Today’s guest is an expert in the hospitality industry who has established his firm as the 3rd most successful US brokerage firm within the hospitality industry. He’s the host of the weekly series Teague Walks and Teague Talks where he focuses on outstanding properties and the people behind them. Joining the show this week is President & CEO at Hunter Hotel Advisors, Teague Hunter. Teague sits down with Host Dan Ryan to discuss how he got started in hospitality, the challenges of operating a hotel, and how Private Equity firms changed the hotel landscape.

Takeaways: 

• Most people view hospitality either on the operations and service side, or the physical buildings side. For Teague, hospitality is a way of life. It’s what he was raised in, and is something he has built a life and career in. 
• When Private Equity firms started investing in hospitality, it changed the landscape. To investment firms, properties became a number on a spreadsheet. Where PE firms faced their biggest challenge was understanding the operational nuances of hotels. 
• As hotels have evolved to include rooftop bars, bistros, and restaurants, assessing value gets more complicated. However, by bundling those assets together, you can purchase them for a 6-7% cap rate, rather than a 10+% cap rate separately.  
• Typical investment properties like office space or multifamily units offer fairly straight forward investments. Hotels offer more revenue, but require a higher level of operational talent. Good operators can make a hotel, while bad operators will break one. 
• Hotels are not cookie cutter, and there is no reason their management should be either. Each hotel will have a regional aspect to it, and when looking to invest in a hotel, you need to pair with management that can support those attributes. 
• While investors are responsible for managing the bottom line, success starts with your employees. Employees are your number one customer, and if you take care of your people first, it all trickles down after that. 
• While Hunter Hotel Advisors has grown as a business, it remains a family business with a core focus on its people. Their culture of teamwork and open communication has fostered an environment of success. 

Quote of the Show:

• “We can speak to Wall Street, our DNA is in Main Street.” - Teague Hunter

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teaguehunter/  
• Company website: https://www.hunterhotels.net/  
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TeagueTalks  

Shout Outs:

• Glenn Haussman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennhaussman/ 
• Danny Meyer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhmeyer/ 

Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Transistor: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• YouTube :https://youtu.be/p7vNlBjNTV4