OPERATIONS
CEO Mike Deitemeyer , along with CFO Thomas Song , were leaving the company , while former president and CEO of Choice Hotels International , Stephen Joyce , was joining the board . Talk of an IPO that didn ’ t materialize was just one thing rumored to have sealed their fate .
There was more underneath , according to Smith , including owners disgruntled over issues from P & L optimization to the inability to fill key roles in a timely fashion . “ They didn ’ t want to wait six weeks or six months for a new general manager to come on board ,” Smith said . “ The smart owners know it all comes down to having the right talent because they know that translates into hotel results .”
The advantage Smith has in his new role is that he comes from a background that ’ s even bigger than Aimbridge — which is saying something , since Aimbridge is the largest thirdparty management company in the world . At Marriott , Smith had more than 2,000 hotels in 131 countries under his aegis . Competency and optimization comes down to many things , but structure is where it starts .
“[ At Marriott ], people would say to me , ’ Gosh , that ’ s a big job .’ And I ’ d respond , ’ Yeah , but it really comes down to how good your lieutenants are and whether they ’ re doing their job and how you structure accountability .’ If you structure accountability right , you can see who ’ s performing and who ’ s not .”
Smith is putting the highest amount of accountability on himself . He said that four times a year he ’ d be doing in-person visits with Aimbridge ’ s top 16 owners — no phone calls here . It means for one week of every month he ’ ll be visiting hotels .
Aimbridge can operate up and down the chain scales , but even Smith says he ’ s still trying to put a finger on “ where we are going to dominate ,” as he put it . “ That ’ s the question I have for myself and my new team — where do we want to really put our money and our time down ?”
He added that by the end of summer he ’ d have a clearer picture of what that is .
The bar and lounge at The LaSalle Chicago , Autograph Collection .
HALL Arts Hotel Dallas , Curio Collection by Hilton . Photo credit : Joseph Haubert Photography
Coachman Hotel in South Lake Tahoe , one of the independent hotels managed by Aimbridge .
62 hotelsmag . com July / August 2024