As president and CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco, Alex Bastian has led the charge to revitalize tourism in The City. He has inspired consumer travelers and conferences alike to return by serving as a voice of honesty and hope for San Francisco as a travel destination as it continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under his tireless leadership, the Hotel Council has become a central voice in rebuilding local tourism and The City’s global image. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What does this recognition mean to you? It’s a massive honor for me to earn San Franciscan of the Year alongside other great finalists. This is a total sum effort of the hotel community, the hospitality community, the San Francisco Armenian community, and, finally, San Francisco at large.
Because at the end of the day, we’re all San Franciscans. We love our city, and I believe that we work together to put our city first. And when we engage in civic pride and common sense, we’re unstoppable as a city.
You’re born and raised in San Francisco. How has The City shaped who you are and the work you do? It starts with my family. They escaped a war zone from the Middle East to be here — my mom was actually kidnapped and held hostage in Beirut — and San Francisco was a place of refuge for my family. It’s such a blessing to be in a place like San Francisco, which is a microcosm of the world and the epicenter of so many cultural and economic revolutions.
There are so many things about The City that have shaped my outlook on the world — how persevering we are, how resilient we are. I’ve lived through the ’89 earthquake and the two tech bubbles here in San Francisco, and when our back is against the wall and everyone counts us out, we always come back better and stronger than before.
What was your path to becoming CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco? I have taken an unconventional route, but I’m very comfortable in the uncomfortable. I didn’t come to this from a hotel background, but from a legal background, having been a prosecutor for many years. First in the courtroom and then subsequently in senior management in two major metropolitan counties — in San Francisco for the vast majority of my time, and also in Los Angeles County.
When I first thought about this job, I had no interest in moving back to San Francisco. I was in Los Angeles, I had sunshine and a fun time. I had a high-profile job. I happened to be in San Francisco in April of 2022 visiting my parents and grandmother, and I remember just being heartbroken by what I saw. It was devastating. I had never seen The City in worse shape in my life. I know how important the hotel industry has historically been to San Francisco, so it motivated me to apply. I got the job, I emptied out my office in LA on Friday, and I moved up to San Francisco on Tuesday.
Since stepping into the role, how have you evolved the organization? When I first got here in 2022, the organization and the industry were on life support. Now we are moving this boulder in the right direction. We pushed forward advocacy around public safety, whether it’s [Proposition E] or advocating for more cops and prosecutors, or for San Francisco being a little more business-friendly, like with Prop. M. We did not look at this through the lens of this side winning or that side winning. We looked at it through the lens of what is the right thing to do.
I’m proud of how the Hotel Council has expanded from being insular — just hotels — to being the broader hospitality community: aviation partners, sports teams, the tech community, restaurants. We are an expanded hospitality community that, again, works together to put our city first.
Now the goal is to broaden that out to the whole Bay Area, because at the end of the day, we are more than a conglomerate of bridges and BART tunnels. We are a region that really is centered around San Francisco.
What are the rules you live by and bring into your organization? There are five rules for success that I employ personally and in the organization. The first one is to work hard. The second is to have fun. The third is to be a team player, and the fourth is to never make the same mistake twice. The fifth is to subscribe to the concept of Kai Zen, which essentially means continuous improvement. It’s on our conference room board, and something that every person that works at the Hotel Council subscribes to.
Finish this sentence: being a San Franciscan means … It means being resilient. It means overcoming all odds, and it means making an impact on the world stage. It means being compassionate, but it also means being thoughtful. It means engaging in civic pride and common sense.
Finally, the hardest question: Where’s your favorite place in San Francisco to eat? We have some of the best restaurants in the world. The two places I go to near work are Bodega for a bowl of pho and John’s Grill for a steak. When I’m thinking of sushi, I go to Ebisu in the Inner Sunset. For Italian food, Gold Mirror — they have the best lasagna in The City. And I have to give a shout out to [Original] Joe’s, and to Sightglass Coffee — by far, my favorite cup of coffee.
