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.
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. Cayuga’s Group Leader for Asset Management and Distressed
Properties Assistance.
Phil Baxter (Beverly Hills)
A Partner in the multi-faceted Hardisty
Baxter, responsible for all of the company’s projects. Currently focused on distressed hotel assets, Phil is utilizing his significant workout experience to provide asset management, interim management, advisory and marketing for special servicers and lenders. His 25-year background includes unit and multi-unit marketing, finance, and operations; asset management for large institutional owners; and significant acquisition and development experience. Phil was with Tishman Hotel Corporation for 14 years where he was responsible for operations and marketing of luxury hotel and resort properties and his experience was relied upon for development, advisory services, and acquisition/disposition activities for over $500 million in hotel transactions. A selection of assignments, as a regional operations executive and/or asset manager, include The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, the Westin Rio Mar Beach Resort, the Hay-Adams, The Ritz Carlton Mauna Lani (now the Fairmont Orchid), the Hyatt St. John (now the Westin St. John), the Four Points by Sheraton LAX, the Marriott Warner Center, the Grand Palazzo (now The Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas), the Eldorado Hotel and the Renaissance Vinoy.
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.
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 (Boston)
Over his 25+ year 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.
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.
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.
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 (Big Sky, MT)
Offering an extraordinary range of expertise in asset and operations management, with over 29 years at the corporate level, managing multi-unit hotel and resort operations. Tom is experienced in all phases of hotel and resort planning and construction, field operations support, staffing, product and design standards, “green” initiatives, technology, capital planning, project management, compliance, life safety, and energy and environmental policy. He spent 19 years with Hyatt Hotels Corporation as: VP of Technical Services, responsible for re-structuring and rebuilding Hyatt's Technical Services department; and, VP of Engineering, responsible for facility operations, maintenance and capital projects for all of Hyatt's hotel and resort properties in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. Tom also served as a General Manager with the Prudential Realty Group, asset managing their $900M Northeast hotel portfolio. He has multi-faceted experience in hotel real estate transactions, acting as the operator, developer, investor and lender. 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.
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
