NEW YORK CITY—Hospitality entered Bill Mehalco’s life at age 7 and never left. While most children would be awed by the magic of Walt Disney World, Mehalco instead was fascinated with the operations at the hotel his dad booked for the trip.
“We stayed at the Polynesian Resort, and I refused to leave the hotel because I was infatuated with the operations of it,” the 32-year-old Mehalco said. “I would walk the halls and check the moldings, the carpet, check the cleanliness, and (Mehalco’s father) would get so frustrated because I didn’t want to go to the Magic Kingdom. All I wanted to do was stay in the hotel.”
The Youngstown, Ohio, native now captains the Hotel Indigo New York City Chelsea, where he has been GM for one and a half years. He got his start in hospitality in 2002 as a bellman for a full-service Holiday Inn while studying hospitality at Youngstown State University during his second year of college.
Within three months, he was promoted to front-desk agent. Two years later, he moved to front-desk manager.
Then, in 2008, he moved to the Big Apple.
“I completely winged it. I didn’t have a job. And it’s just kind of like that cheesy movie scenario: You see New York; you want to live the dream. So I kind of lived that cheesy movie. I didn’t really know anybody. I had no friends that lived here,” he said.
Within two weeks, he secured a front-office job at what he described as a “pretty rough” independent hotel. But then two weeks later, the 28-year-old green New Yorker found a job through Craigslist as a front-office manager at the Soho House New York, a 4-star hotel and members’ club in the Meatpacking District.
“You can imagine a Youngstown, Ohio, guy getting put into a position where you’re shaking hands with Patrick Dempsey and Vin Diesel and Ryan Seacrest, and dealing with these people. It was completely out of my realm,” he said.
“It was very intimidating. The staff there was very well seasoned. They knew how to get a table at the best restaurants, how to get into the theaters, how to get helicopter rides, how to get these celebrities to where they wanted to go no matter how hard it was. And I didn’t even know what the top restaurant was,” he said.
Although the Soho House might have taken Mehalco out of his comfort zone, he attributes the experience to launching his career in the city.
“It gave me exposure into that type of market in the industry,” he said.
A new generation
At the 4-star, 122-room Hotel Indigo New York City Chelsea, which opened its doors in 2009, Mehalco said work doesn’t feel like work thanks to his “fresh, creative, diverse” staff.
“Our staff is energetic … and it’s important that we’re like a family,” he said.
Mehalco said a younger GM can act as motivation for staff, such as a front-office manager.
“They see that working for a younger GM … there’s plenty of opportunity for them if they just work hard. I think it’s very impactful for the younger generation,” he said. “I’m obviously at a time in my life where I can use that as something to learn and preach or mentor to students in college right now, that if they work really hard and get into the industry and get some experience under their belt that at a younger age they can become a general manager.”
The teaching aspect of being a GM is something Mehalco is passionate about. He works with his alma mater when he can.
“Whenever I go back home, I try to talk with their classes. I talk with my old professors. I try to do what I can for the university because I believe in the end eventually when New York runs its course and kicks me out, that’s something I’d like to do. Youngstown State kind of has my heart, and I would really like to get into that program and help it develop further,” he said.
And the best thing about working in hospitality?
“The range of the job,” Mehalco said. “You can come from any background and walk in and be able to be successful in hospitality. Or you can leave hospitality and really go anywhere and be successful in another industry.
“People don’t give it enough credit for how diverse of a range of skills you have to have to be successful. A lot of people always tease about left- and right-brained people. In here you have to be both.”