Stanley Turkel | March 12, 2019

By Stanley Turkel, CMHS

John Q. Hammons: Master Hotel Developer and Builder

One of the great hotelier/developers of our time. John Q. Hammons developed 200 hotel properties in 40 states. But mere statistics hide the essence of Mr. Hammons special development techniques. He disdained the standard feasibility studies when assessing potential sites for hotel development and instead relied on his own experience, knowledge and intuition.

Here are some reflections by John Q. Hammons on being an exceptional hotel developer:

  • Be in Tune With Change: Have a Plan of Action. People do not stop to think what change means. That’s the thing about success. You have to watch change in people, change in habits, change in style, change in desire, change in everything. It’s happening every day, and nobody thinks about it. I do.
  • Live by the Bedrock Rule. They’re not making any more land, so if you hang onto it long enough, you’re bound to make a profit, either by selling it or by developing it.
  • Commit to Quality and Location. During the late ’80s and early ’90s when the banks closed, I told our regional managers, we are going to stay in the quality business. I said I’ve made up my mind that the day is coming that there will be so many budgets built that you won’t believe it. The price of entry is low, and you don’t have to be very smart to do 50 or 100 rooms. We’re not going to travel there. We’re going to get with the colleges, universities and state capitals. We’re going to get into solid markets, and we’re going to build quality hotels.
  • Keep Your Word. My reputation allows me to make deals no one else could make, certainly not on a handshake. I always live up to what I say I’ll do… and more. If you don’t do what you say, word of that will travel the country. I’ve never had that kind of reputation, and I never will.
  • Give Back. If you’re able to succeed monetarily in life, you should share, and that’s what I’ve done.
  • Forge Ahead in Good Times or Bad. No matter what the economy does, no matter the circumstances, forge ahead. I’ve weathered a lot of storms, but I stay positive. Experience has taught me that I will prevail, no matter what fate throws at me.

Hammons began his development career by building housing for World War II veterans in Springfield, Missouri. When the city planning commission refused to approve a high-end shopping center, Hammons traveled to California where he saw Del Webb’s Highway Houses: a pioneering motor hotel concept that followed Route 66. When Hammons returned home, he contacted an unknwon Memphis, Tenn. builder named Kemmons Wilson who was undertaking a similar concept named Holiday Inns. Hammons formed a partnership with a plumbing contractor Roy E. Winegardner and in 1958 became one of Holiday Inn’s first franchisees. During their partnership, Winegardner & Hammons developed 67 Holiday Inns, about 10% of the total system. This development coincided with the creation of the Interstate Highway System when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956: a 13-year plan that would cost $25 billion, funded 90 percent by the federal government.

Hammons described in his own words, two defining moments of his life:

Defining Moment No. 1: “In 1969, my entrepreneurial spirit eventually led me to start my own company, John Q. Hammons Hotels. Even though Holiday Inn helped me become a great success, I switched gears after seeing economy hotels popping up next to each other. We had to specialize, so we focused on the upscale market, primarily building Embassy Suites and Marriott hotels with convention centers. We decided to build quality hotels that exceeded customer’s expectations. None of our hotels are alike and we use atriums, water features and local art to create individuality. We also strive to surpass the brand standards in each hotel, such as widening the hallways to seven feet and implementing pod check-in systems. If you build it right, locate it correctly and give the customers what they want, they will buy. The best way to sell is to let the other person buy.”

Defining Moment No. 2: “After 9/11 hotel development came to an abrupt halt. Companies were too fearful to move forward. While everyone was stagnant, we forged ahead. The advantage of continuing to build hotels was the availability of materials and labor. We knew the economy would rebound and people would begin traveling more. Our hotels needed to be ready to welcome them. We have built and opened 16 hotels since 9/11, and that decision was well worth it. Recently the cost of cement and steel ignited, increasing 25%. By developing hotels during an uncertain time, our company has saved US$80 million. No matter what the economy does, no matter the circumstances, forge ahead.

I have made it my life-long business to find markets and develop quality hotels. Since 1958, we have built 200 hotels from the ground up. Along the way, we have never forgotten to give back to the cities that help us succeed. We also have learned that you have to be fearless to succeed.”

Hammons’ number one piece of advice was “you never build without the market…. Everyone says ‘location, location, location’. But it’s not true. It’s market, market, market. What I do is go throughout (the country) and look for those nooks and crannies where industry has grabbed a spot and gone to work.” Hammons never built in primary locations. He selected secondary and tertiary markets where large corporations had regional offices or factories as well as university towns and state capitals. When Hammons and his senior vice president Scott Tarwater boarded Hammons’ private jet, they were looking for the confluence of interstate highways, transportation centers, railroads, universities and state capitals. They did not need to be right in the middle of the existing action; in fact, they preferred to be in a stable and underutilized location. Listen to the Hammons strategy: “After going through (numerous) recessions, I decided I’m going to universities and state capitals, and if I could find both, (for instance) Madison, Wisconsin or Lincoln, Nebraska, you’ve got a homerun. Because when recessions come on, people still go to school and government employees still get paid. After 9/11 all the big players who have big hotels at big airports and city centers took a huge blow. They were helpless. (Whereas) we were out here in universities and capital cities and strong farming/agriculture communities.”

Hammons did not believe in formal, third-party feasibility studies. When he started his development work, Hammons would go into towns to do his own type of feasibility study. That meant talking to bellman, taxi drivers, all local business people. He relied on his own judgment and the opinions of his top executives. Mayor Susan Narvais of San Marcos, Texas said “Most cities will say, “Bring me your feasibility study.’ But Mr. Hammons is a walking feasibility study. You trust his judgments just by looking at his life story and the accolades he receives.” Hammons provided the following analogy: “Mackinac Island has The Grand. Colorado Springs has the Broadmoor. I knew that Branson lake country would become something.”

Was Hammons right? Just consider the following:

  • Located in the heart of the Ozark Mountains on the shores of Lake Taneycomo, Branson is a popular tourist destination, famous for its many live music theaters, clubs and other entertainment venues, as well as its historic downtown and surrounding natural beauty.
  • 7 million people drive into Branson each year to attend the 50 theatres and live shows in town
  • Forget Las Vegas and New York’s theater district. Acre for acre, Branson is the live-entertainment center of the nation.
  • Branson is a $1.7 billion tourist mecca, the number one motor coach destination in the U.S.

The best hotel in Branson is Hammon’s Chateau on the Lake Resort Spa & Convention Center, a 4-star, 301 room hotel with a 46 foot, $85,000 tree in its atrium. Its function space includes a 32,000 square foot Great Hall, sixteen meeting rooms, three corporate boardrooms and a 51-seat theater. The Chateau has a full-service marina with everything from jet skis to ski boats, scuba diving, fishing and other water sports. A luxurious 14,000 square foot Spa Chateau contains 10 treatment rooms featuring hydraulic-operated massage tables.

Hammons inevitably built a better and bigger hotel than the community expected and than the franchise company required. He said, “I’ve always survived because I believe in quality. At that manager’s conference where I told our people I intended to stay in the upscale, quality business, I told them I was going to put meeting space in our hotels. And that the meeting space will be big, like 10, 15 or even 40,000 square feet, because that’s our insurance policy. I knew that the trends for big conventions like in Chicago, New York, Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles, Seattle, etc., were going to be a thing of the past because you can’t afford to get there. I knew. I could see that coming. That’s why I wanted to go into a region where I could be in the dominant position. ….Keep your properties up and go upscale. Put that convention center there and you can still be in business having your meetings and things like that,” Hammons said.

Disclosure

In preparation for the writing of my book, "Great American Hoteliers: Pioneers of the Hotel Industry" (AuthorHouse 2009), I visited Springfield, Missouri and Branson, Missouri from July 11-13, 2006 to interview John Q. Hammons; Scott Tarwater, Senior Vice President; Steve Minton, Senior Vice President; Cheryl McGee, Corporate Director of Marketing; John Fulton, Vice President/Design and Stephen Marshall, Vice President & General Manager, Chateau on the Lake Resort, Branson, Missouri.

“Green Book” Wins Academy Award for Best Picture

My hotel history No. 192, “The Negro Motorist Green Book”, was published on February 28, 2018. It told the story of a series of AAA-like guides for black travelers published from 1936 through 1966. It listed hotels, motels, service stations, boarding houses, restaurants, beauty and barber shops which were relatively friendly to African Americans. The movie “Green Book” tells the story of Don Shirley, a Jamaican-American classically trained pianist and his white chauffer, Frank “Tony Lip” Vallelonga who embark on a 1962 concert tour through the segregated Deep South. The movie is excellent and entirely worth seeing.

My Other Published Hotel Books

All of these books can be ordered from AuthorHouse by visiting www.stanleyturkel.com and clicking on the book’s title.

If You Need an Expert Witness:

For the past twenty-six years, I have served as an expert witness in more than 40 hotel-related cases. My extensive hotel operating experience is beneficial in cases involving:

  • slip and fall accidents
  • wrongful deaths
  • fire and carbon monoxide injuries
  • hotel security issues
  • dram shop requirements
  • hurricane damage and/or business interruption cases

Feel free to call me at no charge on 917-628-8549 to discuss any hotel-related expert witness assignment.