At the 101st Hotel Ezra Cornell, luxury is built on details

Before any guests sat down at the Hotel Ezra Cornell gala dinner, student organizers pressed hot wax by hand, sealing each menu with the HEC crest, in the same Cornell red as the napkins and roses on every table.

The 101^st year of Hotel Ezra Cornell (HEC), a hospitality conference run by Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration students, was held from April 16-18. The year’s theme – “All in the Details” – made the students’ ambitions clear: through attention to detail, they would create an extraordinary experience for attendees.

From the very first email invitation, HEC guests received a personalized experience.

“We’ve all received mass emails before, and these messages don’t necessarily feel tailored to us,” said Izzy An ’28, HEC sales team member and sophomore in the Nolan School. “So, we research the recipient’s background, what clubs or societies they were in and what classes they might have had. All those details inform how we write to them, and hopefully, they receive a message that’s really welcoming to them specifically.”

When guests checked in to the Statler Hotel, they were greeted by student concierge staff who’d memorized their name and faces, welcoming them personally to HEC.

“We have a guest list that we’re constantly studying. We want to recognize them, greet them by name, and if they’re an alumni member, welcome them back to Cornell,” An said.

Across from the check-in desk was a 3D display recreating this year’s logo: A teddy bear held a martini atop a stack of luggage on a golden luggage cart, with a red apron hanging off the side. A sign announcing the year’s theme, “All in the Details,” hung under the arch of the luggage cart.

“We have a lot of different Easter eggs in the logo, which is very exciting,” said Madison Cohen ’26, HEC’s communications director and a senior in the Nolan School.

“The luggage cart represents the first point of contact when someone comes into a hotel. It’s often one of your first moments after getting off the plane, so there’s a lot of excitement in that time,” Cohen said. “We want to hone in on our guest’s emotions with how we designed the experience.”

“We have the teddy bear, which HEC logos have included year after year. The apron represents the server derby, which is also one of our long-standing traditions. We also included HM, the initials on the luggage, for Howard Meek. He was the first dean of the Nolan School and he’s one of the main reasons that we have HEC today.”

Once guests reached their rooms, they were welcomed by assorted snacks on a branded HEC plate, the first of many curated refreshments to try. Over the course of the weekend, guests were offered savory and sweet finger foods, including cucumber slices topped with whipped beet and caramel pots de crème.

Mocktail options included a cucumber gimlet, garnished with a ribbon of cucumber, and “You Survived the Stacks!”, a tamarind and ginger beverage stirred with a sugar swizzle stick.

“I created a brown butter and sage martini for the Venice-themed celebration dinner,” said Gunnar Kehrli ’29, a Nolan School freshman and beverage team member. “Brown butter pasta is a meal that I grew up on, and I wanted to incorporate those Italian flavors while I was testing recipes.”

Kehrli also made a blood orange negroni, which he thought would match the “warm, earthy” shade of terracotta associated with Venice’s architecture. He garnished the brown butter martini with fresh sage leaves and the negroni with orange slices.

“You eat with your eyes first,” he said. “Having something that tastes delicious but also looks very visually appealing adds an extra detail that takes a drink from good to great.”

Discussion sessions led by alumni hospitality leaders also engaged with the central concept of detail. Sehaj Singh ’14, Global Head of Quality for the Leading Hotels of the World, led a discussion on how standardizing quality-control details improves guest experience. Kristen McNamara ’10, Director at Citi Private Bank Boston, moderated a conversation on reimagining luxury in ecotourism through experiential design.

After three days of networking, sharing ideas and dining together, guests closed out the weekend by enjoying their last student-designed cocktail at the Terrace Restaurant.

“Ultimately, our goal is for people to have fun, learn about hospitality and see where the next generation of the hospitality industry is going,” Cohen said. “At the end of the experience, I want people to go home and say, wow, I want to do it again.”