KSL looks to rebuild portfolio, banking on brand names

Hotel & Motel Management,  Nov 1, 2004  by Jeff Higley

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Remington Hotel Corp.

Dallas-based Remington is looking to add to its portfolio. It has 46 hotels under property management, 37 ongoing project-management jobs and 28 hotels under asset management.

Jack McHugh, senior v.p. of sales and marketing, said the company is looking for opportunities on the West Coast in addition to searching for new-construction properties that might end up as independent resorts and/or condo-hotels.

The company has three potential condo-hotels in the pipeline and six independent properties in its portfolio, McHugh said.

Remington is guided by one simple philosophy when getting involved in a condo-hotel project.

"If it doesn't work as a hotel, it won't work as a condo-hotel," McHugh said. There are 15 brands represented in Remington's portfolio, and the company has different teams to handle each flag.

Windmill Inns

Because of the difficulty in finding good construction sites and the skyrocketing costs of construction materials, John Cauvin is seeking management contracts. Cauvin said he manages from an owner's perspective and is detail oriented.

"We are aware of debt service and capital expenditures," Cauvin said. "We want to go to an owner who is frustrated with his current situation and make things better."

In addition to owning and operating six Windmill Inn properties, Cauvin teamed with Lodging Unlimited owner Morris Lasky and formed Lodging Unlimited West.

"We're both on the same page," Cauvin said of Lasky. "The synergy we have is that he's established on the East Coast, and we're established on the West Coast."

Cauvin said he's looking for a portfolio to manage, and he'd like to have as many as 35 hotels in his management portfolio within the next five years.

"It takes time, it's a process," Cauvin said. "You have to plant the seeds."

He is in discussion with several owners, including the owner of a conference center and golf course project with 130 guest-rooms located near Portland, Ore.

Cauvin and Lasky also are interested in being the liaison for international money looking to find a home in the U.S. hotel market.

"We will be their coach and manage their assets," Cauvin said.

Cauvin said he would look at certain hotel acquisitions if they presented themselves in the right framework, but his focus is management contracts.

"We're still very fragile as an industry," Cauvin said. "We need to be reasonable and recognize the market can only handle so much. Windmill Inns has the capital, but we choose not to buy. It's not a good risk right now."

jhigley@advanstar.com

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