What a luxury hotel manager packs when he travels | Canada Voices

For many years, Anthony Campaniaris had a reputation among his friends and family: A frequent business traveller, he was notorious for being stuck at the airport because of delayed or cancelled flights, whether it was a string of bad luck or simply inevitable owing to his busy travel schedule. He flies twice a quarter, at least, which Campaniaris says has helped him master the art of efficient packing.

September marks two years since Campaniaris took the helm at Toronto’s 1 Hotel as general manager. His long career as a hotel executive includes roles at top hospitality brands such as Hilton, The Hazelton Hotel, Shangri-La, The Anndore House and Nobu Hotel, both in Warsaw and his hometown of Toronto.

All of this has meant a lot of global travel for corporate conferences.

A tailored blazer, dark denim jeans and a pair of Chelsea boots are Campaniaris’s go-to uniform for those business-casual conferences, which means he doesn’t have to think too much about what to pack. The added benefit of these pieces is that they transition well to dinners with colleagues, he says.

Campaniaris has learned to limit himself to a carry-on for business trips. He admits that when he travels for pleasure he packs “everything except the kitchen sink,” so on his most recent trip to Nashville for a 1 Hotel corporate meeting, he had to resist the urge to take his cowboy hat and boots. “When I’m travelling for work, I think about functionality,” he says.

As for getting stuck at the airport, he now tries to arrive as close to his departure time as possible, monitoring his phone for updates on delays.

“I’m very fortunate that the roles in my life have had me sitting in airports. But I want to spend as little time in the airport as possible. Nobody wants to wait around at a gate,” he says.