ATLANTA — Hotel Equities continues its expansion path, most recently growing its footprint in the Caribbean and Latin America.
The Atlanta-based hotel management, ownership and development company has grown in recent years through partnerships and strategic alliances, designed to grow its third-party management portfolio and also fund acquisitions, said company President and CEO Brad Rahinsky in a video interview held during the recent Hunter Hotel Investment Conference.
“There was a real opportunity for us to jump into the CALA [Caribbean and Latin America] region in a way that maybe has not been done before, in more of a holistic approach, not just from a geographical standpoint but also from a segment and scale standpoint,” he said.
Hotel Equities struck a partnership with Trust Hospitality in March to manage hotels in the Caribbean and Latin America primarily, and also in the U.S.
And while partnerships to expand Hotel Equities’ operations arm have proven successful for the company — in 2023 it grew substantially via strategic alliances with National Hospitality Services and Maximum Hospitality — investment partnerships are key as well, Rahinsky said.
In January, Hotel Equities partnered with private equity firm PPC Enterprises for investment in future acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures and strategic alliances.
“They’ve effectively become our capital arm and our advisers on all things finance … that will help us continue the growth platform that we’re on in a very strategic, intentional way,” Rahinsky said. “We’ve always had access to capital … but we’ve never had this capacity.”
He said the partnership tees Hotel Equities up “to participate in a number of different ways, whether it be additional partnerships, true [mergers and acquisitions], raising key money or putting equity into a project or program or portfolio.”
On the operational side, Rahinsky said Hotel Equities sees the attraction of experience-driven, lifestyle-oriented hotels, be they soft-branded hotels that are part of established brand companies, or independents.
“And we are now looking at outdoor hospitality in a way that as recently as three, four years ago, we would never have looked at as a more traditional legacy company,” he said. “We are now really focused and intentional about jumping into that space in a meaningful way.”
While the company has no specific outdoor hospitality projects to announce, Rahinsky said he expects to enter the segment this year.
For more on Hotel Equities, plus Rahinsky’s take on evolving corporate culture, watch the video above.
(This article was corrected on April 9, 2024, to correctly identify Hotel Equities' relationship with Trust Hospitality.)