Stonebridge Companies is hoping to close a busy 2024 strong despite an uncertain economy and unpredictible political climate rearing its head in the fourth quarter.
In May, Stonebridge acquired Real Hospitality Group in a deal that brought its portfolio to 160 rooms with 24,000 rooms across the U.S. Chris Cheney, senior vice president of commercial services at Stonebridge, said the acquisition has been “fantastic.”
“This was an acquisition based on simple math, that one great company plus one great company kind of equals three. Addition by addition rather than subtraction,” he said during a video interview with HNN at last month's Hotel Data Conference. “It’s been truly a complementary addition to Stonebridge, and it allows us to actually have a bigger vehicle to deliver value to the owners we operate for, deliver value to guests, invest in technology and really leverage that at scale.”
Stonebridge has especially leaned hard into technology since the pandemic to allow its commercial team to spend less time finding data and more time reviewing data, he said. The next evolution of technology is to make that reviewing process even easier and quicker, which is where artificial intelligence comes into play.
“Not only will the information be aggregated and delivered in a very efficient manner, but also the insights and the takeaways, I think will be low-hanging fruit right in our inbox, so we can actually go action it and be first to market with a move,” he said.
Given uncertainty in the economy and the U.S. presidential election taking place this November, the fourth quarter “is going to be precarious.” To combat the uncertainty, Stonebridge will stick to doing what it does best: serve its guests and deliver results to owners, he said.
“Deliver guest service, get them to be loyal, get them to come back. Revenue management becomes easier, the sales process becomes easier and that delivers the results to the owners,” he said.
For more from Chris Cheney, watch the video above.