HotelsMag July/August 2025 | Page 19

PROFILE

Homegrown

HOW THE PRESIDENT OF DONOHOE HOSPITALITY TURNED TRAGEDY INTO TRIUMPH.
By DAVID EISEN

Moored in Annapolis, Md., is“ Brother’ s Keeper.” It belongs to Thomas Penny, the president of Donohoe Hospitality, a hotel management company based out of Bethesda, Md., about an hour’ s drive west. Boat naming is an age-old tradition, with some carrying more meaning than others. From“ The Santa Maria” to“ The Stugots,” vessel names waver from the meaningful to the playful. The appellation affixed to Penny’ s boat carries depth as deep as the sea.

Penny’ s tenure in hospitality is one of triumph born from tragedy. It started at 17 and a dishwasher job at a hotel making $ 4.25 an hour. High school graduation neared, he was progressing at work, things looked bright— what better time to celebrate? One evening Penny was out doing just that with his brother, Derrick, two years his senior. In a decision atypical of his age, Penny turned in early since he worked the next morning. It was the last time he’ d see his brother, who was killed in a car accident that night.
“ The whole evening he was saying how proud of me he was,” Penny recalled. He grew up quickly in those coming days, tasked by his father to deliver eulogy remarks for a brother he shared a bunk bed with. At one point, Penny knelt next to the casket and made a promise: Everything he did going forward, he’ d do to make his brother proud. Am I my brother’ s keeper? Yes, he is.
DMV PROUD Penny grew up just outside Washington, D. C., in Seat Pleasant, Md., a neighborhood known more for producing NBA talent than hotel executives( it’ s the birthplace and hometown of Kevin Durant).
Eighteen months after washing pots and pans, Penny was named food and beverage director. The executive chef that originally hired him at the hotel now reported to him. At the age of 21, he joined Donohoe, a Bethesda, Md.-based multi-vertical real estate company with roots that stretch back to the late 19th century. There, Penny worked his way up through the ranks, running properties for Donohoe Hospitality, which was launched in 2005 as a hotel operator. He was named president in 2017. In all, Donohoe has six divisions, its newest a residential component, spanning 10,000 units under management, most of which by third party.
Donohoe is firmly entrenched in what’ s colloquially known as the DMV( D. C., Maryland, Virginia). It’ s built more hotels in the region than anyone else, Penny said, typically going as far north as Baltimore and south as Richmond. Donohoe currently
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