Determination, fascination drive new Hard Rock Hotel’s GM

By Penni Crabtree – UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Friends and colleagues attribute Robert Todak’s success in the hotel business to a killer work ethic, a passion for detail, and a flawless sense of style.

But Todak, general manager of downtown San Diego’s new Hard Rock Hotel, tells it differently.

“I’ve been really fortunate. I had a lot of good breaks. And it all stems from the day that I went into the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and the Rockette liked me,” Todak said, with deadpan delivery.

Todak is not only a guy who knows how to tell a good story – more on the Rockette later – he also has plenty of stories to tell. The hotelier honed his trade at the side of hotel czar Ian Schrager, half of the team that created the iconic 1970s New York City nightclub Studio 54 and who later pioneered the concept of the boutique hotel.

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