HM on Location: A look at the new Aperture Hotels

ATLANTA—Banyan Tree Management historically has been seen almost exclusively as an extension of Banyan Investment Group, providing services only for its portfolio, but that is true no longer. Officials of the now former Banyan Tree Management have relaunched as Aperture Hotels, which will continue to provide hotel management services but plans to expand its third-party management portfolio and possible management company M&A.

According to Charles Oswald, Aperture’s president and CEO, the company launches with a leadership team that has collective experience operating over 80,000 rooms across 400 hotels and resorts in more than 30 states. Oswald spoke to Hotel Management during the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.

“Aperture Hotels fills the gap between today’s oversized management companies with fractured culture and the smaller, less-sophisticated management companies that often lack subject matter expertise,” he said. “In that way, Aperture Hotels appeals to hotel owners seeking management with true business acumen, yet still possessing entrepreneurial spirit.”

The company’s portfolio is initially seeded with 15 properties from Banyan Investment Group comprising 2,000 rooms across 15 hotels and resorts; branded and independent properties in urban, suburban and leisure destination markets throughout the United States. 

“We’ve spent the last year building the right tech stack, operating systems and processes, and hiring top-notch talent in preparation for this day to attract new third-party management contracts and possible M&A opportunities,” Oswald said. “Being a truly independent third-party operator allows for accelerated growth as we can work with a broad array of owners and not solely captive to one investment firm.

Aperture’s initial focus will be on lifestyle, premium select-service and compact full-service properties, but “don’t put us in too tight of a box because we’ve got collective experience across a much broader range of product,” Oswald said.

“We actively and eagerly provide third-party operating services for all hotel owners, and we feel relaunching as a stand-alone entity helps clarify that.  We’ve assembled a senior team that has collective experience operating over 400 hotels in every chain scale, from select-service to premium lifestyle, and we look forward to deploying that experience to help more owners achieve superior guest experience, team member engagement and improved bottom lines.”

In terms of partners, Oswald said Aperture is looking for people and companies that are experienced and like-minded.

“Someone we have a great relationship with and preferably someone who has a real understanding of the business, a solid business acumen that when we're speaking the language of the business, they understand what we're talking about and we're aligned,” he said. “I think cultural alignment is always good and healthy, that they appreciate the way we treat our team. We want to train and develop people and retain people in a way that's superior to what our peers are doing in the industry,”

He also anticipates working more with a smaller number of clients who have more hotels in their portfolios as well as some high-net-worth individuals, some sophisticated private equity and some real estate investment trusts.

“I certainly would like to be a top 25 management company within four years but we're not going to rush it,” Oswald said. “We're only going to work with the right opportunities. It's got to be a good cultural fit. It's got to be a complimentary portfolio. We're not going to do a deal just to do a deal.”

Looking forward, Oswald is optimistic about the direction of the company.

“Most management transition occurs at the point of transaction and we believe that the transaction market will accelerate in the second half of 2023 and leading into 2024,” he said. “And we'll be there. We're ready.”