IB Woman
Issue No. 51 - February/March 2010
Stephanie makes
As a fifth generation hotelier, Stephanie Horlin-Smith feels at home in the Clarion Hotel Soho, one of Adelaide’s newest five-star boutique hotels.
The 27-year-old GM was instrumental in creating and designing the hotel on Flinders Street, which is privately owned by Stephanie’s parents. In addition to aesthetics, she controls strategic direction and HR for the property.
With 30 luxury rooms, the hotel includes all the luxury expected of a five-star hotel but the quality service expected of a smaller boutique hotel. It opened on 28 October 2008, with Stephanie involved for a year prior. Stephanie’s parents lease the business, with Loucas Zahos Architects owning the freehold.
The hotel is part of Choice Hotels Australia, a worldwide chain which represents three hotel brands: Clarion, Quality and Comfort Inn. All Choice Hotels are individually owned and operated under a franchise arrangement. “My immediate family worked closely with the architects and interior designers to create Soho,” says Stephanie. “As a family unit, we chose every aspect: I chose the contents for the rooms, the bathroom amenities. You name it, I was involved in it.”
Stephanie’s family history in the hospitality industry dates back to the 1800s. Over the years the Horlin-Smith family has owned many different hotels including The Grange Hotel, The Henley Hotel, The Tattersalls, The Highbury Hotel, just to name a few. Currently they own Clarion Hotel Soho, Quality Hotel Old Adelaide and Quality Hotel Tiffins on the Park. “I remember hearing stories from my parents and grandparents about our family having pubs when there were horse-drawn carriages around,” says Stephanie.
She has worked in the family’s hotels for the past nine years and is completing a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Accounting at UniSA. Under her guidance, the Clarion Soho’s internetsourced bookings have soared to over $80,000 per month thanks in large part to her passion, a...
