Kristi Allen initially joined Ensemble in 2010 to establish the company’s first hotel management platform for Hotel Maya. Since then, she has become vice president of hotel operations, which includes some additional asset management responsibilities for the company’s third-party managed hotels. Allen was promoted to senior vice president, hotels in 2017. In that role, she effectively expanded the company’s hotel management division, Ensemble Hospitality, which now includes the management of eight Ensemble-owned hotels.

Prior to Ensemble, Allen spent 30 years in the hospitality industry, holding positions such as general manager, food and beverage manager, and regional roles at Marriott, Hilton, Interstate Hotels, and HEI Hotels and Resorts in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles. Allen is also a Women Leading Travel & Hospitality member! In this member spotlight, we asked her a series of questions so you can get to know her better.

  1. What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
    Who has time to read? It was probably a summer beach read that I read on a plane …
  2. What’s a tip you have for productively leading a remote or hybrid team?
    Quick check-in meetings so people aren’t on the phone all day. Organize in-person meetings with the whole team every so often so people feel connected.
  3. What’s a mistake you made early on in your career?
    Believing that someone other than me (my boss) was going to control my career path.
  4. What’s the toughest part of being in charge?
    Patience. I find myself wanting to jump in and solve problems when I need to stop and let others get there on their own.
  5. What’s the best way you motivate team members? 
    By getting to know them as people and respecting their personal time.
  6. What are you looking forward to the most for the industry?
    Group rebound
  7. What’s one thing you look for when interviewing a job candidate?
    How well they get along with a team; hotels are all about working with people.
  8. What’s something that you learned about yourself in the past year? 
    Even pandemics eventually end …
  9. What’s your favorite podcast?
    I don’t have time for podcasts. If I have time to listen to something, I often call my family as I don’t have a lot of time to do that!
  10. What values are most important to you as a leader?
    Being ethical, supportive and creative
  11. What’s the most important thing people should know about you? 
    I have a wonderful family and I value silence as we don’t really get a lot of it these days.
  12. What’s one habit you adopted while working from home that you kept/would like to keep with you as you return to the office?
    Instacart shopping so I don’t waste valuable time at the grocery store that I could be spending with my family.
  13. What do you do to recharge?
    Explore new places with my family.
  14. What’s your biggest accomplishment?
    My family, and then creating a management division for our hotel portfolio.
  15. What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?
    Work-life balance can happen, but only if you work really hard at it!
  16. What gets you up in the morning?
    Knowing that I usually have an hour of quiet time with my laptop and coffee before the rest of my family gets up and my day gets started!

If you would like to become a Women Leading Travel & Hospitality member or need additional information about our organization, click here.