THERE ’ S THIS KIND OF FORCED TURNOVER … IT ’ S NOT SO MUCH DRIVEN BY A LENDER WHO ’ S GOING TO TAKE OVER THE ASSET BECAUSE MANY ASSETS ARE WORTH MORE THAN THEIR FINANCING . BUT IT ’ S JUST THE NATURE OF THE BUSINESS CAUSING THE TURNOVER , AND WE LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES WHERE WE THINK THE OWNER NEEDS TO SELL – IT ’ S A BETTER DYNAMIC IN THE BUY-SELL PROCESS .
– CHAD COOLEY
The result : Not a single hotel asset was lost and today every asset that is in the portfolio is in good standing , Cooley says .
AWH also spent much of COVID automating its investment process through a cloud-based database that is starting to pay bigger dividends . AWH dealmakers are more likely able to make evaluations today in three hours instead of three days . “ It ’ s not making investment decisions for us , but it ’ s putting all the information in front of us for a healthy conversation ,” Cooley adds .
BULLISH PACE On the performance side last year , Cooley says the group regularly beat monthly budgets – handily so by the end of each month . In fact , in December 2021 , with a primarily urban , corporate and group focus , RevPAR exceeded 2019 levels . Again , looking ahead , the edict is don ’ t assume a slow recovery , according to Cooley . “ Let ’ s take what we learned in 2021 , which is this market is going to come back fast if the circumstances will allow … We ’ re very bullish on the pace of recovery once we ’ re kind of beyond the risks .”
Most of the AWH assets are managed by Spire Hospitality , which Cooley also says did a remarkable job during COVID . “ There were so many hard decisions to make during COVID . But CEO Chris Russell did it like a pro ,” Cooley says . “ We are on track to have by far the biggest year ever for Spire ’ s revenues and profits .”
Generally speaking , Cooley says over the next decade AWH is expecting a renaissance in the hotel business . “ Mobility and the desire of people to travel has grown exponentially and will continue to do so , and that ’ s going to drive value in our business .”