October 23, 2012 - Two leading hotel management and development companies have teamed up to develop and operate select service hotels in the Western United States. Under the team concept, Hotel Managers Group holds an equity position in Western Hotel Partners. Western Hotel Partners, or WHP, is the development arm and Hotel Managers Group or HMG, is the management arm.

The team has opened and is currently operating the 129-room Hampton Inn and Suites, McCarron Airport, Las Vegas, NV. The hotel opened in December 2008 and has been acclaimed as a creatively designed and successful operation.

Chuck Creigh, WHP managing member and highly regarded Nevada Real Estate expert and developer, states: “We opened our first hotel during the worst of the 2008 economic downturn and although we struggled initially, our management team worked hard to achieve above market performance and profitability.”

Creigh also noted that, “We own a superior Las Vegas three acre site in proximity to the strip and McCarron International Airport, which we intend to develop into a 150+ room branded product.”

According to Jack Giacomini, Chairman of HMG Hotels, “Our teams’ success with our first hotel has enabled us to proceed with our second development now that equity and debt appear to be ready to reenter the hotel sector. Although we have no definite commitments for debt or equity, we are receiving increasing interest due to the anticipated recovery.” Chuck Creigh believes that successful hotel development depends on a strategic combination of design concepts and superior management disciplines that include up-to-the-minute marketing approaches.

Giacomini agrees: “A successful hotel project depends on three primary factors: location, concept, and management. Location dictates the concept (ie the brand, full or select service, design, features and benefits) and concept dictates the management disciplines, including marketing techniques and price points.”

WHP has plans to expand its development horizons and is in discussions with several equity investor groups that enable project development and acquire distressed properties. HMG has been in business for over 27 years and has operated over 80 hotel projects in diverse markets during that time. “The synergistic teaming of our venture combines unmatched operations know-how with unique development talent,” according to Giacomini.

WHP’s Creigh states that: “The trick to successful projects is in the expertise of the management applied to overall operation of what is essentially a retail business built on real estate. We can design and build a palace, but unless that building is managed on a 24/7 basis with attention to marketing, customer satisfaction, guest loyalty, staff training, and efficient management disciplines designed to maximize revenue and profits, then the palace is a failure. Fortunately, our team includes a proven hotel management expert with over 35 years of hotel management success.”

Giacomini agrees: “We see too many instances where owners with good business experience often fail at hotel management due to an inability to understand the ins and outs of modern hotel marketing practices. It is critical for a hotel owner to appreciate all the factors that create guest loyalty, which is what builds repeat business.”

“It appears that the WHP/HMG team’s focus on hands-on, 24/7 management disciplines ensures their development success,” claims Robert Benton, a nationally recognized hotel feasibility consultant.

When asked “Why develop in Las Vegas first, when that City was one of the most seriously impacted from the economic recession?” Creigh responded, “According to the HVS 2012 United States Valuation Index, Las Vegas is projected to capture the largest growth of any market in 2012/2013. Las Vegas has an indisputable record of bouncing back and its primary market is of course the leisure market as well as the meeting and group convention market. As the economy recovers, demand for accelerated business meetings will steadily improve, driving occupancy and ADR to robust levels once again. Las Vegas is projected to capture the largest growth of any convention market in 2012/2013.”

For more information contact: Alan Bowles, Senior Vice President at 310-529-3040 or 424-237-2913 and at [email protected]