Meet today’s artisan, Eric Freitas Orford, who is the General Manager of The Ludlow!
Generation: Millennial
Hometown: Ponte Da Barca, Portugal
Day Job: Steering and developing people
Night Job: Explorer of beauty within spaces
Headquarters: New York City
Instagram: @freitasorford
Tell us what you create: A space for both guests and staff to be inspired and collaborate.
Tell us your mission: To always remain engaged, grounded, and continue the path of personal growth.
Tell us your most noteworthy achievement in hospitality: Co-developed a project in Chelsea in which I was allowed to explore my creative vision.
Tell us how your hotel impacts the world in a positive way: The Ludlow, part of BD hotels, strives to always ensure our relationships and partnership are personal with the local community. We provide a space where artists can expose their work within the hotel to gain exposure to the local community. We strive to ensure that most products carried within the hotel are produced and sourced locally.
If you had one day to experience your hotel, what would you do?: The lower east side is a land mine of history and creative exploration. Directly across from The Ludlow stands Katz Deli, with infamous pastrami sandwiches that are world renown. I would recommend sitting inside and admiring hundreds of pictures expanding through the walls of famous celebrities and personalities that have visited throughout the years. Then, walk down Orchard Street, which has some incredible art galleries nestled in the streets and underground. Continue to walk down toward China Town where you could have a lowly afternoon cocktail at Le Dive, and for a moment, you would think you might be in Le Marais in Paris people watching. Complete your afternoon by visiting BODE, a unique men’s brand developed and launched in Lower East Side. Finish your evening with a movie at Metrograph on Ludlow Street, where you can sit and watch a movie accompanied by fabulous cocktails and food.
Tell us what your favorite part of being a boutique hotel operator is: My favorite part is being able to be part of a team and to collectively influence a vision to drive forward, as well as having and supporting relevant conversations within the community and working toward making our hotel our guest’s home in New York. The love for this job is about learning about the people that stay with us, and why, and understanding their values and how we can fit within them. This is a people business, and I never forget that.
The Ludlow is a cherry-picked approved boutique hotel.
