The Inn at Little Washington is expected to name as its new general manager Michael G. Tompkins, a seasoned executive in luxury hospitality, with special expertise in the development and management of spas, a key element in the inn’s planned expansion.
Tompkins began his working life as a nurse, and was drawn into the hospitality sector as it embraced the potential of offering not only meals and rooms, but also an aura of health, or as it is popularly branded, “wellness.” Under this banner, food is expected to be healthy as well as well-prepared, and culinary indulgence is interspersed with exercise, massage, yoga and relaxation therapies.
“We will issue a press release closer to his arrival,” said Patrick O’Connell, the inn’s proprietor, declining to discuss the plan further.
Known as a spa visionary, Tompkins’s history reveals deep experience in organizing the health aspect of luxury resorts, and he has been recognized with awards as a spa visionary. He has been the chief executive of Miraval Resorts in Tucson, Ariz., and Hilton Head Health in South Carolina.
He was a founding member of the New York Spa Promotion Alliance, and served as vice chairman of the International Spa Alliance. He has shaped programs at the Post Ranch Inn, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean from atop the cliffs of Big Sur in California. Tompkins couldn’t be reached for comment on the plan.
Spa design: ‘nice older house’
According to a presentation by the inn to the Town of Washington’s Architectural Review Board (ARB) in January, a “quietly iconic” and “handsome” luxury spa and pool will be constructed where a parking lot currently sits on Main Street. The initial plans for the spa were accepted by the ARB.
The proposed two-and-a-half-story structure — coming in at 18,000 square feet — is designed to “look like a modest-sized, nice older house that’s been turned into a spa,” according to Michael Franck, an architect working on the project. The design draws inspiration from Avon Hall and “Jefferson, Colonial” style, he said.
Managers of many luxury resorts have found that guests — taking in this menu of ways to shape up, relax and rejuvenate — are likely to stay longer, and return more often.
Tompkins would be the third general manager to serve at the inn in the past three and a half years.
The incoming manager’s two predecessors, Ed Gannon and Robert Fasce, left to take senior jobs elsewhere in the hospitality business. Both former managers praised the inn’s reputation and its diversification beyond meals and lodging.
Fasce said in an interview that the business now involves experiences that are “transformative, restorative and life-affirming.” Gannon, as he assumed the post, said on LinkedIn that he was “thrilled” by the opportunity to “work under the guidance of the ‘Pope of American Cuisine,’ chef Patrick O’Connell.”
In 2022, around the time Fasce vacated the general manager position for a senior job at the Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier, Pa., O’Connell unveiled an ambitious expansion plan that would create a courtyard between Gay Street and Main street, add 10 more rooms as well as a large spa with a pool. Since then, some elements have shifted in location, or been relegated to someday-maybe status. However, the spa and pool, to be located across Main Street from the so-called “White House,” where O’Connell’s office is located, has emerged as a top priority in the plan.
Spas are increasingly seen as a strategic advantage among luxury inns and resorts, but challenges have also surfaced in recent years. In an interview in Spa Executive, a magazine serving the industry, Tompkins noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, and just afterwards, spas lost many women massage specialists and other staff because they wanted more time with their families, particularly on weekends.
Tompkins warned that spa managers will lose staff if they promulgate the line that “the spa world is Friday, Saturday, Sunday and you have to work every weekend.” He added that “those spas that are sticking to rigid schedules are finding it very difficult to continue to retain staff.”
