In 2020, Hotel Management is spotlighting hotel management companies from all corners of the U.S.
This installment focuses on three companies based in the West: Hogan Hospitality Group, Twenty Four Seven Hotels and Lodging Dynamics Hospitality Group.
Continuing family legacy propels Hogan Hospitality to mainland U.S.
Though Gary Hogan created Hogan Hospitality Group just a couple of years ago, its Hawaii-focused arm has been around for decades. Created as a subsidiary of his parents Ed and Lynn Hogan’s travel company Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays, Hawaiian Hotels and Resorts has operated branded and independent resorts in the state for more than 30 years. In 2017, however, Hogan decided to take the company to the mainland, and that’s when he came up with the company’s new name: Hogan Hospitality Group. “I wanted a kind of legacy for my parents,” explained the CEO. While he was exploring potential West Coast properties, Gary Hogan met John Manderfield and decided to buy his company, Marin Management. “It was a great fit for him, kind of wanting to retire, and us, jumping into the U.S. market on the West Coast,” said Hogan. Today, the company operates properties under both the Hawaiian Hotels and Resorts and Marin Management names, but Hogan said the company is looking to get its name out in the future. “I’m looking at a-little-larger hotels, maybe 400-key properties, having those fall under Hogan Hospitality,” he said.
Headquarters: Honolulu
Number of properties: 31
Number of guestrooms: 3,800
Website: www.hoganhospitalitygroup.com
Contact: Geoff Graf 808-351-9086 [email protected]
‘Focused’ Twenty Four Seven brings ownership point of view
When they first met, Twenty Four Seven Hotels’ CEO David Wani and President Drew Hardy were working at the management, development and investment company Tarsadia Hotels. “We both had an entrepreneurial side to us, and we were at a point where we felt ‘Hey, everything that we’re doing here, we’re capable of doing on our own,’” Wani said. Starting out with a SpringHill Suites by Marriott in Boise, Idaho, the pair have grown their venture to 23 hotels in the upper-midscale and upscale segments. Though it is a decade and a half later, the two find themselves still applying lessons they learned at their former employer. “I think it really ingrained in us an understanding from an owner’s mindset,” said Hardy. “We kind of layer in that owner’s viewpoint, understand what the ownership’s objectives are long-term and bring sort of that asset management set of eyes to the table, too.” Wani highlighted another lesson the two brought over from Tarsadia: staying geographically focused. “We’re not trying to be everything to everybody,” he said. “We really are focused in our markets and we’re focused in the segments we’re doing business with.”
Headquarters: Newport Beach, Calif.
Number of properties: 23
Number of guestrooms: 3,205
Website: www.247hotels.com
Contact: Gary Gray 949-734-6415 [email protected]
Utah-based management company finds it footing during recession
As other businesses recovered from the Great Recession, Lodging Dynamics Hospitality Group thrived. In 2009—having just rebranded from Zions Hospitality Management Services to give itself “more of a national presence,” according to President Joel Sybrowsky—the company grew its management portfolio from three to seven hotels. “We, by all respects, should have failed miserably,” admitted Sybrowsky. “Growing through that period and bringing our executive team together with the lessons that we needed to learn in 2008, 2009 and 2010 could not have better prepared for us for the future.” In the decade since, the company has continued to grow. Today, it operates 24 hotels with another 19 in its pipeline. Like its size, its footprint has also exploded outward, with properties located in Hawaii and California, all the way over to Illinois. Led by an executive team with experience on both the East and West coasts, Sybrowsky said it has stayed focused on the West and Midwest simply out of convenience. “I think our capability expands beyond our current management handprint.”
Headquarters: Provo, Utah
Number of properties: 24
Number of guestrooms: 2,491
Website: www.lodgingdynamics.com
Contact: Scott McAllister 801-919-3416 [email protected]