With the transition of a handful of properties all through the previous yr, together with three select-service resorts throughout the final month, Spire Hospitality continues to broaden and broaden the make-up of its administration portfolio. The Irving, Texas-based firm—based in 1986 and beforehand generally known as Lane Hospitality—manages a various portfolio of some 34 full-service, select-service, life-style, and condominium resorts for a number of householders, primarily its mum or dad firm, AWH Companions, LLC.
LODGING lately caught up with CEO Chris Russell—who took the reins of the corporate roughly 5 years in the past—for an outline of Spire, in addition to his ideas on the present administration panorama. The next Q&A represents a portion of the dialog.
LODGING: How has the corporate’s portfolio developed in recent times?
Chris Russell: 5 years in the past, this group was just about targeted in your big-box, full-service resort. We did a variety of that, however now we’ve acquired some completely different product sorts. We’re managing a condominium resort down in Orlando [The Grove Resort & Water Park], and we’ve acquired some select-service resorts, which we didn’t have, in addition to life-style resorts. AWH has accomplished a superb job of shopping for and being in entrance of a few of these transactions for the previous few years, and with that we’ve been capable of diversify our enterprise. We’ve been ready so as to add some third-party [management] as effectively. I believe we’re somewhat extra unfold out now and little bit broader.
How did the corporate navigate by COVID-19, and what was the general impression on enterprise?
Every little thing stayed open; we didn’t lose any resorts. We responded in a short time to our house owners to offer them choices, whether or not they wished to shut or stay open. We’re very lucky to have a variety of nice assist from our house owners/buyers. Like everyone else, we misplaced staff, however we did the most effective we might to retain as many staff as we might. We requested lots of people to put on a variety of completely different hats in our resorts and our [corporate] workplace. We have been capable of ramp up pretty rapidly; like everyone else, leisure did very effectively. With a number of the greater group homes, we tried to enhance what we weren’t getting from group, however issues are coming again fairly properly now. We really feel fairly good about this yr.
There was a variety of consolidation within the administration ranks in recent times, creating a lot of bigger operators. How do you assess the present panorama?
I believe that creates a possibility for the smaller operator, personally. I believe transparency and accessibility are critically necessary. We need to be an possibility for personal fairness [companies] or an impartial investor in the event that they need to work with a smaller firm. Typically it is smart for them to work with an even bigger firm, however regardless, we don’t have a look at ourselves as competing with anyone. Our purpose is to simply do a extremely good job. If somebody needs to name at 9 p.m. on a Friday evening, I reply my cellular phone; that’s what we do. We’re capable of get to the resorts and do what we have to do. So, I believe that we’ve got a possibility proper now to be that firm or administration associate for somebody that wishes that. On the identical time, we’ve acquired staff that need to be a part of a smaller firm and develop, and I believe that’s nice too.
How would you describe the corporate tradition you’ve established with Spire?
We don’t have room for egos; I’ve acquired a job to do exactly as everyone else has a job to do. Collaboration, flexibility, communication, and transparency are most likely the phrases that all of us rally round. We need to be trustworthy, and we need to have a popularity of being so. We completely attempt to be very targeted and balanced on folks’s private wants. We’re household first; if they should take break day, we need to ensure that we will assist them in what they need to do. We’re very approachable, or we attempt to be.
We’re additionally very partnership pushed with our folks within the area. Our GMs, gross sales leaders, and operations group are actually what drive the corporate. Our workplace is right here to assist them, not the opposite means round.
What’s your long-term imaginative and prescient for Spire Hospitality?
We need to be the operator of selection, whether or not it’s for our mum or dad firm or for another person; that’s extremely necessary, and popularity is necessary. We would like the manufacturers to view us pretty much as good operators and need to be the employer of selection. We need to be very concerned the place we will be in serving our communities; that’s necessary. I’ve all the time had the philosophy [that] in case you maintain your head down and do a superb job and also you’re targeted on outcomes, good issues will occur.
We’re going to develop organically. We don’t essentially have anyone on the market pushing third-party enterprise; we do it primarily based on {our relationships} and popularity. AWH is constant to develop; they’re taking a look at alternatives each day, and we’re going to proceed to develop our third-party enterprise as we will. I have a look at it as, we’re not chasing after administration charges, we’re chasing after resorts the place we will get outcomes, and we need to do a superb job managing them.
