PROFILE
is back and has been for a few years now,” he said, evidenced by strong rate growth and the return of both corporate travel and association business. The Inauguration didn’ t hurt business, either.
According to CoStar, average daily rates in D. C. have picked up appreciably off their pandemic nadir. Rates in D. C. as of March 2025 are averaging more than $ 200 per night.
Of course, Penny was also bullish on the federal government returning to work; little did he know at the time that the workforce would be drastically cut. Still, as Penny noted, D. C. will always be at the center of things that happen in the world, crowded by donkeys and elephants, alike.“ You might have one party with events planned for one weekend and the other party with events planned for the following weekend,” he said.
Absent from Donohoe’ s portfolio are independent hotels, favoring brands from Marriott International, Hilton, Hyatt Hotels and IHG. Like many hotel executives, he is often asked about the amount of hotel brands and the potential for not just customer confusion, but how the flooding of brands in a particular market can interfere with areas of protection, encroachment clauses that are typically baked into a hotel management contract. Penny maintains a divergent stance, commenting that if the parent brands have a strong loyalty program that can support additional brands and there is no dilution of performance of existing assets in a specific market, he’ s good with it. Conversely, he said,“ To the extent that we’ re introducing new brands that may directly or indirectly compete against existing hotels is obviously a concern.”
They say that hospitality isn’ t learned: you either have it or you don’ t. For Penny, his hospitality bones were forged over a passage in time. His great grandfather migrated north to D. C., in the late 1940s and got a construction job on what would become the very first Marriott hotel— the Twin Bridges Marriott, in contiguous Arlington, Va. As Penny tells it, his great grandfather
Donohoe will manage the dualbrand 258-room-total Hyatt House / Hyatt Place in Las Vegas when it opens in 2027.
The pool area of the upcoming Hyatt House / Hyatt Place combo in Las Vegas.
derived such pleasure working on the hotel’ s construction, that when it opened in 1957, he laid down the hammer and took a position at the property.“ He had such a great sense of pride in it,” Penny said.
The gratification and fulfilment of his great grandfather passed through to Penny and he carries it with him every day, just like the memory of his brother, using both to guide and sharpen his every day. Penny’ s youngish countenance belies his long years of service and leadership and at Donohoe he is helping groom the next generation of hospitality leaders. As a Black man, fairly or not, Penny is often asked his views on matters related to diversity and inclusion, invited to join panels at industry conferences to discuss and
frame the matter within the context of the hospitality industry. He understands why people come to him to talk about it and why it remains a charged topic, but his stance is clear:“ I’ m in the business of creating opportunity and I’ m not trying to create opportunity solely for one group,” he said.
In an industry as diverse as hospitality, one that employs people from an array of backgrounds and ethnicities, heterogeneity is seldom an issue within the front-line operational ranks. In the C-suite, it is more so, but here is where Donohoe thrives.“ If you look at our senior leadership, everybody’ s represented,” Penny said.“ There is no intentionality in that outside of finding the best talent.”
22 hotelsmag. com July / August 2025