanding what an area has to offer and understanding the customer — where they come from and what they don’t have in their daily lives that a particular hotel could provide.”
LionGrove, he said, will continue to “work the verticals” — offering extensive wellness programs such as yoga retreats. Rio Mar and Fairmont El San Juan have spas, and the plan is to have one in Palmas. Also in the works are plans to bolster children’s activities.
Looking ahead, Nodarse-Leon said the company is particularly focused on locations predominantly driven by leisure but in markets where group business and corporate meetings are part of the equation. All three of the company's hotels have extensive meeting and event space.
While nothing has been announced, Nodarse-Leon said there is a pipeline of projects in the U.S. as well as in Puerto Rico. There is also room on all three island properties to expand. The thread in all development will be upscale to luxury, resort and lifestyle oriented — including possible city locations.
The operator will look to brands and soft brands, as well as for possible independent locations, Nodarse-Leon said.
He said that brands, hard and soft, “now get that they have to drive authenticity and innovation.”
(Corrected on May 31 to update the cost of the El San Juan's post-storm renovation in the third paragraph, correct the total amount spent on the El San Juan in the 14th paragraph and amend the year LionGrove acquired the Wyndham Palmas in the 15th paragraph.)