This third-party management stalwart is leveraging a new merger, new markets and a history of operational excellence to raise its own outperformance bar.
WATERFORD, Connecticut ─ Waterford Hotel Group is entering its fifth decade with momentum built on 40 years of disciplined growth and operational execution. Long recognized as a regional leader, this third-party management firm is now leveraging that foundation ─ and a recent merger ─ to compete on a national stage.
Chief Growth Officer Duane Schroder outlined how the group will evolve its core tactics to support these next-level goals in this exclusive interview. What won’t change is the methodical discipline and opportunistic approach that built Waterford’s track record. What will change is the increasing customization of those strategies across an expanded portfolio, new product verticals, and additional markets to drive scalable growth.
Duane Schroder, Waterford Hotel Group
Merger, not moonshot
The strategic partnership with Chicago-based Maverick Hotels & Restaurants, finalized last December, enhances the resources and reach of both companies. The combined 53-property portfolio provides access to assets and deal flow neither could have pursued independently.
But Schroder emphasized the deal is about more than size. Waterford was already coming off a strong year, adding 16 hotels through a mix of individual assignments and multi-property engagements.
“We saw that what we were doing on the development and sales sides was working. We weren’t looking to make a great leap,” he said. “Then the opportunity arose to have a conversation with Maverick.”
Early discussions between Waterford Chairman and CEO Len Wolman and Maverick Founder and CEO Robert Habeeb centered on culture and alignment before turning to financials. Deeper analysis revealed opportunities to expand capital relationships, pursue development in high-demand markets, and execute operational synergies to enhance performance.
Rather than pursuing immediate full integration, leadership chose a deliberate, phased approach — operating in parallel to evaluate synergies and determine the strongest long-term structure. The goal is to emerge as a more cohesive and powerful platform.
“When people talk about the upside, they focus on size,” Schroder said. “While that matters, the real potential lies in sharing expertise, broadening capital relationships, and combining best practices to drive stronger results.”
Syncing value-add
“There are clear synergies we’re actively leveraging — from insurance and procurement to operational execution across departments,” Schroder said. “The focus is simple: How do we elevate performance across the portfolio?”
Teams are aligning functions across accounting, marketing, social media, and technical services to identify efficiencies and improve results.
“The value from technical services is significant,” he added. “It’s not just renovation cost management ─ although that’s critical when pricing PIPs and delivering projects on time. It’s the proactive understanding of building systems and asset preservation that builds trust with our ownership groups.”
Waterford Hotel Group added 16 hotels in 2025, including its first in Atlanta, the Courtyard Atlanta Norcross/Peachtree Corners.
Where to grow next
The Maverick partnership, along with Waterford’s expansion into markets such as New Orleans, Atlanta, and the BWI airport region, strengthens the company’s positioning beyond its historical footprint.
“For years, we heard, ‘You’re that Northeast operator,’” Schroder said. “While that’s where we were founded, our portfolio today is far more geographically diversified. That expansion has enhanced our credibility with lenders and capital partners.”
Established operations in multiple markets give investors confidence that their capital is supported by local expertise and institutional infrastructure, according to Schroder.
“We’re opportunistic,” he said. “We look for assets that aren’t operating at peak performance and apply our discipline to unlock value. We’re also pursuing compact full-service hotels and expanding our education-aligned properties. Our capital partners rely on us to source the right projects and demonstrate how we’ll execute successfully in each market.”
Expansion into new segments
Waterford’s opportunism has also extended its presence in lifestyle and independent hospitality.
“If you’d asked us 18 months ago whether we expected to grow our independent portfolio meaningfully, we probably would have said no,” Schroder noted.
The engagement to manage 11 independent hotels in New Orleans marked a defining step forward. While Waterford already operated independent properties ─ particularly those aligned with educational institutions and several other standalone assets ─ this opportunity built out that expertise at greater scale. It further diversified the portfolio and strengthened the company’s ability to operate across both branded and independent segments.
The Maverick merger expands Waterford's access to key markets with properties such as Sable at Navy Pier Chicago, Curio Collection by Hilton.
“When we expanded into independents, we saw an opportunity to craft a balanced portfolio tailored to each market and ownership objective,” Schroder said. “Our experience allowed us to blend operational structure with the creativity required to create differentiated offerings.”
“Independent hotels require both discipline and flexibility,” he added. “We provide institutional infrastructure —accounting, controls, reporting — while giving owners the freedom to differentiate through marketing and positioning.”
Benefits of a national footprint
Increased scale adds another layer to Waterford’s development strategy, with geographic diversification helping balance portfolio performance and enhance capital protection.
The expanded platform also strengthens brand relationships, creating greater flexibility when aligning the right flag with the right asset under the right terms ─ particularly important as PIPs can range from $35,000 to $50,000 per key.
“It’s a wide-open playing field,” Schroder said. “Working collaboratively with the brands, we can create additional upside by aligning on common goals of guest service and product integrity and focusing on top- and bottom-line contribution.”
The road to 45: Thoughtful, programmatic growth
Don’t expect another major leap in the near term.
“We see the next few years as a period of sustained, disciplined growth,” Schroder said, referencing the continued alignment of the Maverick partnership. “Our focus is thoughtful expansion — particularly in segments like micro full-service hotels, where we see strong demand and compelling development economics. At the same time, we’re leveraging Maverick’s expertise and capital relationships to support continued growth. It’s about building depth in the right markets and executing with precision.”
While not ruling out another bold move, the current priority is refinement — optimizing recently added properties while continuing to enhance long-held assets.
Asked what would top his wish-list of next steps, he said: a controlled capital vehicle that would allow the company to bring investors into its own fund and enable Waterford to identify and execute on the deals that would benefit most from its enterprise strengths.
“Whatever the decision we’re considering ─ from the financials to operations to a merger ─ the central issue is the same: What can we bring to realize maximum benefits for our owners, our partners, our associates, our guests and our company? If we do not see a way to drive peak performance to all of the stakeholders, we need to move onto a deal that does. That is how we will continue to evolve,” said Schroder.
Mary Scoviak is custom and design content director at Hotel Investment Today by Northstar.
The views and opinions expressed in this content do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hotel Investment Today by Northstar or Northstar Travel Group and its affiliated companies.