Bristol Buy Spurs Bass’ Management Growth

ATLANTA— Last year, Bristol Hotels & Resorts was the second largest management company after MeriStar based on 1999 gross annual revenue, according to HOTEL BUSINESS® Top 100 Management Companies Listing (see April 7, 2000 issue of HOTEL BUSINESS®). This year it’s disappeared, having been folded into Bass Hotels & Resorts (BH&R), which acquired Bristol last April. But since then, its impact is still being felt, notably by the brands under the BH&R umbrella. While Bass had some management expertise, the Bristol buy has given it strength in that arena. According to Michael Corr, area president/North America, it “went a long way” to shift BH&R’s “below-the-radar” management position within the industry. His division had been managing more than 15 Crowne Plazas and owned/managed more than 25 Inter-Continentals. “The Bristol acquisition actually helped us significantly grow what we think was an already robust management division, particularly with midscale operations,” he said. Today, over 20% of potential, new management contracts are for Holiday Inn products, whether they’re for a full-service HI, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites or SunSpree Resort. “We’re seeing more of them now than ever before, largely driven by our commitment to the Holiday Inn side of the business and managing the Holiday Inn side through the Bristol acquisition,” said Corr. When it was acquired, Bristol had 112 hotels and managed 59 Holiday Inns, 18 Crowne Plazas and six Holiday Inn Expresses, making it the largest operator of Bass brands at the time. Corr also said BH&R is “aggressively” continuing to build Inter-Continental, as it has since making the portfolio grab in 1998, but “they’re just not available all the time.” But BH&R is seeing “a good amount” of management opportunities for its Crowne Plaza brand now more than ever, said Corr. “I just signed a management agreement for a Crowne Plaza in Fayetteville, AK, which will be the leading property [there]. That’s the kind of stuff that’s coming in, where we can be the predominant brand in a tertiary or secondary market. We’re also getting opportunities in major markets as well with Crowne. Again, this [Bristol buy] went a long way to show the industry, show investors and owners that we are competent managers and can be successful at the Crowne, Inter-Con or Holiday Inn level.” Not all of the acquired Bristol properties changed flags or transitioned to BH&R’s management. For example, Harvey Hotels in Dallas, Texas remains because it “has a lot of brand value,” said Corr. “So we didn’t change them. There are some non-BH&R-branded hotels that we did not convert that have been conveyed to other nationally recognized independent hotel operators, and the leases were terminated in certain hotels owned by FelCor Lodging Trust for consideration.” Some two dozen properties that carried either Hilton, Marriott or Starwood flags were eliminated from the BH&R system, although they’re still owned by FelCor, with the exception of a Sheraton in West Palm Beach, FL. A cross-functional team has been working the integration process, pulling in technology, human resources, legal, marketing, operations, finance, asset and risk management, engineering and technical services. “We run the hotels through a regional management organization headed by five regional vice presidents of operations,” explained Corr. “Our technical services is deeply immersed in working with FelCor on capital projects, setting up capital budgets. Our asset management team is involved and, of course, risk management and engineering services get involved where possible.” A good example, said Corr, is the response to the current energy crisis, particularly on the West Coast. “Our engineering department has been very helpful in working with operations and keeping FelCor asset management up to date on activities we can do in California to offset the high cost of energy in that state.” Corr further noted, “We’ve been able to increase our