Brittain Resorts & Hotels Eyes Expansion Outside of South Carolina

Brittain Resorts & Hotels’ portfolio mostly features independent properties with a few branded hotels, but they have a commonality: close proximity to a South Carolina beach. As the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina-based hotel owner and operator sets its sights on growth, expanding to other states and locations is in the cards.

“Our history and our experience is in the big-box resort locations. That doesn’t mean it has to be on a beach,” said Christy Jernigan, chief development officer at Brittain Resorts & Hotels. “There are lots of interior locations that we could go.”

There’s a lot of opportunity in states such as Florida and Texas, and regions such as the Caribbean, Jernigan said. She added that hotels that interest the company typically have an additional component such as a golf course, multiple food-and-beverage outlets, or retail.

The company is also making a concerted effort to sign more third-party management deals, which is part of a strategic shift to prioritize expansion that started more than a year ago. Jernigan, who was hired by Brittain Resorts & Hotels in July, said the company's approach to growth started with building out its development, accounting and operational staff.

“There are some companies in the industry that tend to add the properties and then add the infrastructure, and we kind of wanted to take the opposite approach to that,” she said.

Part of building up its infrastructure included investing in an “AI-driven business intelligence technology matrix” that is nearly complete. The matrix is intended to simplify, streamline and enhance its portfolio’s property management and revenue-management services while also answering guest requests, service orders and more.

“We do think we’re at the forefront in the AI-led initiative within the industry,” she said. “We started with systems all over the place, and what we did is we consolidated that and streamlined that, and at the center of that, what we’ve done is we’ve added [artificial intelligence] and [business intelligence] tools that can speak to all of the different software.”

Jernigan said demand for the company’s hotels has been “really good” despite a slight decline due to many Americans opting to travel internationally this summer.

“Those first three years after COVID, everybody got in their car and drove to the beach. A lot of those [travelers] are now getting on a plane and leaving the country,” she said. “I wouldn’t say the market is down; I think the market has corrected itself.”

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