He also might have inherited a bit of the entrepreneurial gene from his father, who co-founded the Red Roof Inns motel chain.
Red Roof Inn and Motel 6 are economy brands that are hard to get a return on if you build a new one using their prototype.
Accor found that its luxury hotel brand, Sofitel, was hit hard by the recession, but its more down-to-earth chains (such as Ibis and Red Roof Inns, which rely heavily on domestic car-bound travellers) counterbalanced that effect.
Red Roof Inn is particularly bad: they deliver a very good mid-market product at a costly investment, but insist on claiming an economy hotel market position and charging an economy price, even in markets where they could easily command a higher rate.
They updated the plumbing and electrical wiring and installed a new red-slate roof.
To that end, both the 3, 000-square-foot, three-bedroom house and the 16, 000-square-foot winery are clad in ancient-looking limestone siding and topped with red-clay roof tiles imported from France.
Visitors on the cruise ships that dock here are greeted by scarlet-red pillar-boxes, and even a roof bearing the red, white and blue union flag.
Guernsey Police had to close Les Banques earlier from the Red Lion towards Admiral Park because a flat roof blew off a building near the Red Lion pub.
Water dripped from the roof of the porch onto the red and black tiles.
This cutting of red tape has delighted business - and doubtless those wanting a roof extension, too - but green groups and civic groups fear that the new system has handed power to a quango from politicians and people.
"The first row of seats will be just 21 feet from the touch lines, "says Red Bulls spokesman Andy McGowan, who also notes that a translucent roof will cover every seat in the house.
It was a national treasure, with a golden pagoda-style roof the size of a football field supported by a forest of red pillars each more than three metres around.
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