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Mindset Change, University Market Dynamics Sparked Study Hotels Brand

Founder Recognized Need for Full-Service Hotel Offering on College Campuses
Study Hotels President and founder Paul McGowan launched the brand in 2009. (Study Hotels)
Study Hotels President and founder Paul McGowan launched the brand in 2009. (Study Hotels)
Hotel News Now
November 16, 2021 | 1:27 P.M.

Study Hotels founder and President Paul McGowan realized in 2019 that he no longer had a small company with two hotels but rather a full-fledged brand in the making, and time and energy must be spent on building a backbone to support it.

McGowan created Study Hotels in 2009, starting with the 124-room boutique The Study at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, as its debut hotel.

Prior to Study Hotels, McGowan held roles at Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts and W Hotels. He said he was looking for development opportunities while at the same time taking his daughter on college visits, and he recognized there was a need for full-service, high-quality accommodations in many university markets.

"The demand became pretty obvious to me," he said, noting existing hotels in university markets were primarily limited service.

Much of that has to do with the natural cycle of a school year, meaning many markets couldn't get 12 full months of business, he said.

McGowan sought to change that, committing to a full-service model. He noted it was important for the hotels to have a dedicated restaurant, among other attributes.

The other decision he made was to ensure that each hotel must be right on campus, not just in close proximity.

"We went about the process of carefully understanding what we thought was important to people visiting a university campus and developed our Study Hotels around tapping into all the richness that universities offer," he said.

In addition to the Yale property, Study Hotels has The Study at University City in Philadelphia. New additions include the recent soft opening of The Study at University of Chicago and The Study at Johns Hopkins to come in the second quarter of 2022.

Study Hotels owns, manages and operates all of its hotels.

"It's a one-stop shop," he said.

The Study at Yale hotel in New Haven, Connecticut, was the debut property for the Study Hotels brand. (Study Hotels)

McGowan's competitive edge in developing Study Hotels comes from his background in branding, which helped him determine in the beginning if the idea "truly had legs."

He and his team put energy into immersing themselves into each university market to connect with locals and guests.

Despite what the overall hotel industry is going through during the pandemic, McGowan said the idea of university hotels is just as strong today as it was pre-pandemic.

Universities Seeking Study Hotels

McGowan said the Baltimore, Philadelphia and Chicago hotel deals were referrals from universities that recognized what Study Hotels did on Yale's campus.

"To be invited to that conversation, as an owner, we take great pride in," he said.

He describes Study Hotels' growth strategy as opportunistic.

In terms of development, McGowan said the Johns Hopkins hotel is being converted from an existing apartment building owned by the university, directly across from the student center.

Study Hotels develops both conversion and new-build hotels, depending on the location. He noted sometimes converting an existing building can create challenges but forces more creativity.

The Chicago property was new-build, and his team needed to be careful about the scale of the building, ensuring it's wouldn't compete with the adjacent conference center.

"We like both. It's probably easier to find conversions on university campuses but, again, the desire to be on campus does limit the number of places that we build," he said.

He said his team is still in active communication with a few other universities to bring hotels to their campuses.

"We're pursing those, obviously with a little more caution due to timing and what's happening in the world right now, but we'll continue on a more opportunistic strategy going forward," he said.

Vendor Relationships

Study Hotels creates the design concept of each of its hotels, and McGowan stressed the importance of using local construction management firms that know each market.

Additionally, he said his company controls a lot of the finishing touches that guests see, by working with trusted vendors.

"[Vendors] know how difficult is it to make projects work, they understand the constraints of that. We have a really good relationship with them; we believe in them, they come through for us every time," he said.

Goals Ahead

This time next year, Study Hotels will be operating four hotels, McGowan said.

He said the company plans to launch new initiatives for 2022 to be in a position for long-term growth.

"Our business has changed, as well, and understanding what that model looks like going forward," he said, noting as wages and other costs are increasing, "you have to come up with a different strategy in order to be sustainable."

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