COVER STORY
Margaritaville Hotel San Diego Gaslamp Quarter is part of Davidson ’ s resort vertical . management companies : you need smart , experienced outfits running a business as multifaceted as hotels . It ’ s because of this that Geshay says third-party management has become so complicated because the hotels have become more intricate . It ’ s also why Davidson has been able to rise to the top among the best — selected by blue-chip companies to operate their hotels .
It ’ s also Davidson ’ s point of differentiation . The company made the purposeful decision to stick to operating higher-segmented hotels and resorts , eschewing some of the midscale and selectservice stock that other managers take on . It operates for such monied titans as Starwood Capital and Blackstone , who make gigantic $ 100-million-plus investments .
Some of Davidson ’ s peers have larger portfolios , exceeding 100 hotels , but Davidson consistently is one of the highest revenue-producing management outfits in the business , a function of the types of assets it operates . According to Geshay , Davidson averages around $ 30 million of revenue per property per year , equating to around $ 2.5 billion per year in total revenue . Instead of managing , for instance , five Hampton Inns , it can hit its revenue mark by managing one Margaritaville resort ( it operates six Margaritavilles altogether ). “ It just takes less hotels to get there ,” he said .
Davidson has considered getting into the midscale space but has so far shown reluctancy to do so . Geshay knows the profit margins are higher and the relative ease in running them . He knows that Davidson could be over 150 hotels if it dipped its toes into select service . And it ’ s something he has grappled with and considered . Ultimately , it ’ s not part of the Davidson ethos . “ I ’ ve always felt like that would detract from how we really separate ourselves ,” Geshay said . “ What we ’ re really good at are complicated , sophisticated , larger , high-revenue assets . We let the other 400 management companies people fight over the other stuff .”
MAKING THE MOVES Geshay was literally pushed into hospitality . Upon graduating high school in Wisconsin , his family moved to Asheville , N . C ., where his father told him he needed to get a job to help pay for college . Like out of a movie , upon arriving in the Blue Ridge Mountain city , one of the first things they came across was a Holiday Inn with a “ Help Wanted ” sign in the window . Geshay ’ s father literally dropped him off there . In a dose of foreshadowing , the hotel was owned and managed by Davidson . When Geshay wasn ’ t working at the hotel , he was busy pursuing an engineering degree at North Carolina State , about 250 miles due east .
Back in the eighties , Holiday Inns and their contemporaries weren ’ t just a place to get a good night ’ s sleep ; many of them were nighttime attractions , boasting some of the best nightclubs towns had to offer . A man of many talents , Geshay was also an avid deejay , spinning Janet Jackson and Prince records for revelers packing the dance floor . But Geshay didn ’ t have just an ear for music , he had an eye for making money . When the
music is too good , no one leaves the dance floor . When no one leaves the dance floor , drink sales drop . The analytical Geshay — he was an industrial engineer by trade , after all — devised a method of varying the music , combining fast-paced hits with ballads , the idea being to push people toward the bar at intervals .
The industrious Geshay caught the eye of his mentor and boss who made him an offer . It was a proposal that would change the course of Geshay ’ s career . At the time , he was working for IBM and making a generous salary , but IBM and Holiday Inn are about as opposite as it gets . He was lured back as the bar manager , telling his father he was the beverage director .
It was his passion for hospitality that brought him back and propelled him to where he is today : leading one of the preeminent management companies in the business .
GROWING UP Davidson was still a small business back then . It was started by a couple of brokers
58 hotelsmag . com May / June 2024