Peter Strebel, president of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts
Posted 10/23/2007 - 2:34:09 PM
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RIO GRANDE, PUERTO RICO—It has been nearly two years since the Wyndham Hotels and Resorts brand was acquired by the parent company formerly known as Cendant and only a little more than a year since the reconstitution of Cendant into Wyndham Worldwide. Consequently, this week marked a momentous period here for the brand and company as they held the first Wyndham franchisee and owners conference since the takeover and transformation.
Appropriately enough, the conference was held at a resort considered one of the crown jewels of the burgeoning Wyndham transformation— the Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa, a Wyndham Grand Resort. This 600-room, 500-acre resort had been, as recently as May, a Westin, but the ownership group of the property, Rio Mar Associates LP, SE, which includes Tishman Realty Corp., opted to bring in Wyndham as its new operator and partner with Wyndham also having an equity stake in the asset.
With the resort serving as the backdrop for Wyndham’s resurgence, Peter Strebel, the president of the brand, took the stage during the opening general session in front of more than 300 attendees and showed how far Wyndham has come in the past two years and where it’s going.
“It’s been two years since the acquisition of Wyndham from the Blackstone Group and since then we’ve installed a new operating system and a new brand vision,” he said, noting that the new initiatives are paying dividends with the brand posting a 9% RevPAR increase in the first half of 2007 and Wyndham managed properties showing a 14% RevPAR jump in that time period. The 9% overall RevPAR increase has outpaced the average RevPAR increase in the first half of 2007 for the upper upscale and upscale hotel segments, he added.
He further noted that 20 more Wyndhams will be added to the brand’s portfolio this year and 53 new Wyndham deals have been inked since the brand’s acquisition two years ago. “In the history of Wyndham never has it had so much under development,” Strebel pointed out. “We’ve also managed to basically restore our entire resort portfolio in the Caribbean. Our resort portfolio now includes 24 properties.”
The details of the brand’s growing momentum went on and included the nine new-build Wyndhams that are on their way, four of which will open in New York. Strebel noted one of those will be in New York’s Chinatown and be an environmentally sustainable or what is more commonly known as a “green” hotel.
This concentration of future properties in New York is not a coincidence, as Wyndham— with its resort portfolio sufficiently robust— will now focus on growing its presence in major business markets in the U.S. in 2008, according to Strebel. “Honestly, we are weak in the major downtown markets currently, so we will take risks in order to grow our presence by buying properties, investing in joint ventures and taking on management contracts in addition to franchising,” he mentioned. “It’s all about center city development now.”
Wyndham, Strebel noted, is specifically targeting such major markets as San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, Washington, Los Angeles and New York for that type of growth. “We’re getting close to buying into those markets,” he said.
With regard to how Wyndham will enter those markets, Strebel elaborated by pointing out that Wyndham Worldwide’s financial capabilities will allow it to become an outright owner and developer of properties. He used the future 400-room Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort in Orlando, FL, as an example of a property Wyndham is developing.
Outside of North America and the Caribbean, Wyndham is also being aggressive in its growth through its joint venture with the Corinthia Group of Cos. The JV will soon yield hotels and management services in such foreign cities as Prague, Czech Republic; Budapest, Hungary; Lisbon, Portugal; Malta; and St. Petersburg, Russia.
While the physical growth of the Wyndham portfolio has been clearly evident since the brand found its new home two years ago, the new direction of the
