Cayuga provides a full range of asset management and strategic advisory services to owners and potential owners of hotel and resort investments. Cayuga’s Consultants add focus and provide strategic direction to owner objectives, then represent owner interests in dealing with franchisors, managers and other parties. We employ a multi-disciplined approach which encompasses operations, real estate, finance, construction, legal issues, marketing issues and risk issues to provide oversight, analysis and counsel to add value and maximize return to the owner. Senior-level asset managers assist with asset/portfolio acquisition, due diligence, strategic planning, value enhancement, exit strategy development, asset oversight, financing strategies and risk management. We bring experience and relationships with franchise companies and management company executives, as well as specialized consultants whom we may recommend to solve problems or exploit opportunities in areas such as staff planning, purchasing, property positioning and real estate tax appeals. For new projects or major repositioning, we may coordinate and cooperate with experts from Cayuga’s Brand Services and/or Development Consulting Groups.
Cayuga’s Asset Management Services include:
- Development Planning
- Financial modeling; return analysis
- Due diligence
- Brand selection, franchise negotiation
- Management company selection and contract negotiation
- Financing strategies
- Exit strategy formulation
- Asset Oversight
- Market competitive position and potentials
- Operational quality reviews
- Operating performance effectiveness
- Organization structure and staff utilization
- Sales and marketing strategies and effectiveness
- Yield management and pricing decisions
- SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Assessment
- Budget and business plan approvals
- Capital expenditure planning and control
- Operator best practices
- Management contract and regulatory compliance
- Brand standards and brand relations
- Value enhancement opportunities
- Cash flow and funds utilization
Advisory Members
The following members are available through Cayuga to provide a full range of consulting services.
Shelly La Motte (Frederick, MD)
With over 20 years of diverse hospitality experience, including positions with two international CPA firms and a number of management positions in the hospitality industry, Shelly was also Acquisitions and Portfolio/Asset Manager for an international owner/operator, and Vice President of Asset Management for the JBG Companies, an investor/owner/developer in the Washington, DC area. Her asset management expertise relates to: hotels; inns; condo hotels; bed and breakfast facilities; time-share and interval ownership facilities; restaurants; casinos; golf courses; convention centers; mixed-use developments including office, retail and condominium; and, most other commercial real estate uses. She has handled assignments in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, the Caribbean, Bermuda and Australia, as well as throughout the U.S. Cayuga’s Group Leader for Asset Management.
R. Eric Bettelheim (Las Vegas)
President of The Ascona Group, with more than 30 years operations and consulting experience, primarily in the deluxe category of hotels and resorts worldwide. The Ascona Group specializes in project consulting, development, condominium hotel/resort development, pre-opening project management, executive search, operator selection, management contract negotiation, operations analysis, and asset and interim management of hotels and resorts in the US and abroad.Visit his site
at www.asconagroup.com.
James E. Burr, CHA (Chicago)
President of Burr Company, offering services
in hotel asset management, strategy development, due diligence and troubled hotel
workouts. Jim has more than 40 years of industry experience, including asset
management of more than $900 million of hotels, single and multi-unit hotel management,
franchise operations and strategies, organizational development, planning and
control systems development and installation, and consulting at the Principal
level.
Bill Callnin (Virginia Beach)
Cayuga Chairman and Managing Director, specializing in development and operations analyses of casinos; Group Leader, Casino Gaming Group (a division of Cayuga), an international, full-service gaming consultancy. Casino design, operating procedures and internal controls, operations analyses, management-performance reviews, regulatory compliance audits, casino lease / management contract negotiations, asset management.
John Capone (Austin, TX)
President and Founder of Brookestone Hospitality Resources, LLC, offering full-service, limited-service and resort property management, as well as consulting, asset management and owner support services to a wide variety of owners and lenders. Brookestone has directed operations, asset management, acquisitions and openings for over 100 hotels throughout the U.S. With more than 28 years of industry experience, John has overseen operations and sales/marketing for over $1 Billion worth of hotel assets, from numerous Marriott, Hilton, and Starwood hotels, to independent upscale hotels, such as the Coconut Grove Hotel, Hotel Royal Plaza, The Madison Hotel and the Newport Beachside Hotel and Resort. Prior to founding Brookestone, he was Senior VP of Richfield Hospitality, Inc., where he: directed all operations of Sceptre Hospitality Resources, a hotel revenue and connectivity company: and, launched The Elise Group, a revenue consulting firm which complemented the existing companies. Before joining Richfield, John was Senior VP of Operations for Prime Hospitality, where he directed all operations for the proprietary brands, built a team-oriented culture and developed six future VPs and Regional VPs. A Certified Hospitality Sales Professional, he has been recognized by Sales & Marketing Management.
Tim Cole (Santa Rosa Beach, FL)
President of Excelsior Restaurant Holding, Inc. Over the course of his hospitality industry career, Tim has served in corporate, property-level, academic and consulting roles in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Equally comfortable in operations and asset management settings, his strengths lie in the areas of food and beverage and financial management. Tim’s comprehensive background includes administering large resort communities anchored by upscale branded hotels and directing international and domestic operations for properties operated under long-term management agreements. His permanent and interim management experience at the property level includes positions with hotels, country clubs and restaurants. Tim is also a licensed real estate salesperson with significant experience in master community association management.
Stephen Darling (Vancouver)
Principal of Stephen Darling Hospitality Consulting, his recent assignment leading Shangri-La’s expansion into North America, as well as a key role with Mandarin Oriental, has brought him significant experience reviewing potential and existing projects. Through strategic analysis, working with legal, financial and design specialists, he developed a comprehensive approach to creating ‘next generation hotels’ with competitive cost advantages, whether branded or affiliated, especially in multi-use developments. Stephen attained his icd.d designation as an independent corporate director, bringing a balanced strategy of entrepreneurial risk to the clients he works with.
Jean G.J. Keijdener (Seoul)
General Manager of the Somerset Palace, Seoul and Country General Manager for South Korea for The Ascot Ltd., “JK” is a multi-lingual global hospitality professional with over thirty years spent in hospitality leadership positions for Hyatt America & Hyatt International, Conrad-Hilton, Renaissance-Ramada, Sedona Hotels International & The Ascot Ltd. His expertise is in hotels, resort and serviced residences ranging from luxury through limited-service, as well as hospitality real estate and asset management, covering five continents: Europe, the U.S., the South Pacific, the Middle East and Asia. JK specializes in real estate development and pre-opening planning, operational management, strategic planning, government affairs and community relations, event planning and operations, and more. Fluent in Dutch, English and German; conversant in French, Indonesian and Spanish.
Thomas W. Lattin, CPA (Houston)
CPA and Managing Director of his consultancy, Lattin & Associates,
and a Professor at the Conrad N. Hilton College in Houston, teaching
accounting, finance and advanced lodging management courses. Background
includes positions with: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Patriot American Hospitality,
Paine Webber, Coopers & Lybrand, and Laventhol & Horwath. Specializing
in: litigation support and expert witness testimony dealing with hospitality
industry financial issues and management contracts; procurement of debt
and equity and other investment banking services including merger and
acquisition; operational studies and reviews, management audits and profit
improvements; and asset management services. Cayuga Regional Director
for South Central U.S.
Ralph Miller (Calgary, Alberta, and North Vancouver)
A Chartered Accountant, Chartered Business Valuator, Certified Hotel Administrator, and Certified Hospitality Accounting Executive with over 25 years of operations and consulting experience in the hospitality industry. Prior to graduating from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Accounting and Management Information Systems, and subsequently joining Coopers & Lybrand, Ralph spent nine years in the hotel and restaurant industry. After obtaining his designation as a Chartered Accountant, he went on to lead the Western Canada Hospitality Industry Practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Additionally, he has provided expert witness testimony in both the Supreme Court of British Columbia and the Court of Queens Bench in Alberta on valuation issues for businesses in the hospitality and tourism industry. In 1997 Ralph co-founded Inntegrated Hospitality Management Ltd. and since that time has been providing third party management and consulting services for clients with interests in accommodation, food and beverage, gaming and destination resort/vacation club development.
Rudolf W. Muenster (Berlin)
A Managing Director of Cayuga and Managing Partner of RWM
Hotel Consult GmbH, founded in 1980 and active in 45 countries
on four continents. Services provided include: feasibility studies (IFC,
EU and others); privatization efforts (especially in Slovenia, Morocco
for UNDP, Tanzania and Germany); hotel development, executive search
and asset management for hotel owners and real estate companies in Germany,
Slovenia, the U.S. and France. Fluent in German, English, French, Spanish,
Italian and Indonesian.
Thomas Riegelman (Nashville)
Offering an extraordinary range of expertise in asset and facility management, with over 30 years managing corporate level hotel and resort operations. His 19 years with Hyatt Hotels Corporation as VP of Technical Services, and then VP of Engineering provided him with broad experience in all phases of hotel and resort planning, construction, engineering, and facility operations. Tom also served as a General Manager with the Prudential Realty Group, asset managing their $900 million Northeast hotel portfolio. After graduating from the Cornell Hotel School with a concentration in hotel planning and design, he earned an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago.
Theodore A. Seale (Bethesda, MD)
President, THEO Consultants,
LLC: assists financial institutions, investors, owners, operators, attorneys and accountants in the evaluation of hospitality real estate assets. THEO offers consulting services to corporate, REIT and individual owners and operators of hotels, motels, resorts, inns, bed and breakfasts, country and city clubs, restaurants and health clubs. Services include market and economic research, appraisals and valuations, litigation support/expert witness testimony, financial analyses and property asset management.
Wim Steenbakker (Hallandale, FL)
President of Steenbakkers & Associates, with 27 years of experience operating and developing unique destination resort properties throughout North America, Europe and the Caribbean. Mr. Steenbakkers delivers the energy, insight, marketing expertise and organizational leadership required to achieve key business objectives for the development and operations of elegant boutique hotel and resort properties. He formulates detailed operational plans, budgets and schedules, and institutes business processes, performance metrics and reporting systems. In the development of properties, he: engages and coordinates the work of professional designers, architects and construction contractors; secures the necessary regulatory permits; troubleshoots and resolves complex problems; and, manages government and business relationships. Mr. Steenbakkers also provides personalized asset management services for luxury, independently owned and operated properties. His focus is on increasing the “guest experience” while improving the bottom line for the owner(s) by implementing strict cost control measures, effective marketing initiatives, and using proven management techniques.
David M. Theophilus, CPA (Orlando)
President, DMT Hospitality Advisors, Inc., providing professional services for hotels, resorts, condominiums and apartments. Thirty years of experience in the hospitality field. Specializing in asset management and litigation support including expert witness testimony.www.dmthosp.com
