5 quotes you need to read

From details on a new deal, ideas on how to drive revenue, and a sneak peak to a newsworthy story coming on Monday, here are some of our most noteworthy quotes from the past week.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“We are looking at opportunities together, but there’s no obligation for them to invest in new assets. Obviously, they are a real estate player, and the intent is to try to work together to grow the brand. But we are the ones who are operating and managing all the other properties. So, a majority of the growth is going to be third-party brand management.” -- Phil Zrihen, head of Americas for Ennismore, on their new partnership with Cain International  Read story

“Walk the property, and walk it again. Can you add a rooftop bar? Is there an application for a food truck? Can you stage pop-ups? Done right, they can make five- to six-figure annual contributions to the revenue stream. Is there a way to put executives in smaller offices in less desirable areas to free up space for retail? At one property, we found a 500-square-foot closet that was elevated to retail space. Not only does it contribute to the top and bottom line, its location helps draw guests and visitors to what was an a hard-to-find signature restaurant.” -- Paul Breslin, managing director, Horwath HTL-Atlanta  Read story

“Even without the full return of the international traveler, Puerto Rico’s recovery has been incredibly strong. Discover Puerto Rico reported back-to-back record years of visitation, spending and tourism jobs, with more than 5.1 million passengers arriving at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport last year… Hurricane Fiona in September 2021 put a temporary damper on travel, but even still, according to the island’s marketing agency, lodging demand was higher in the last three months of the year than it was before the pandemic.” – Tanya Zapata, acquisition associate at Driftwood Capital, Miami, Florida  Read story

“We realized the markets were getting tougher and tougher. We ran through the process with local lenders and it turns out it’s very competitive in the southwest Arkansas, northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri areas. There are 15 midsize banks and they’re all very competitive with each other. We ran a process and we also secured a recourse loan via strong relationship that we have with a local investor… We got a preferred rate from a strong bank in the area. That allowed us to reduce our financing costs and gave us good terms. They felt comfortable with their position and we felt comfortable in the cost of capital that we need to secure. So that ended up being a win-win for both sides.” – Stephen Chan, principal and cofounder, Eagle Point Hotel Partners  Read story

TEASER QUOTE (look for full story on Monday)
“Business is booming on the property side. Yet we’re seen as a hotel management company and [a hotel owning company]. So, we’re assessing if we can separate all three into a pure asset-light hotel management company, put the hotels we own into a REIT perhaps, and hive off property development in Phuket, which is generating the bulk of profits currently.” – KP Ho, executive chairman, Banyan Tree Group