Park Hotels & Resorts
In his three-plus years leading Asset Management as Executive Vice President, Rob transformed Park Hotels & Resorts’ – the second-largest lodging REIT – asset management platform. In doing so, he also transformed its growth going forward.
Perhaps most impressive was how, under Rob’s leadership and in partnership with Hilton, he instituted a dedicated, owner-centric asset management platform designed to deliver amplified returns. This focus included shifting the sales strategy to take advantage of the large group meeting platform, ensuring the right leaders were in place and conducting a constant evaluation of this opportunity – all while instituting appropriate long-lasting cost containment strategies. He built an internal asset management team that believed in collaboration with all internal and external parties.
A few specific highlights include changing the mindset from an owner/operator to an owner/third party platform that resulted in over 50 Executive Committee changes throughout the portfolio, converting the Doubletree Fess Parker to the Hilton Santa Barbara with first year growth in 2019 of 19.5% in RevPAR and over 700 basis points of Hotel Adjusted EBITDA growth to 45.6%.
In addition, Rob was instrumental in working in partnership with all parties to approve the up-branding of the 1,009-room Hilton Bonnet Creek to the Hilton Signa brand. This repositioning, once completed, will allow the property to further penetrate the group meeting market while taking full advantage of its’ strong amenity package driving occupancy, average rate, and profitability. Rob was deeply involved with Park’s $2.5B acquisition of Chesapeake Lodging Trust in 2019, which transformed Park’s portfolio diversification including brand, geography, and management companies.