French Connection
Not even two freak accidents could stop Michael Mestraud from a career at the Four Seasons, where he serves as Senior General Manager for the Four Seasons Resort O‘ahu at Ko Olina and Vice President of Residential Operations for the Americas.
Mestraud’s career with the company began in 1999 at Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, where he served as Assistant Manager. But he likely would not have been there if not for a freak motorbike accident in the Dominican Republic that nearly cost him his leg.
Mestraud had been selling timeshares to make ends meet while in the Dominican Republic — the exotic adventure that he felt he needed after completing his compulsory military service.
“I was from a tiny village of 500 to 1,000 near the small town of Nancy in Northeast France,” he says. “When I went into the military, I ended up being in the Air Force just 30 minutes from my hometown.”
Mestraud wanted to stay in the Dominican Republic and open a bar, but the seriousness of his injuries required that he return to France for surgery and a three-month hospital stay. It was then that the footloose and fancy free then-22-year-old decided to study hospitality at the École Hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland.
Mestraud excelled at the École Hôtelière de Lausanne, but he recalls that a night of celebrating almost caused him to miss his first Four Seasons management opportunity.
“I lost my key for my apartment, and I live on the third floor,” Mestraud recalls. “It’s 2 a.m. so I decide to climb to my window. I climbed through the gutter, and I put my feet on the balcony. Then, I fell 25 feet.”
Mestraud is bedridden for another month and a half. He took his school exit exams while laying down in a special bed. He also had to postpone the start of his Four Seasons career.
“I had to learn to walk again,” Mestraud says. “These two back-to-back events changed my life. I now look at life like nothing can happen to me. I have a happiness and joy for life. I know where I came from and that I was very lucky.”
That zest for life remains a hallmark of Mestraud’s multi-faceted personality.
Jason de Vries, Resort Manager at Four Seasons Resort O‘ahu at Ko Olina, shares, “Oh my goodness, he’s wild. His passion, high energy takes over, and all you want to do is follow his vision.”
Amanda Douglas, Director of Catering & Conference Services at Four Seasons O‘ahu, says Mestraud is high-energy, with “an incredible amount of energy and enthusiasm for what he does.”
And he’s also an “avid yoga practitioner and enjoys meditating.” Mestraud is an interesting mix of contradictions.
Few would guess that the elegant hotelier, who still incorporates French sayings like “ooh là là” or “très bien” into his conversations, is an expert in martial arts, including the nunchucks. It is also surprising that Mestraud spent his teen years working summer jobs as a trash collector, a dish cleaner and on the assembly line for a shampoo-and-conditioner company.
“My mother grew up very poor, and my dad as well,” Mestraud says. “By the time I was born, we were middle-class. But they always wanted me to do the tough jobs.”
Mestraud says working menial jobs taught him the importance of efficiency — a goal that he has continued to strive for throughout his hotel career.
He also learned the importance of teamwork, which Four Seasons coworkers say form the framework of his management style.
De Vries says, “Michael has a relentless approach for collaboration and buy-in. For complex issues to small details, he involves everyone in the room to reach a decision. It may take longer, but it shows respect for everyone’s expertise and position, and everyone leaves the room with a final, well-thought-out direction.”
De Vries, who first met Mestraud in 2011 when both working at the Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora, said his leadership style also benefits from his “experiences from all over the world.”
“He understands employee, guest and owner expectations like very few people can,” he says.
Mestraud’s career with Four Seasons has taken him from Chicago to Paris, and then to Provence and Bora Bora, where he met his Tahitian wife, Johanna. The couple have two 12-year-old daughters, Jade and Manon.
He became a Four Seasons General Manager in 2015, when he was assigned to Jackson Hole. He then spent two years leading the Four Seasons property in Costa Rica, before getting the opportunity to transfer with his family to Hawai‘i — a vision realized.
“Hawai‘i has been my dream,” he shares. “My wife and my daughters are in heaven here.”