CHICAGO, Ill – June 5, 2017 – Energetic growth and burgeoning opportunities are the reasons why leaders at Chicago-based Arbor Lodging Partners and NVN Hotels today announced the two companies will now operate under the name Arbor Lodging (Arbor), with the investment arm continuing as Arbor Lodging Partners and the management arm, NVN Hotels, now operating as Arbor Lodging Management. The two firms, incorporated in 2005 and 2008, respectively, were both founded by friends and business partners Sheenal Patel and Vamsi Bonthala. Patel will continue as CEO of Arbor Lodging Management and Bonthala will continue as CEO of Arbor Lodging Partners.
Arbor will operate three lines of business:
- Investments in underperforming hotels, alone or with joint-venture capital partners;
- Loan acquisitions secured by hotels investments and restructured to provide attractive returns; and
- Hotel management for both Arbor assets and for hotels owned by third-parties.
“We have a team with a proven track record that loves to think big and take on new challenges,” said Bonthala. “The people who work here are young, nimble, diverse, creative and hardworking. Now, all our team members can work together as one unit, pressing forward decisively and accelerating our success.”
As a single company, Arbor will focus on a metrics-driven approach and a flexible, collaborative process to problem-solving. The investment and management units will operate as an integrated platform that results in deep insights, unparalleled efficiency and seamless transactions.
Arbor currently owns and operates a national roster of hotels at all price points, from selective service hotels to luxury lodging, such as the iconic Hotel Philips in downtown Kansas City. Taking on more projects like Hotel Philips – a boutique hotel for the young and young-at-heart in the city’s flourishing arts district – are at the top of the Arbor team’s list of priorities.
“People have so many lodging options now that hotels need to offer unique experiences that people can’t get elsewhere,” said Patel. “We have an experienced team of agile thinkers who aren’t married to one concept or another. They search for multi-faceted investment opportunities and creative partnerships that catapult our business forward.”
Investments
Arbor continues to seek acquisition opportunities through its three investment platforms:
- Value-Add and Opportunistic Platform
- Top 50 markets, with a primary focus on high barrier to entry locations like urban centers
- Underperforming assets with value-add potential
- Repositioning opportunities through significant renovation program, re-branding, or new revenue sources such as F&B, parking, or retail.
- Generally full-service
- IRR driven
- Core and Core-Plus Platform
- Top 50 markets
- Defensible positioning in urban and suburban locations
- Stabilized and semi-stabilized assets with minimal to modest renovation programs
- Generally select-service
- Annual cash-on-cash return driven
- Loan Acquisition Platform
Management
Arbor’s hotel management services include:
- Hotel Operations
- Profit Management
- Human Resources
- Guest Satisfaction
- Revenue Management
- Accounting and Reporting
- Sales & Marketing
- Food & Beverage (including concepting)
- Renovation and Redevelopment
- Project Management
- Capital Expenditure Budgeting
- Franchise Selection, Negotiation, and Compliance
- Asset Management
- Investment Underwriting
- Third-Party Management Company Oversight
- Investment and Performance Analysis
- Franchise Relations
- Consulting
Business Philosophy and Brand
Arbor’s business philosophy remains steadfastly committed to creating exceptional value for investors and hotel guests. The principles underlying Arbor’s mission are:
- Invest with Discipline: Dedicated focus on pursuing opportunities with key characteristics that will ultimately generate attractive risk-adjusted investment returns.
- Active Leadership: Maintain intimate knowledge of each hotel and the communities that they serve through constant communication with hotel staff, multiple property visits and extensive reporting required of the hotel operations teams.
- Operate with Integrity: Treat the resources of investment partners in the same way as internal team members. Seek to conduct business in an honest and fair manner. Recognize that key opportunities will continue to present themselves only when Arbor acts responsibly and sustains the respect of its investment partners and others in the hospitality industry.
Arbor’s new brand is centered around the following four cornerstones:
- Metrics-Driven: Arbor deals work because the numbers are crunched, the variables are assessed and the company is laser-focused.
- Fresh and nimble team: Arbor is a diverse, multi-faceted, fun loving group, who thinks that work is play and work is work.
- Collaborative process: Arbor wears many hats and the company believes many heads working together create the best results.
- Integrated platform: Arbor has a vested interest in their clients’ investments and continually provides industry leading returns to their investors.
As of June 1, 2017, Arbor’s new headquarters are located at 566 W. Lake Street in Chicago. The new state-of-the-art office space is reflective of the company’s new structure, renewed philosophy and refreshed branding. The new space provides an environment for Arbor’s team to work in a truly collaborative space with modern amenities and technology. For more information, visit www.arborlodging.com.
