Launched during the hotel industry's most challenging period in history, Five Senses Hospitality Management's principals saw a unique opportunity to acquire assets as well as assemble a team of talented individuals who have been sidelined because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"If you marry those two together, as well as offering our services to other owners who want a smaller, more attentive, more nimble management company, we thought it was an amazing opportunity and the perfect time to kick-start Five Senses last summer," said Five Senses President and co-founder Chris Manley.

Formerly with Stonebridge Companies, Manley has been in the hospitality industry for nearly 30 years. He and co-founder Jeff Blackman, who is also president of Bedford Lodging, began formulating the idea for the Denver-based company last year and announced its launch on Feb. 24, 2021.

Blackman, who has been in the hotel industry for 25 years and started development company Bedford Lodging in 2013, said he used third-party management for Bedford Lodging's properties. However, when COVID-19 hit, it became apparent that now is the time to have control at the property level.

Manley said his new company's day-to-day management strategy will be one of the most important pillars in its quest to take existing properties and help them recover to 2019 topline and profitability levels.

Five Senses has taken a thoughtful approach to growing its management portfolio, primarily with Marriott International- and Hilton-branded properties in the select-service and extended-stay segments, Manley said.

"We think our expertise lends well to operating those. Also, we think those product types lend themselves best to long-term sustainable cash flows to our investor partners," he said.

The company currently has five properties it manages in Colorado: The 62-room Golden Hotel; 127-room Springhill Suites by Marriott Denver/West Golden; 122-room Residence Inn Boulder/Broomfield/Interlocken; 90-room Fairfield Inn Boulder/Broomfield/Interlocken; and 40-room University Inn.

Additionally, it has three properties under due diligence and two under development.

Over the course of 2021, Manley said he hopes to grow the portfolio to 15 properties through a combination of acquisitions and selective third-party agreements. Ideally, his goal is to have between 30 and 40 properties in the portfolio.

That size would allow the company to "give our owners the attention they deserve by keeping a pulse on what's going on at each individual property — we want to be big but not too big," he said.

The company is focusing on locations primary and secondary markets in the Southeast and Western U.S., homing in on drive-to leisure areas.

Blackman said having team members on the ground in those areas will open up additional opportunities for the company in development or acquisitions, adding that the Hyatt House brand by Hyatt Hotels Corp. is another attractive prospect.

Five Senses also has an exclusive partnership with Blackman's Bedford Lodging to manage the day-to-day operations of its assets.

"Our investors in Bedford Lodging were very optimistic in supporting the initiation of this new company. They felt like it was a value-add proposition to be a little more hands-on," he said.

Blackman said projects under development include a Tapestry by Hilton outside of Aspen, which is a market that has fared well over the past year, and a yet-to-be branded property in Salt Lake City, Utah, slated for 2022.

Manley said there's not a great deal of ground-up development occurring, but many properties are requiring large renovations or rebranding, which gives the feeling of a brand-new development.

He said he expects a lot of brand transitions over the next couple years, and those represent opportunities.

"One of the [properties] we have under contract is exactly that; it's a closed hotel that we are upbranding and we'll spend almost as much on the renovation as we are on the acquisition of any property itself," he said.

He said he has also noticed a flight of independent hotels looking to join a brand as they realize the strength of some brand loyalty programs, especially in a soft market.

Manley said the talent available for hospitality now represents "first-round draft picks," since the pandemic put so many people out of work at all levels of the industry.

While he said he is concerned 2020's mass losses will result in talented people who leave the industry and don't come back, those who remain in hospitality may have opportunities to accelerate their careers.

He anticipates hiring hourly employees will be a challenge as the summer months approach.

"Labor is going to be as much of a challenge as it was pre-COVID because you have some team members who aren't comfortable going back to work and some who aren't going to come back because of the extended unemployment benefits, but demand is going to snap back fairly quickly, especially in the drive-to leisure markets," he said.

"While we've had a nice respite from labor challenges in terms of finding labor, I don't think it's going to last very long."

To overcome that, he said it all comes back to the core principles of taking care of employees and helping them grow their careers.

Blackman said he and Manley spend a lot of time ensuring the company culture is positive in order to attract and retain talent.