HELP Hotel Program Draws Hundreds for Two-Day Boston Event

BOSTON—Considering the vast number of hotel projects currently under construction or in advanced planning stages in Greater Boston, this week’s Hotel Equity and Lenders Perspectives (HELP) Conference 2015 hit all the right notes for a constituency eager to soak up the latest in trends and technologies affecting the rapidly evolving hospitality industry. Over 375 professionals representing every development and operational aspect of the business gathered for the two-day conference and schmooze-fest held at the Seaport Boston Hotel (pictured) to hear industry heavyweights from the major brands as well as status quo disruptors share their insights on the state of the industry.

“It is a terrific conference,” says Josh Bowman, the Sherin and Lodgen partner who heads the firm’s hospitality practice and was a panel member at the fourth annual program. “It is national in scope, but all of the New England owners and operators attend, so it’s a virtual Who’s Who of leaders in the hospitality industry.”

Organized by O’Connell Hospitality Group founder James O’Connell and conference co-chairmen Chad Crandell and Ken Wilson of hotel asset management firm CHMWarnick, the conference featured a diverse palette of panel discussions, including sessions on crowdfunding versus private equity and a lively “Head to Head” session between industry disruptors (TripAdvisor, tripBAM) and large scale owners (Ocean Properties and Waterford Hotel Group). Following the conference, O’Connell told Real Reporter he received an enthusiastic response from this year’s attendees.

“The initial feedback that I’ve received has been very good and I think the reason it was such a success is that we had such strong content,” O’Connell observes. “All of the items that we had in the general sessions as well as the breakouts were really geared towards how the industry is evolving and changing. There were a lot of people taking notes in all of the sessions, and that tells me that people are learning and they’re engaged, and that we are offering content that is substantive.”

In addition to the discussions on how technological advances are affecting the industry—including a lunchtime talk by Google marketing strategist Ting Ting Yan on ways the search engine is revolutionizing the way people book travel arrangements—the HELP conference presented modules on more traditional elements of the business, including a panel on hotel asset management featuring Maxine Taylor of the Chartres Lodging Group, Fern Kanter and Rich Warnick of CHMWarnick and Marc Dober of The Lightstone Group. There was also a breakout session on the lending environment for the industry, a discussion moderated by Greg O’Stean, chief development officer for Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, with insights provided by Adrienne Kautzman, managing director in the Hotel Lending Group for GE Capital; Scott Schory, Executive VP of Wells Fargo’s eastern division CRE Hospitality Finance Group; E. Robert Roskind, partner and chairman of Crescent Hotels & Resort; and Keith Wentzel, managing director for Fantini & Gorga’s Hotel Specialty Initiative, a Hub-based mortgage banking firm that provides debt and equity funding for hotel developers and owners.

Hotelier Robin Brown, who co-developed the luxury Mandarin Hotel in Boston’s Back Bay with Weiner Ventures, led a discussion on industry trends. Joining the principal of Spot On Ventures were major brand representatives Liam Brown, president (U.S. & Canada) of Select Service & Extended Stay Lodging for Marriott International; Stephen G. Haggerty, Global Head of Capital Strategy, Franchising and Select Service at Hyatt Hotels Corp.; Colleen Keating, Senior VP of Franchise Operations for Starwood Hotels & Resorts; and Rob Palleschi, Global Head, Full Service Brands, for Hilton Worldwide. Also providing a state-of-the-industry address was Lee Pillsbury, chairman and CEO of Thayer Lodging Group, which invests in technology companies that focus on the hospitality industry.

And no CRE event would be complete without the obligatory appearance by Suffolk Construction CEO and Boston 2024 Olympic pitchman John Fish (who gave the opening remarks) as well as another panel discussion on the Olympic bid featuring Rachel J. Roginsky, principal, owner, and founder of hospitality consulting firm Pinnacle Advisory Group. Other well-known speakers included David P. Manfredi co-founder and principal of Elkus Manfredi Architects; and James E. Rooney, executive director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (and soon-to-be president and CEO of The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce).

O’Connell later gave his thoughts to Real Reporter on the robust hotel building activity now going on in the region. “The Greater Boston area is performing at historically high levels in terms of occupancy and average daily room rates, and that is projected for a few years to come,” he observed. “There is the issue of new supply, but in the Boston area the market traditionally doesn’t get overbuilt.”

The industry veteran cites two principal reasons for the supply constraint – one of which the new regime at the Boston Redevelopment Authority has pledged to address and one that shows no signs of abating during the current real estate cycle—those being a slow permitting process and rising construction costs. O’Connell says he does not believe the net effect of those issues will have a detrimental effect on the hotel business.

“It is good for the hotel owners and it’s very good the long term health of the industry, and that’s what we’re seeing across the country. The supply hasn’t come in to negatively impact the markets yet,” he concluded.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Expanded coverage of the HELP Conference attendees, program and industry experts will appear in the upcoming issue of The Real Reporter.