This 5-Star, Boutique Hotel Chain Treats 100% Of Its Guests Like Royalty, The Mini Bar is Always Free
Alina sits down with Ori Kafri, Founder and CEO of J.K. Place — with hotels in Rome, Capri, Paris... and soon, Milan — to talk about what started and inspired the business
Just before COVID, my mom and I – on a whim – decided to take a trip to Rome.
It was around the holidays.
We booked a hotel – which shall remain nameless – that we had stayed in before.
It was nice, but not as nice as we remembered.
So, I emailed Ori Kafri.
Ori Kafri, Photo courtesy: J.K. Place
Founder and CEO of J.K. Place – with hotels in Rome, Capri, Paris... and soon, Milan.
I asked him, “Could we take a look at a room at your hotel in Rome?”
J.K. Place Rome, Source: J.K. Place
J.K. Place Rome, Source: J.K. Place
J.K. Place Rome, Source: J.K. Place
J.K. Place Rome, Source: J.K. Place
Within minutes, he got back to me. And within an hour, we were there.
What I remember most about that visit was that the GM greeted us at the door and, after we looked at the room, he offered us coffee and a huge selection of sweet treats – chocolates, candies, cakes.
I thought, “Wow, what a wonderful, special gesture.”
As I later learned, during a recent chat with Ori Kafri at his hotel in Capri, that experience was not so unique.
It’s the J.K. way.
THE BIG IDEA
ALINA CHO: What was your original idea behind J.K. Place?
ORI KAFRI: The idea was to try to create this sense of home, this coziness, this ambience. I don't know if this makes sense, but I would compare the big fashion brands — Gucci, Prada, Armani — to the bigger hotel chains, like Four Seasons, Mandarin [Oriental], Ritz-Carlton. But then, at some point, you might go to a tailor to have a bespoke made-to-measure suit, and that's where J.K. should stand.
J.K. Place Capri, Source: J.K. Place
ALINA CHO: J.K. is Savile Row.
J.K. Place Capri, Source: J.K. Place
ORI KAFRI: Exactly. When I was doing my internship, for example, I learned [from] working in big hotels, [only] a certain percentage of the hotel guests, they were treated like royalty because they had a different status.
ALINA CHO: It depends on the room.
ORI KAFRI: Depends on the room, depends on how many times you've been there, depends on a lot of different things. And these people would get really a very nice experience. So, I thought, "Why do only 5% or 10% of hotel guests [get this] kind of welcome?"
ALINA CHO: That's a good point.
ORI KAFRI: We should offer it to everyone. So, one of the things that I tried to do from day one is at J.K., we don't do check-in.
J.K. Place Rome, Source: J.K. Place
ALINA CHO: Right.
ORI KAFRI: I mean, we check-in at the airport, with our bags, to get on the plane. At J.K. we do a welcome.
J.K. Place Capri, Source: J.K. Place
I mean, that's a completely different approach. In the same way, I don't call my guests, “customers” or “clients,” I call them “guests.”
ALINA CHO: It's a mentality.
ORI KAFRI: It's an approach. So, my father always traveled, and one of the things that really bothered him the most was at the day of checkout, they would ask, “Did you take anything from the mini bar last night?" That's one of the things that really bothered him. So, I said, "Okay, we are not charging for the mini bar — ever.”
INSPIRED BY AMSTERDAM
ORI KAFRI: [Before I opened my first hotel, I visited] Amsterdam. I went to this small guest house called [Hotel] Seven one Seven.
Source: Hotel 717
I arrived without a reservation. And this gentleman walked me in, like he was waiting for me, like I was Prince Charles.
ALINA CHO: It takes you aback, right?
ORI KAFRI: Yeah. He showed me around the hotel.
Source: Hotel 717
He showed me the rooms. He gave me a map of Amsterdam. He gave me an umbrella because it was raining outside, and he gave me a cup of tea and cookies. And when I asked for the check, he said, "Oh no, no, you are my guest."
ALINA CHO: Wow.
ORI KAFRI: I said, "But why? You don't have to." And he said "We don't have big money to spend for advertising or marketing and publicity, but we can offer a cup of tea or a cup of coffee to people who spend their time coming here to discover our place. And then, maybe next time, they will be our guest. So, a coffee is always something we are happy to provide.”
ALINA CHO: To offer.
ORI KAFRI: And this was quite unique. I never walked into any big famous hotel in the world, and somebody offered me a coffee just out of nowhere. So, a few months later, when we opened [our first] hotel in Florence, I called him and asked him to come to Florence to teach me and my staff how to be nice and kind.
ALINA CHO: And did he?
ORI KAFRI: For six months.
THE J.K. EMPIRE
ALINA CHO: Tell me about the first hotel. Tell me about Florence.
ORI KAFRI: So, Florence is not anymore in my collection.
ALINA CHO: Oh, okay. But you opened that first hotel...
ORI KAFRI: … in 2003.
ALINA CHO: And then was Capri next?
J.K. Place Capri, Source: J.K. Place
ORI KAFRI: Yes, in 2007. And then it took us a little while to open the hotel in Rome. That happened at the end of 2013.
J.K. Place Rome, Source: J.K. Place
ALINA CHO: And now Paris.
J.K. Place Paris, Source: J.K. Place
ORI KAFRI: And now Paris, which we opened a few weeks before the pandemic. And now, finally, it is up and running.
J.K. Place Paris, Source: J.K. Place
ALINA CHO: Are all the J.K. hotels about 20 rooms?
ORI KAFRI: So far, yes. The hotel in Rome is 27 rooms.
J.K. Place Rome, Source: J.K. Place
[In Capri], we have 22.
J.K. Place Capri, Source: J.K. Place
In Paris, we have 29.
J.K. Place Paris, Source: J.K. Place
We have a new project in Milan. It will be a little bit bigger, probably 36 or 38 rooms.
ALINA CHO: And when does that open?
ORI KAFRI: It'll take another couple of years. We are evolving also in Rome. In Rome, we have a new project next to the J.K. — we’re [turning] a building into a club and residence, about 15 apartments.
ALINA CHO: Wow.
ORI KAFRI: With two bedrooms, living room, kitchen. And that will be for people [who] would love to stay longer in Rome and to experience the city under a different perspective. People who might think, "Oh, let's move to Italy for six months.”
J.K. Place Rome, Source: J.K. Place
ALINA CHO: So smart. So, you can do sort-of medium-length stays?
ORI KAFRI: We can do from one night to an endless [number of nights].
ALINA CHO: And when will that open?
ORI KAFRI: Also, it will take another two years.
ALINA CHO: Would you ever open in the United States?
ORI KAFRI: Yes, of course. I mean, I'm a dreamer. I dream every other day about having the possibility to export the concept and try to make a hotel in the U.S.
ALINA CHO: Where in the U.S. would you do it?
ORI KAFRI: I would love to start in New York.
Source: Unsplash
I'm [also] a California dreamer.
Source: PureWow
ALINA CHO: So, LA?
ORI KAFRI: In California, going from Napa down to Cabo, you could open so many — I mean, there's a big opportunity.
ALINA CHO: If you had to guess, is a J.K. hotel happening in the next five years, 10 years, in the U.S.?
ORI KAFRI: If I had to guess, I would say five.
ALINA CHO: Wow. I live in New York, but I will stay at J.K. Place in New York if you build one.
“THE COBBLER WITH NO SHOES”
ALINA CHO: Final question. You told me when you’re in Capri, you don’t stay at your hotel. So, where do you stay?
ORI KAFRI: You don't want to ask me this question.
ALINA CHO: Okay.
ORI KAFRI: Tomorrow night, for example, I'm homeless. I have no room tomorrow night, nowhere on the island. So, I asked my GM if I can sleep in the spa.
J.K. Place Capri, Source: The Lux Voyager
ALINA CHO: In the spa?
ORI KAFRI: Yes. Because there is a relaxation room. She was not very happy, but what can I do?
ALINA CHO: You're like the cobbler with no shoes. You're the hotelier with no hotel room.
ORI KAFRI: There's only 22 rooms, I cannot keep a room for myself. Because we have so many requests.
J.K. Place Capri, Source: J.K. Place
ALINA CHO: I know.
ORI KAFRI: It would be so selfish for me to take a room. My wife is complaining that when we were dating, she would stay here, and now, three kids later, she can't. I told her the other day, "Look, during COVID, we stayed here." But I prefer that we're not able to...
ALINA CHO: Of course. Because that means business is good!