August 5, 2026 • 18 mins
Every so often an interview is also a reunion. Before he led the Boston University School of Hospitality Real Estate Program, Kaushik Vardharajan spent fifteen years at HVS, the global consulting firm focused exclusively on the hospitality industry. For this interview, Kaushik sits down with Rod Clough, who is now running it across the Americas. This episode of the Distinguished Podcast was recorded on the road at the NYU International Hospitality Investment Forum in New York City.
Rod Clough, President of the Americas for HVS, built his career over more than three decades. With some of the deepest data in the industry behind him, Rod shares:
- Why this year's performance has surprised almost everyone
- Where the opportunities lie well beyond the headlines
- How to leverage AI while maintaining expert judgment at the heart of a valuation
The “Distinguished” podcast is produced by Boston University School of Hospitality Administration.
Host: Arun Upneja, Dean
Producer: Mara Littman, Executive Director of Strategic Operations and Corporate Relations
Research and Content Creation: Lan Lu
Marketing: Anne Dawson
Editing: Isabella Laikin and James Leon
Music: “Airport Lounge" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker (00:05):
Every so often, an interview is also a reunion.
Before he led a real estateprogram, Kashik Vordharajan
spent 15 years at HVS, theglobal consulting firm focused
exclusively on the hospitalityindustry.
For this interview, Kashik sitsdown with the man now running
it across the Americas.
This is the distinguishedpodcast from the Boston
(00:28):
University School of HospitalityAdministration, recorded on the
road at the NYU InternationalHospitality Investment Forum in
New York City.
Our guest is Rod Clough,president of the Americas for
HVS, who has built his careerthere over more than three
decades.
With some of the deepest datain the industry behind him, Rod
(00:51):
explains why this year'sperformance has surprised almost
everyone, where he seesopportunities well beyond the
headline markets.
What brokers and clients arereally feeling, and how HVS is
leading into AI without givingup the human judgment at the
heart of evaluation.
Here is the conversation.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So we are again on the sidelines of the NYU IHIF
conference in New York, and I'mso delighted to welcome my next
guest, uh Rod Clough, presidentof the Americas for HVS.
Rod, such a pleasure to haveyou.
Thank you for joining us.
Thank you for having me.
Pleasure to be here.
And Rod, you've spent 31 yearsat HVS.
(01:33):
I personally have known you for26.
So we go way back.
And uh it's it's incrediblewhat you've done at HVS over
those 31 years.
Thank you.
And I still remember how much Ienjoyed working with you and
working for you.
So this is even more of apleasure to have you on this
podcast with us.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Thank you.
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
So, Rod, we'll dive right into it.
Perfect.
As you're having a busy, busyconference.
So, you know, we've alwaysdiscussed that how current
investors and potentialinvestors act and react to the
market depends on a combinationof data and sentiment.
Yeah.
So let's start with the dataside of things.
(02:14):
Given the massive volumes ofdata that HPS has access to,
what are you seeing at a macrolevel in the US markets?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
So what's what is interesting right now is how
surprising, I believe, um theperformance of our sector is.
Why is this happening versuswhat we all thought would
(03:34):
happen?
And uh, and we so we've beentalking, as as you know, we have
offices across the country, andso we're consulting always
everywhere, and to really kindof dig into what's happening,
why is this happening?
And and it's been it's beenfascinating, really people
wanting to get back out andtravel.
(03:55):
Uh, people hesitated last year,um, people getting back to
business, realizing that all ofthe uncertainty that was that
was uh brought up last year withall of the changes in the
administration and whatnot.
Um they I think people realizethat perhaps this is this is
obviously a new normal thatwe're gonna have to get used to
(04:16):
for the next few years.
So let's just get back tobusiness and let's get back to
traveling and let's get back toum enjoying the industry.
Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
So I joined your HPS Live Insider briefing call last
week, and you know, you spotlitthree big markets.
You spoke about New York, youspoke about Miami, and you spoke
about San Francisco.
Yeah.
Um you also referenced uh Oahu.
Uh so now you know everybody'sbeen talking about these markets
(04:49):
for the obvious reasons.
And uh now I wanted to ask you,are there markets that are
you're most excited about thatare not on this list that people
are maybe not talking about asmuch?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, I think right now occupancy in a lot of our
urban centers just haven't comeback to the levels that were
were there pre-COVID.
And so many of those officebuildings in in middle America
cities and and just the urbanworlds that we live in are still
(05:22):
lightly occupied, and thattravel hasn't come back in a
robust way.
And so, in this new reality,this new post-COVID reality,
folks are even if they're in ahybrid work situation, that that
leisure travel factor is stillso it's it's just a new
(05:44):
strengthening part of the fabricof how we travel.
And and that's where I thinkthe greatest opportunities lie
is is more so in that resortside of things.
And it and I'm not necessarilytalking about the big 300, 500
room resort, but the the smallerboutique hotel that might exist
(06:07):
in a beach market that is a oneor two hour drive away from a
major metro area or a mountainmarket, similarly close to a
major metro area where somebodycan go into the, let's say they
have a hybrid work situation,they're going into work Tuesday
through Thursday, and thenFriday morning or Thursday
night, they're out.
(06:28):
And they want to go to theywant to go to their favorite
little resort in a city that isclose by, but not too far away.
So um, so that's where thoseopportunities lie in those towns
that are close, that maybedon't have the up upper upscale
(06:49):
or luxury hotel yet.
But there's just a marketchomping at the bit, wanting
that kind of accommodation.
And so we just saw a hotelopen, for example, in Oi,
downtown OHI, um, at a level, ata product level that we we that
town had never seen.
But the visionary developerthere found a small pocket of a
(07:11):
town that's not too far from LAand pounced on the opportunity.
And so that's where I think weneed to be looking next.
Palm Springs is another greatcity to be looking for
opportunities in.
Um, any kind of a city whereyou're outside of a metro area,
a couple of hours that's has aresort quality to it, but maybe
(07:33):
you haven't had a new hotel openfor 10 or 20 years and it's
ripe for something new anddifferent that the traveling
public can kind of latch on tois where we should be looking.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Okay.
That sounds great.
Uh now, also during that calllast week, you know, you polled
your audience on their sentimentabout where the markets are.
And so I think the results thenwere that about half of your
audience on the call thought themarkets are stable, 40% of them
thought they're growing, and10% thought they're declining.
(08:05):
Is that what you're seeingamongst your larger base of
clients?
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Or I think so.
I think again, it's it's aboutwhere you are in the country.
And there are many submarketsand markets where things are
moving up, but they're notnecessarily moving up in a big
way.
Maybe occupancy is up a pointor down a point, and rates
steady, or rates going up adollar or two, but not really
(08:30):
enough to make a difference, andmaybe not even enough to really
counterbalance your increase ofin expenses.
So you could have like a threeor four dollar rate increase,
but your expenses are going upby four or five dollars.
So it's it ends up being awash.
And so for them, the sentimentis stable, or for them, the
sentiment might be decliningbecause maybe even though
(08:52):
RevPAR's up, it's not enough tobalance out what they're having
to deal with on an expense side.
And then you have other peoplethat are in these up and coming
markets or in a resort market orin a metro area that's really
coming back strong, like maybethey're in the Bay Area.
Um, so they're gonna reallyfeel the rise and they're gonna
see things really improving.
(09:13):
Um, so I think if we broke outthat survey by geography, it
would tell a story of wherepeople are located and and just
what they're feeling in themoment in those cities.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Okay.
Now let's talk about kind ofsentiment amongst another group
of stakeholders.
So I think was it fall 2025,you did a broker survey?
Yep.
And I think at in that survey,about two-thirds of them
expected that the first half of2026 would improve.
Yeah.
They're almost at the end ofthe first half.
Yeah.
(09:46):
Is has that proven to be true?
It hasn't.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Uh so we had I I th I think at that point um that we
did the survey, um, and we evenwe did an updated survey six
months later, and ultimately itgoes out to brokers.
And brokers are an optimisticbunch and they have deals in the
hopper, they want to be doingmore deals, so they're always
(10:12):
looking at brighter skies ahead.
True.
Um, so that that plays into it.
But uh I think we had beenthrough 2025 and and the years
prior, um, ever since theinterest rates really went back
to normal, so to speak, um, andthe deal flow really declined a
significant amount, we've beenwaiting for that return.
(10:35):
When are we going to get backto business?
When are hotels gonna starttrading again?
And um, there was ananticipation that with interest
rate cuts and with 2025 beingbehind us, maybe that bid ask
spread between a buyer and aseller would start to narrow
enough to really bring somedeals together.
(10:56):
But that hasn't happened yet.
We still need a couple morerate cuts.
We still need ADR.
Well, now ADR is on that uppertrajectory, which is great.
Um, we need to keep keep thatgoing.
And that will, with those twothings in play, I think you'll
start to see a lot more dealscome together because that
(11:18):
spread is going to start tonarrow.
Buyers are gonna be able to puttogether a performa that makes
better sense to a seller.
Um, what the sellers have tocontinue appreciating is the
challenges that buyers aredealing with in terms of
increased expenses and with uhrenovation costs.
And so most of the a lot of thedeals that we're seeing get
(11:40):
across the finish line are newerhotels.
They don't have big pips thatthey're having to deal with, um,
or sellers that have reallycreated a good story for their
property, high cash flow, wellgood quality physical plant, and
a strong market.
Um, expenses in line.
If you have all your ducks in arow, it makes your deal come
(12:02):
together a lot better than dealsthat you know might not
otherwise right now.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
We'll say yeah, I think this seems to tie into
what you shared at Alice whereyou said uh that there's plenty
of capital out there.
Yeah.
It's just not as many dealsthat make sense and that that
have the right stories behindthem.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
That's right.
Now, I remember working withyou when we valued the Hilton
portfolio for Blackstone.
I worked with you on theextended Stay America portfolio
valuations.
Do you think this is a timewhen we get to see another mega
deal like that that kickstartseverything?
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Well, what's interesting is that those mega
deals, those buyers of thosebig, huge portfolios have done a
very good job at selling offtheir non-key assets or breaking
them up or make finding valuein those portfolios by doing the
right thing.
And so so many of thoseportfolios, they just don't
(13:01):
exist anymore.
They're all owned by individualowners or they're owned by
sub-portfolio owners.
Um, so I think we're gonna seecertainly a lot of portfolios
sell, but they'll be more ofthose mid-size, mid-size deals.
Um, mega deals might come alongif it's a if it's a group of
like 10 or 12 resorts, um, thatmight qualify as a mega deal.
(13:24):
Uh, but the hundreds of hotelstrading at once, that that might
not come around for a while.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Okay.
Got it.
So, okay, I'm gonna switchfocus and talk about AI.
Sure.
Because everybody's talkingabout AI.
Yeah.
So HVS now has over 300 peopleworking around the world.
You work on thousands ofvaluations globally.
Uh and AI is impacting kind ofthe valuation business just like
(13:52):
it is others.
So I remember working withSpider when it came out, and I
thought it was the most advancedbusiness intelligence tool I
had ever seen.
Yeah.
How have things changed at HPS?
Are you using AI at this pointof time?
And how do you decide whatyou're gonna let AI do and what
you're gonna have a consultantoversee?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Those are great questions.
So, AI, how we use AI issomewhat being dictated by our
clients.
Uh, major banks are nowstarting to come out with AI
guidance and expectations whereyou have to be very careful not
to um overuse AI.
Uh, and our banks and ourclients still very much want the
(14:34):
human element driving theanalysis, driving the findings,
driving the message.
And so we're not we're verycarefully navigating that.
We are creating our owninternal closed loop AI writing
assistant so that our associatescan give it strong, appropriate
(14:56):
inputs.
And we still do the analysiswith our with our minds and our
programs, but then our AIwriting assistant will take all
of those inputs and help writeparts of the report from our own
internal closed loop system.
That's what banks are very uhconcerned about.
They don't want, they certainlydon't want any confidential
(15:19):
information being shared, butthey also don't want us to go
out to to the work to the AIworld, external world, and pick
up wrong information and orwrong findings or wrong analysis
or wrong anything.
Um so it's a very tenuous timeright now.
Like we have to be verycareful.
Um, and we're being careful,but we're also not um we're not
(15:40):
turning away from it.
We are leaning in and we'rewanting to really use it uh to
the to the fullest extent thatwe can, but still maintain our
integrity and maintain the valueof what we do.
And then there are otheraspects of AI that we're really
starting to look at on like ouradministrative tasks.
What are some things that thatwe really shouldn't be doing
(16:02):
that it can do for us, not toreduce staff, but to better
better use staff, use use staffin a smarter way.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Makes sense.
Maybe you could have an AIsystem that has travel expenses.
Yes, exactly.
So my last question for you Youwake up tomorrow, you find you
won the Powerball, and you have$100 million after taxes.
And you were, if you had toinvest that in the hospitality
industry, do you have wherewould you what segments, what
(16:34):
parts of the country would youinvest in?
Speaker 2 (16:36):
For me, it would be just because of my analyst
background and I've beenappraising for so long and
looking at deals for so long, itit does come down to location
and and your demand drivers.
Are you can you can you find adeal or create a deal in a
location that has this, has a anunbeatable location where I and
(16:59):
also where you're not gonnahave a lot of new and new
competition come in is key.
Um I I I'm I key into likethose profitable GOP levels for
a hotel and where exactly youshould be at.
And are you gonna be able togenerate those levels of GOP for
those assets?
I would love to take that moneyand just go after like the that
(17:23):
gem of a hotel that could bestill be an opportunity.
Get it for maybe 60 cents onthe dollar, but because of its
location, just really help ithave a turnaround story um
through renovation, throughproper branding, through proper
marketing.
I would that would just be alot of fun.
(17:44):
Okay.
I would enjoy that.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Great, Rod, thank you so much again for joining us.
Thank you for having me.
Uh, very excited to have you onthe podcast.
You're also very excited thatthree of our students are coming
to work for you.
Yes, I'm excited about thattoo.
So thank you for always being amentor to me, and thank you for
being a mentor to to ourstudents.
You're welcome.
Have a great conference, Rod.
Thank you.
Speaker (18:05):
That brings this episode to a close.
Thanks for joining us on theroad at the NYU International
Hospitality Investment Forum,and our thanks to our guests for
sharing their time and insight.
The distinguished podcast isproduced by the Boston
University School of HospitalityAdministration.
If you enjoyed thisconversation, follow or
subscribe wherever you listenand share it with a colleague or
(18:28):
a student who would find itvaluable.
To learn more about ourprograms and the work coming out
of the school, visit bu.eduslash hospitality.
We will see you next time.
Every so often, an interview is also a reunion.
Before he led a real estateprogram, Kashik Vordharajan
spent 15 years at HVS, theglobal consulting firm focused
exclusively on the hospitalityindustry.
For this interview, Kashik sitsdown with the man now running
it across the Americas.
This is the distinguishedpodcast from the Boston
(00:28):
University School of HospitalityAdministration, recorded on the
road at the NYU InternationalHospitality Investment Forum in
New York City.
Our guest is Rod Clough,president of the Americas for
HVS, who has built his careerthere over more than three
decades.
With some of the deepest datain the industry behind him, Rod
(00:51):
explains why this year'sperformance has surprised almost
everyone, where he seesopportunities well beyond the
headline markets.
What brokers and clients arereally feeling, and how HVS is
leading into AI without givingup the human judgment at the
heart of evaluation.
Here is the conversation.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So we are again on the sidelines of the NYU IHIF
conference in New York, and I'mso delighted to welcome my next
guest, uh Rod Clough, presidentof the Americas for HVS.
Rod, such a pleasure to haveyou.
Thank you for joining us.
Thank you for having me.
Pleasure to be here.
And Rod, you've spent 31 yearsat HVS.
(01:33):
I personally have known you for26.
So we go way back.
And uh it's it's incrediblewhat you've done at HVS over
those 31 years.
Thank you.
And I still remember how much Ienjoyed working with you and
working for you.
So this is even more of apleasure to have you on this
podcast with us.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Thank you.
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
So, Rod, we'll dive right into it.
Perfect.
As you're having a busy, busyconference.
So, you know, we've alwaysdiscussed that how current
investors and potentialinvestors act and react to the
market depends on a combinationof data and sentiment.
Yeah.
So let's start with the dataside of things.
(02:14):
Given the massive volumes ofdata that HPS has access to,
what are you seeing at a macrolevel in the US markets?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
So what's what is interesting right now is how
surprising, I believe, um theperformance of our sector is.
Why is this happening versuswhat we all thought would
(03:34):
happen?
And uh, and we so we've beentalking, as as you know, we have
offices across the country, andso we're consulting always
everywhere, and to really kindof dig into what's happening,
why is this happening?
And and it's been it's beenfascinating, really people
wanting to get back out andtravel.
(03:55):
Uh, people hesitated last year,um, people getting back to
business, realizing that all ofthe uncertainty that was that
was uh brought up last year withall of the changes in the
administration and whatnot.
Um they I think people realizethat perhaps this is this is
obviously a new normal thatwe're gonna have to get used to
(04:16):
for the next few years.
So let's just get back tobusiness and let's get back to
traveling and let's get back toum enjoying the industry.
Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
So I joined your HPS Live Insider briefing call last
week, and you know, you spotlitthree big markets.
You spoke about New York, youspoke about Miami, and you spoke
about San Francisco.
Yeah.
Um you also referenced uh Oahu.
Uh so now you know everybody'sbeen talking about these markets
(04:49):
for the obvious reasons.
And uh now I wanted to ask you,are there markets that are
you're most excited about thatare not on this list that people
are maybe not talking about asmuch?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, I think right now occupancy in a lot of our
urban centers just haven't comeback to the levels that were
were there pre-COVID.
And so many of those officebuildings in in middle America
cities and and just the urbanworlds that we live in are still
(05:22):
lightly occupied, and thattravel hasn't come back in a
robust way.
And so, in this new reality,this new post-COVID reality,
folks are even if they're in ahybrid work situation, that that
leisure travel factor is stillso it's it's just a new
(05:44):
strengthening part of the fabricof how we travel.
And and that's where I thinkthe greatest opportunities lie
is is more so in that resortside of things.
And it and I'm not necessarilytalking about the big 300, 500
room resort, but the the smallerboutique hotel that might exist
(06:07):
in a beach market that is a oneor two hour drive away from a
major metro area or a mountainmarket, similarly close to a
major metro area where somebodycan go into the, let's say they
have a hybrid work situation,they're going into work Tuesday
through Thursday, and thenFriday morning or Thursday
night, they're out.
(06:28):
And they want to go to theywant to go to their favorite
little resort in a city that isclose by, but not too far away.
So um, so that's where thoseopportunities lie in those towns
that are close, that maybedon't have the up upper upscale
(06:49):
or luxury hotel yet.
But there's just a marketchomping at the bit, wanting
that kind of accommodation.
And so we just saw a hotelopen, for example, in Oi,
downtown OHI, um, at a level, ata product level that we we that
town had never seen.
But the visionary developerthere found a small pocket of a
(07:11):
town that's not too far from LAand pounced on the opportunity.
And so that's where I think weneed to be looking next.
Palm Springs is another greatcity to be looking for
opportunities in.
Um, any kind of a city whereyou're outside of a metro area,
a couple of hours that's has aresort quality to it, but maybe
(07:33):
you haven't had a new hotel openfor 10 or 20 years and it's
ripe for something new anddifferent that the traveling
public can kind of latch on tois where we should be looking.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Okay.
That sounds great.
Uh now, also during that calllast week, you know, you polled
your audience on their sentimentabout where the markets are.
And so I think the results thenwere that about half of your
audience on the call thought themarkets are stable, 40% of them
thought they're growing, and10% thought they're declining.
(08:05):
Is that what you're seeingamongst your larger base of
clients?
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Or I think so.
I think again, it's it's aboutwhere you are in the country.
And there are many submarketsand markets where things are
moving up, but they're notnecessarily moving up in a big
way.
Maybe occupancy is up a pointor down a point, and rates
steady, or rates going up adollar or two, but not really
(08:30):
enough to make a difference, andmaybe not even enough to really
counterbalance your increase ofin expenses.
So you could have like a threeor four dollar rate increase,
but your expenses are going upby four or five dollars.
So it's it ends up being awash.
And so for them, the sentimentis stable, or for them, the
sentiment might be decliningbecause maybe even though
(08:52):
RevPAR's up, it's not enough tobalance out what they're having
to deal with on an expense side.
And then you have other peoplethat are in these up and coming
markets or in a resort market orin a metro area that's really
coming back strong, like maybethey're in the Bay Area.
Um, so they're gonna reallyfeel the rise and they're gonna
see things really improving.
(09:13):
Um, so I think if we broke outthat survey by geography, it
would tell a story of wherepeople are located and and just
what they're feeling in themoment in those cities.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Okay.
Now let's talk about kind ofsentiment amongst another group
of stakeholders.
So I think was it fall 2025,you did a broker survey?
Yep.
And I think at in that survey,about two-thirds of them
expected that the first half of2026 would improve.
Yeah.
They're almost at the end ofthe first half.
Yeah.
(09:46):
Is has that proven to be true?
It hasn't.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Uh so we had I I th I think at that point um that we
did the survey, um, and we evenwe did an updated survey six
months later, and ultimately itgoes out to brokers.
And brokers are an optimisticbunch and they have deals in the
hopper, they want to be doingmore deals, so they're always
(10:12):
looking at brighter skies ahead.
True.
Um, so that that plays into it.
But uh I think we had beenthrough 2025 and and the years
prior, um, ever since theinterest rates really went back
to normal, so to speak, um, andthe deal flow really declined a
significant amount, we've beenwaiting for that return.
(10:35):
When are we going to get backto business?
When are hotels gonna starttrading again?
And um, there was ananticipation that with interest
rate cuts and with 2025 beingbehind us, maybe that bid ask
spread between a buyer and aseller would start to narrow
enough to really bring somedeals together.
(10:56):
But that hasn't happened yet.
We still need a couple morerate cuts.
We still need ADR.
Well, now ADR is on that uppertrajectory, which is great.
Um, we need to keep keep thatgoing.
And that will, with those twothings in play, I think you'll
start to see a lot more dealscome together because that
(11:18):
spread is going to start tonarrow.
Buyers are gonna be able to puttogether a performa that makes
better sense to a seller.
Um, what the sellers have tocontinue appreciating is the
challenges that buyers aredealing with in terms of
increased expenses and with uhrenovation costs.
And so most of the a lot of thedeals that we're seeing get
(11:40):
across the finish line are newerhotels.
They don't have big pips thatthey're having to deal with, um,
or sellers that have reallycreated a good story for their
property, high cash flow, wellgood quality physical plant, and
a strong market.
Um, expenses in line.
If you have all your ducks in arow, it makes your deal come
(12:02):
together a lot better than dealsthat you know might not
otherwise right now.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
We'll say yeah, I think this seems to tie into
what you shared at Alice whereyou said uh that there's plenty
of capital out there.
Yeah.
It's just not as many dealsthat make sense and that that
have the right stories behindthem.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
That's right.
Now, I remember working withyou when we valued the Hilton
portfolio for Blackstone.
I worked with you on theextended Stay America portfolio
valuations.
Do you think this is a timewhen we get to see another mega
deal like that that kickstartseverything?
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Well, what's interesting is that those mega
deals, those buyers of thosebig, huge portfolios have done a
very good job at selling offtheir non-key assets or breaking
them up or make finding valuein those portfolios by doing the
right thing.
And so so many of thoseportfolios, they just don't
(13:01):
exist anymore.
They're all owned by individualowners or they're owned by
sub-portfolio owners.
Um, so I think we're gonna seecertainly a lot of portfolios
sell, but they'll be more ofthose mid-size, mid-size deals.
Um, mega deals might come alongif it's a if it's a group of
like 10 or 12 resorts, um, thatmight qualify as a mega deal.
(13:24):
Uh, but the hundreds of hotelstrading at once, that that might
not come around for a while.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Okay.
Got it.
So, okay, I'm gonna switchfocus and talk about AI.
Sure.
Because everybody's talkingabout AI.
Yeah.
So HVS now has over 300 peopleworking around the world.
You work on thousands ofvaluations globally.
Uh and AI is impacting kind ofthe valuation business just like
(13:52):
it is others.
So I remember working withSpider when it came out, and I
thought it was the most advancedbusiness intelligence tool I
had ever seen.
Yeah.
How have things changed at HPS?
Are you using AI at this pointof time?
And how do you decide whatyou're gonna let AI do and what
you're gonna have a consultantoversee?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Those are great questions.
So, AI, how we use AI issomewhat being dictated by our
clients.
Uh, major banks are nowstarting to come out with AI
guidance and expectations whereyou have to be very careful not
to um overuse AI.
Uh, and our banks and ourclients still very much want the
(14:34):
human element driving theanalysis, driving the findings,
driving the message.
And so we're not we're verycarefully navigating that.
We are creating our owninternal closed loop AI writing
assistant so that our associatescan give it strong, appropriate
(14:56):
inputs.
And we still do the analysiswith our with our minds and our
programs, but then our AIwriting assistant will take all
of those inputs and help writeparts of the report from our own
internal closed loop system.
That's what banks are very uhconcerned about.
They don't want, they certainlydon't want any confidential
(15:19):
information being shared, butthey also don't want us to go
out to to the work to the AIworld, external world, and pick
up wrong information and orwrong findings or wrong analysis
or wrong anything.
Um so it's a very tenuous timeright now.
Like we have to be verycareful.
Um, and we're being careful,but we're also not um we're not
(15:40):
turning away from it.
We are leaning in and we'rewanting to really use it uh to
the to the fullest extent thatwe can, but still maintain our
integrity and maintain the valueof what we do.
And then there are otheraspects of AI that we're really
starting to look at on like ouradministrative tasks.
What are some things that thatwe really shouldn't be doing
(16:02):
that it can do for us, not toreduce staff, but to better
better use staff, use use staffin a smarter way.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Makes sense.
Maybe you could have an AIsystem that has travel expenses.
Yes, exactly.
So my last question for you Youwake up tomorrow, you find you
won the Powerball, and you have$100 million after taxes.
And you were, if you had toinvest that in the hospitality
industry, do you have wherewould you what segments, what
(16:34):
parts of the country would youinvest in?
Speaker 2 (16:36):
For me, it would be just because of my analyst
background and I've beenappraising for so long and
looking at deals for so long, itit does come down to location
and and your demand drivers.
Are you can you can you find adeal or create a deal in a
location that has this, has a anunbeatable location where I and
(16:59):
also where you're not gonnahave a lot of new and new
competition come in is key.
Um I I I'm I key into likethose profitable GOP levels for
a hotel and where exactly youshould be at.
And are you gonna be able togenerate those levels of GOP for
those assets?
I would love to take that moneyand just go after like the that
(17:23):
gem of a hotel that could bestill be an opportunity.
Get it for maybe 60 cents onthe dollar, but because of its
location, just really help ithave a turnaround story um
through renovation, throughproper branding, through proper
marketing.
I would that would just be alot of fun.
(17:44):
Okay.
I would enjoy that.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Great, Rod, thank you so much again for joining us.
Thank you for having me.
Uh, very excited to have you onthe podcast.
You're also very excited thatthree of our students are coming
to work for you.
Yes, I'm excited about thattoo.
So thank you for always being amentor to me, and thank you for
being a mentor to to ourstudents.
You're welcome.
Have a great conference, Rod.
Thank you.
Speaker (18:05):
That brings this episode to a close.
Thanks for joining us on theroad at the NYU International
Hospitality Investment Forum,and our thanks to our guests for
sharing their time and insight.
The distinguished podcast isproduced by the Boston
University School of HospitalityAdministration.
If you enjoyed thisconversation, follow or
subscribe wherever you listenand share it with a colleague or
(18:28):
a student who would find itvaluable.
To learn more about ourprograms and the work coming out
of the school, visit bu.eduslash hospitality.
We will see you next time.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.