HotelsMag March-April 2022 | Page 41

WITH JUNE 2021 ACQUISITION OF HAY CREEK HOTELS , VICTORY HOTEL GROUP CONTINUES TO LOOK FOR GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES , INCLUDING MORE PORTFOLIO DEALS .
by JEFF WEINSTEIN , EDITOR IN CHIEF

So many hoteliers are industry lifers and they keep finding ways to reinvent themselves . Take Greg Mount , a long-time Starwood Hotels guy who from 2014 through 2019 led Red Lion Hotels , growing the brand through acquisition to some 1,300 hotels at its peak from about 50 properties .

Today , Mount sits as co-founder and partner at Victory Hotel Group , which was founded in 2021 when it acquired a majority stake in boutique operator Hay Creek Hotels . It also partners with Equis Hotels to provide a variety of hotel consulting services .
Naturally , Mount ’ s working partners in Victory include people he has worked with and done deals with over the years . Victory COO Gary Sims was a long-time colleague at Red Lion and Starwood Hotels . His Hay Creek partner is long-time Westin comrade Norman MacLeod , who was ready to sell a stake in his 15-year-old Hay Creek brand to only the right partner . MacLeod remains the day-to-day leader of the brand .
Mount ’ s equity partners at Victory are people he has done some 20 deals with over the years and came to him pre-pandemic and said they really liked the independent boutique hotel space in higher barrier to entry locations . They wanted to provide the equity to go out and acquire those assets . So , yes , long-time industry relationships led to the start of Victory Hotel Group .
Today , with equity partners Steve Fishman and Shelbourne Capital , Mount has helped grow Exeter , New Hampshire-based Hay Creek to close to 30 properties from about 23 at the time of the June 2021 acquisition . It still likes drive-to regional and high barriers to entry markets and generally prefers to take about a 10 % to 20 % equity stake in new deals . Victory works with high-net worth investors as well as family office and equity fund capital , and is growing primarily via off-market opportunities likely not on the radars of the larger and aggressive management company giants too often , Mount said , more willing to pay higher multiples for assets in their quests to go public .
Hay Creek differentiates itself with its F & B expertise , according to Mount , and has legs for growth , which could include another management company acquisition in addition to single asset addons . “ We continue to be active , looking for additional management companies in the boutique and independent space for acquisition , Mount told HOTELS just after the New Year . “ We like the Hay Creek model . We think it has some legs and some interesting aspects to it . They have been very successful not only on the boutique side , but also in the standalone restaurant side in many of the hotels . We would probably keep the brand in most cases . But if it was the right acquisition , we might be inclined to switch names .” More recently in December 2021 , Victory and Hay Creek announced the addition of six new agreements closed in the 4th quarter of 2021 , including much desired expansion of upscale independent hotels into the West Coast ( Nevada ) of the United States .
The pipeline is very diverse , according to Mount , with a mix of new development and existing asset opportunities . “ We are very bullish on what we ’ ve been able to achieve thus far ,” he said , “ and we are exceeding the equity returns that we had put forth in Hay Creek . At this point , it ’ s going to continue to deliver some momentum . We have our first property out West and we ’ re going to continue to push West ( it was negotiating a deal in Monterey , California , at press time ). Hay Creek is primarily an Upper East Coast regional company , and our plan is to grow it down the East coast , as well as
“ THEY [ HAY CREEK HOTELS ] HAVE BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL NOT ONLY ON THE BOUTIQUE SIDE , BUT ALSO IN THE STANDALONE RESTAURANT SIDE IN MANY OF THE HOTELS . WE WOULD PROBABLY KEEP THE BRAND IN MOST CASES . BUT IF IT WAS THE RIGHT ACQUISITION , WE MIGHT BE INCLINED TO SWITCH NAMES .”
– GREG MOUNT
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