INVESTMENT
Renovations are underway at Lowe ’ s recently acquired , 215-room Miramonte Resort & Spa , Indian Wells , California
option as needed in today ’ s environment , the Lowes say the challenge is making investments related to staffing and upgrading technology to manage more efficiently with fewer people . “ We will need to annually invest and add new technology solutions that allow our employees to operate more efficiently ,” Mike says .
The other thing Lowe is managing with CoralTree is generally higher costs for insurance – both as it relates to health insurance and property insurance given all the natural disasters . “ We have to manage it with higher deductibles ,” Rob says . “ On the health insurance side , we ’ re managing it through improved wellness and safety programming .”
TAKEAWAYS , ADVICE Perhaps the biggest learns for these veteran developers from the last 18 to 24 months , they say relate to better communication and transparency . “ Between managing hotels , owning hotels , as well as considering the guests and even the lenders , if you ’ re not all aligned , clear and aware of what the combination of those stakeholders are doing to help get through the situation , then it just becomes really difficult and uneasy ,” Mike says .
So , from the beginning of the pandemic , the group got out in front of the communication , both verbal and virtual . The result was no major problems with any of their investments or properties they manage . “ Nobody was faulting anybody , and as long as you ’ re out there communicating what was going on and what you were doing to respond and making the right decisions , it felt like everybody was working together .”
The other things the Lowes have learned is how to operate properties with smaller teams and to figure out a longer-term solution as the shift appears permanent , they say . “ We are gradually introducing new technology tools that assist our people and allow them to be more efficient ,” Mike says . “ We have turned to using more mobile device for contactless management , and it is also helping from a service perspective because , for example , the front desk is becoming less of a transactional place and acting more like a concierge service … In food and beverage , particularly the casual ones , contactless ordering is more efficient , too .”
In closing , the Lowes offered this advice to their contemporaries : “ We learned in the Great Recession that if you can hold on , be persistent and tenacious rather than give up , you will end up in a much better place . A few months ago , when a lot of people in the industry were thinking of giving up , we were saying , ‘ don ’ t do that – hang on , the markets are going to recover . There will be something at the other end ,’ and we ’ re still saying that to people … And being able to hold on requires a lot of intense focus on the stakeholders and relationship management .”
20 hotelsmag . com January / February 2022