By Roberto Hugo Gonzalez
As originally published by Texas Border Business newsprint edition November 2021
Omar Guevara is quite a hotel operator; the industry is challenging, but he knows how it works. He accepted the position of general manager of the Radisson McAllen Airport Hotel while it was still under construction. That was three and half years ago; the facility had been closed for years. It used to be the Hilton during its glamourous days.
The hotel building, now renovated and updated with the technology of the twenty-first century. If you were familiar with the Hilton in those days as this reporter, you would have come to the same conclusion, the renovation was excellent. The Hilton was the start of his career in the hospitality business.
Guevara was born in Los Angeles, California, but was raised in McAllen. As soon as he graduated from Memorial High School in 1986, he traveled to Saltillo, Coahuila in Mexico to visit family. Once back in McAllen, he started working at the Hilton as one of the front desk clerks. He said, “Ten months later, I was promoted to front office manager.”
Guevara is an outgoing individual and works very well with people. He is attentive and has the experience in providing the gallantries of service necessary to run any business.
As front office manager, he kept learning the skills required for his career. His next step was in pursuing outside sales. “I went out and visited the Maquila industry, met with executives, and presented proposals.” He continued, “After doing outside sales, I became assistant to the general manager. Three years later, I was interim general manager for the Hilton while they waited for a new general manager.”
He worked with the Hilton for more than five years before he left to join the Best Western Rose Garden. He helped open and run that hotel for a family from Veracruz, Mexico. “I also helped Joe Garcia and Pancho Villarreal build and open the Wingate hotel as well.”
Guevara has acquired vast experience in the field. He has worked for hotels that were starting from scratch, some of them outside his hometown.
But being outside your comfort zone is not for everyone. In his case, he says, “it’s just more experience.”
Guevara left McAllen for the great Port of Brownsville and joined the Homewood Suites hotel in that city. He has worked in multiple markets. He also worked in Lubbock, Corpus Christi, and Laredo, including the great city of Harlingen, this has made him a uniquely seasoned professional in this field.
At one point in his career, he decided to go for it internationally and went to work in Monterrey for two years. “I worked for Grupo Orbe, S.A. (Organización Benavides) and helped them open a travel agency. And then I worked at Hotel Rio for the Zorrilla family. “When he worked for them, he trained their personnel to use proper English because of the heavy tourism.”
Guevara did extensive traveling, and then he decided to come back to McAllen. His parents were getting up in age and that was the motive for his return. At the time, there was an opportunity to work for the Fallek family at the Springhill Suites; that was eight years ago.
“Honestly, there’s nothing better than being home and close to family.” He said, “We have blood-related family and so many friends. These are people I grew up with that never left.”
In his case, he left and missed out on time with all of them. But as he says, “I got a lot of experience. I was able to learn other things, and I brought that knowledge back to the Valley.”
He considers the Rio Grande Valley, an extraordinary place. “There’s nothing more beautiful than the Valley. We celebrate multiple cultures, different atmospheres, but the warmth, the friendliness, and the hospitality that we have in the Valley, you cannot find it anywhere else in the world.”
We are close to two years of Pandemic times, and many businesses have been hurt economically. According to Guevara, that was not the case for hoteliers in the area.
“The McAllen hotels hosted the nurses that came to help during the pandemic, it was an honor to have had these brave first responders.” He said, “The McAllen hotels ran 95% from June 2020 until May 15 of this year when the contract ended with the nurses.” He continued, “So, out of something bad, like the pandemic was, the hotels in the Valley benefited greatly because of the occupancy of the traveling nurses.”
Now that the nurses are gone, what is going to propel the sales for occupancy of the hotels?
Guevara pointed out that the leisure market is coming back. This summer weekends were busy, but not like the old summers because the visitor from Mexico is still missing. “August and September have been very slow, but now with the news of the upcoming border opening on November 8, we’re all getting geared up and ready to welcome back – Mexico.”
Guevara said that they are getting the reservations from Mexico visitors and shoppers. He added that the reservations have been heavy since the announcement that the bridges were opening on November 8.
So, what do you do to welcome back such distinguished clientele, a reception?
Guevara said it is not so much as a reception. “What we do is create special packages to make it attractive for them. We are already advertising in Monterrey, Saltillo, Torreon, and other cities that are feeder cities to McAllen.”
In a recent meeting with the hotel industry leaders, he reminded them that servicing Mexico is a different level of service. “With Mexico, the service is not just friendly, but a lot friendlier. We must take care of our Mexico clientele. We miss them, and we are red-carpeting their welcome back.”
Aside from the special rates, the Radisson McAllen Airport Hotel continues to offer a complimentary hot buffet breakfast, and a 24-hour shuttle service.
“We know they want to go to the mall, and when the mall closes, we know they want to go to Walmart because Walmart doesn’t close.” Guevara also said they shuttle them to Burlington, to Ross, and Marshall’s.
“So, the shuttle service is always a huge advantage for any hotel,” he said. On numerous occasions, the guest calls the front desk and requests for the shuttle to go pick up their bags, so they are free to continue shopping. “Just put the bags in my room,” they say.
Aside from the complimentary breakfast and shuttle service, Radisson McAllen Airport Hotel offers complimentary internet and free parking.
“If by some reason folks are flying out of the McAllen Miller International Airport and they want to leave their cars here, they stay the night, and they catch an early flight to Las Vegas, to Houston, or Dallas. We allow that as well.”
Guevara said that they provide daily housekeeping services, plus they have the restaurant and the lounge open in the evenings. “We have live entertainment with DJs going on in the evenings. We have dinner; we also have room service to the hotel every day.”
Radisson Airport hotel is just across the McAllen Miller International Airport; it is convenient for everyone. He emphasizes that the Mexico clientele is the fun market. “There isn’t ever a slow time. Our proximity to the airport and the mall — this side of town is so beautiful for tourism. We have a perfect location.”
It is important to note, that the hotel is also next to Quinta Mazatlán, where there are lots of weddings and events. To have such an icon down the street, it’s a beautiful and unique destination without parallel. “The city has done such a wonderful job, and we know the expansion is going to happen as well.”
Guevara is a believer in giving back to the community and provides his time with several nonprofits that benefit the community.
Currently, he is the president of the National Hispanic of Professionals Organization. Also, he is involved with the hotel association in McAllen. “I am chairing what we call the hospitality task force, basically bringing all the hotels together every month so that we can discuss opportunities.”
He is also the co-chair with his wife, Norma, for the Empty Bowls; it’s a signature project of the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley, Inc.
“The list of nonprofit organizations includes Habitat for Humanity, and Comfort House; both are boards I have served on as well. I have served on Keep McAllen Beautiful as well.”
Guevara told Texas Border Business that he wants people to feel proud to be in the Rio Grande Valley. “I am proud of McAllen. We are blessed to live in an area where friends can so easily become family because we’re a tight-knit community,” he finalized.
