Hay Creek Hotels ’ Abbey Inn & Spa in New York ’ s Hudson Valley region
across the West .” For Victory Hotel Group , the goal is to execute opportunities , reposition the assets and then sell its positions in three to five years . “ Our preference is boutiques and independents , but if come across the right branded asset in a major gateway we will execute on it if it ’ s good deal ,” Mount added .
On the performance front , Mount says the story during the pandemic seems to continually change from market to market . In New York City , for example , where Hay Creek operates the 350-room Hotel Beacon , Mount said the number of cancellations that they were seeing for January and February since the Omicron variant spiked was significant .
“ Until that point , it was really gangbusters , it was really doing very well ,” Mount said . “ So , I think we ’ re going to see a little bit of a short-term pivot until it settles down . I also think it ’ s going to recover quickly as people want to travel and get away . The regional drive-to markets ( where 80 % of Hay Creek inventory lies ) are going to continue to be strong , while the bigger inner-city stuff is going to be tough .”
Mount likes to credit Hay Creek ’ s sales team for having done a good job consolidating its marketing team and leveraging the regional marketing aspects to improve demand . “ We are monetizing the opportunities that exist ,” he said . “ The basics are never going to change , and as long as you stay focused on them , you ’ ll be successful .”
40 hotelsmag . com March / April 2022