Graduate Hotels, Chip Rogers Resigns, Jobs Report, Spring Travel, and Mahomes/Kelce Restaurant

The Modern Hotelier #61: Graduate Hotels, Chip Rogers Resigns, Jobs Report, Spring Travel, and Mahomes/Kelce Restaurant === Steve Carran [00:00:41]: I'm your cohost, Steve Carran. Jon Bumhoffer [00:00:43]: And I'm the producer, Jon Bumhoffer. David Millili [00:00:45]: Steve, tell the audience what we're gonna be doing today. Steve Carran [00:00:49]: Yeah. Today, we're gonna mix it up a little bit and add a new segment here. We're calling it hospitality hot takes, where we talk about what has happened in the industry over the past month to keep you up to date on what's going on. So the first one we have, one of the biggest stories over the past month, was Graduate Hotels being bought by Hilton for 210,000,000. AJ Capital is gonna remain the owner of the 35 operating and the pipeline as well, but they all will be managed long term under the Hilton franchise agreements. David, I am gonna let you take the first crack at this one. What do you think? David Millili [00:01:31]: Yeah. So for me, being an independent guy, love Graduate Hotels. I've stayed at several of them. Love the brand. Just don't like seeing another independent strong group get rolled into one of the big giants. You know, LinkedIn's very active with people having comments and pros and cons. And, you know, to the ownership group, you know, it's business. But for me, as a guy, when I first came to New York, it was mostly independents and only a couple Marriotts, couple Hiltons, and now there's more brands than independents. David Millili [00:02:02]: So for me, you know, congratulations to them, but a little sad to see another one go. Steve Carran [00:02:06]: Yeah. I I I have a similar take on this one. Congrats to Kevin and the team. I mean, absolutely great for for the sale. Good for you all. Happy for you. But, again, as as an independent guy, really kinda stinks to see another independent group, especially the size of this one. And I feel like they have such a good culture with the colleges, and it's such a unique experience that it'll kind of be a bummer to see them go to a brand. Steve Carran [00:02:30]: So what do you think it's gonna take for a hotel independent hotel group to stay independent and not a I don't wanna say sell out, but not move to a brand? David Millili [00:02:41]: I think with the way technology's evolved, I don't think that's really gonna be sustainable, probably. You've seen it happen quicker in the US than in other areas, but I think that this is probably a trend that's gonna be around for a long time. I think, you know, when you look at loyalty, you look at technology stack, things of that nature, I think. And just, again, like I said earlier, just the economics of it, it's always different when you're the guy who someone's wants to hand you a check. Steve Carran [00:03:08]: And that's the thing. I think it's gonna actually have to take somebody who, I don't wanna say doesn't care about money, but almost has a higher level of passion for the independent side than, you know, that big paycheck that can come out from from the sale. So I don't know. We'll see, but I I'd love to hear love to hear everybody's thoughts on this one as well. David Millili [00:03:29]: So second topic, a friend of the show, Chip Rogers, has just recently resigned from AHLA. I'll let you start with that one. Steve, what are your thoughts there? Steve Carran [00:03:40]: Yeah. I mean, I kinda love it. The reason being is he's going to pursue, it sounds like, a passion of his other professional interests. So, I mean, as a 36 year old, I kinda love that he has left this corporate more more corporate position and almost went to follow his passion, which I love that. And Chip is an amazing human, and he was so good and did so many wonderful things at AHLA. I don't think anybody will dispute that. So it is very sad to see him go, but I love he's pursuing his passion. I love it. David Millili [00:04:14]: Yeah. I agree. And, you know, I think, you know, Chip had a really tough job. We I don't think we realized until we had him on the show that there's a real strong, you know, legislation piece of that job and, you know, the the legalese. I was talking to a good friend of mine, and and I said, hey. You should take this. You should go. And they said, there's no way I'm gonna try to replace a legend. David Millili [00:04:35]: So that was you know, that that kinda summed it up. So, you know, I think he's, you know, look. That role is always gonna keep going, but I think for him, like you said, mission accomplished, and he's now going on to something that he's passionate about. Steve Carran [00:04:47]: Yeah. And and you mentioned the stress of that role with, like, AHLA on the road, all the travel that's involved on top of that legislation. You got some big shoes to fill, whoever is going in there. And did wanna give a shout out to, Kevin Carey as well. He is stepping into that position along with his current role of, senior executive VP and CEO. So congratulations to Kevin. He's got quite a bit on his plate now, but excited to see what he does in this in this new role as well. So congrats, Chip, and excited to see what happens next. Steve Carran [00:05:19]: So this was actually exciting. One thing that was such a big topic over the past year was labor shortage. A couple reports came out, one by ADP, talking about how a 140,000 jobs were added last month. And out of those 140,000, hospitality actually led the way with 41,000. And AHLA Foundation actually did a research and found that the hotel industry grew at 12% or they're sorry. They projected the hotel industry to grow at 12% over the next 5 years compared to the national average of 8%. So it seems like we've got job more jobs than any other industry in the past month and a really good outlook for the next 5 years from the AHLA Foundation. What are your thoughts? David Millili [00:06:10]: Yeah. So look. Like I said, we on our show, we had a question outside of labor shortage. What was the biggest concern you had for our industry? And I don't think we had one person who could answer that question without talking about the labor shortage issues. So when you look at obviously, it's not a business, but numbers are numbers. So you look and say, wow. You know, last month was a strong month growth, and now, you know, hospitality is projected to outpace, as you said, you know, 12% versus the national average of 8%. So things are trending in the right direction. David Millili [00:06:43]: And hopefully, you know, as we've spoken to people, we can continue to, I guess, lure or attract people back into hospitality post COVID. Steve Carran [00:06:53]: And and I'm curious. I wonder if, you know, out of that out of those numbers, how many of those folks are the ones coming back into hospitality from the ones that left during COVID? So that's one thing I'd be curious about. I think we had Rachel Humphrey on earlier in the month, and she brought up. Just she said how the hospitality industry isn't a career path. It's an industry. But you can really do anything you want inside the hospitality industry, sales, marketing. You know, whatever you wanna do, you can really do that in the hospitality industry. And I I don't know if more people are finding that out or, you know, travel is kinda becoming sexy again now that we could do it, or if that's bringing people back in. Steve Carran [00:07:33]: But exciting to to say that nonetheless David Millili [00:07:37]: nonetheless. Yeah. So this is you know, the next topic we're gonna talk about, I guess, is it's interesting because we're we're showing that employment is on the rise in hospitality. But there was an article that came out that spring travel in the US was on the decline this year. And, I'll let you kick that one off with your thoughts on why you think that is. I know they gave some data in there, but I'm sure you have some of your own own thoughts. Steve Carran [00:08:00]: Yeah. Yeah. Man, I so here's one thing. I was thinking about this and, you know, Miami, they they got stricter on spring break. And I wonder if that's one of the things that kind of caused it. I saw in this article that spring break, Memorial Day weekend was the most popular time to travel. But I also think travelers now are just becoming a little bit more budget conscious, where they're not just gonna go somewhere during Memorial Day weekend. Because that's a time to go, they're gonna look more for the deals that they can find and the more of the experiences that are there. Steve Carran [00:08:36]: And, you know, I know a lot of people still like to go out and party during spring break, but if you do look at the younger generation, they're just not into partying and drinking as much as kind of the previous generations. So I also wonder if that has something to do with it as well. But, what do you think? David Millili [00:08:52]: Yeah. It's a good point. I mean, I think, you know, part of it you know, if I were to guess, I would think that a lot of people kinda, you know, are somewhat over the revenge travel phase. So one of the interesting things in the article was that although there's a slowdown in the spring, later in the year, it looks like the the the travel is is stronger. So, again, it's one of those things where, you know, the demand was so pent up post COVID that eventually you're gonna have to kinda level off a little bit. And I think that's what happened along with what you you said. I think I agree a 100% with what you said. Steve Carran [00:09:22]: And you're dead on. I was looking at the numbers. This year, it was 55% of people were taking a trip during the spring. Last year, you brought up revenge travel. It was at 65%. But the year before that, 2022, it was 56. So we're pretty much right where we were a couple years ago, so we'll see. We'll see what happens the rest of the year. Steve Carran [00:09:45]: We're gonna bring John back in again. We gotta bring him in for the last question here. So one thing that we heard was that Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey are opening their own restaurant in a Lowe's Hotelier in Kansas City. Apparently, it's gonna be a steak house, I believe. What do you guys think about this? And have you ever been to a restaurant, like, that was that was by a professional athlete that you really enjoyed? Jon Bumhoffer [00:10:15]: It's always interesting to me when when athletes or anybody, you know, does that because it just seems so outside of what they're what you see them do. But, I grew up in Michigan. I would go to Tigers games all the time. And Chris Chelios is a Detroit red wing legend, and he opened what's called I think it was called Chelly's Chili Bar, and it was, like, right across the street from Comerica Park. So, like, as a as a teenager, when I'd go to watch the tigers, we would there are a couple times we went to, his restaurant, and I I really enjoyed it. I thought it was super good, but, unfortunately, it doesn't exist anymore. Steve Carran [00:10:51]: See, he's a Wisconsin boy too. So he went to Wisconsin, so I would have loved that one. What about you, David? David Millili [00:10:57]: Yeah. So for me, I was fortunate. So my, you know, my career led me to New York in the early nineties when Giuliani and the Yankees and the the city as a whole was turning around. Times Square was being rejuvenated. I worked at a hotel that ran a hotel that was west of Broadway, and people said, oh, it's dangerous. I I won't go west of Broadway. So at that time, it's probably 95, 96. There was a huge restaurant called All Star Cafe. David Millili [00:11:24]: I should have looked up who was there, but one of the owners was just all sports people, tennis players, basketball players. Just a quick story. Sylvester Stallone was one of the owners, and I'm from outside Philly, so we're all big Rocky fans. My family came in, and, the booths were big baseball gloves. And they're playing rocky stuff. I'm like, wow. This is pretty cool. And we turn over, and Sylvester Stallone is standing right next to our booth. David Millili [00:11:47]: And at that time, my brothers were a lot younger. I have 3 younger brothers, and my parents were just, like like, in awe. But, it failed, miserably. Went out of business, and, you know, we we it's interesting. You know, the the Mahomes and Kelsey, for me real quick, is just, yeah, if if they get the right people involved. You know, sometimes it's a very glamorous hotels followed by restaurants probably are 2 of the most glamorous kind of thing kinda type things you can own outside of a sports team, and, obviously, they're already in sports. So if you get if they get the right people, they're in a Lowe's Hotelier, which helps. You know, you've got Don Shula, which, you know, has had restaurants and hotels and a hotel. David Millili [00:12:26]: So they're they're at least putting it somewhere that makes sense inside a hotel, I think. Steve Carran [00:12:31]: I agree. I would have loved to see the reaction of a Philadelphia family meeting Sylvester Stallone. I feel like that's the holy grail of somebody from Philadelphia. But, man, I would've loved to see you in your brother's face. That had to be crazy. I've been to like, Michael Jordan has his restaurant in Chicago. The one that I was in was in Wisconsin. It was 812 MVP. Steve Carran [00:12:53]: It was around the Milwaukee area, and it was, Aaron Rodgers and Ryan Braunz. They went in on it together, and it was cool. It had a ton of memorabilia. It didn't last long. This was right before the steroid saga with Ryan Braun, so they weren't too good of friends after that. So so then it got just rebranded, and I think Aaron Rodgers took it over. But that actually, I think, won a couple of awards. It had some of the best best food. Steve Carran [00:13:16]: It was it was really, really good. But, yeah, I would love to go see to the to this restaurant. I'm a football fan. I'd love to see the memorabilia that they're gonna have. But, David, I agree. It's gonna be about the service. And I'm curious, you know, who they're hiring for the food, if they're gonna bring in somebody famous or if it's gonna be more about the experience than the food. But David Millili [00:13:36]: Yeah. Good. And, John, you you did a little research. So why don't you tell everyone what's the number one Jon Bumhoffer [00:13:42]: sports restaurant? I pulled up the top 20, according to the USA Today, top twenty best athlete owned restaurants, and the winner is it is John Elway's restaurant in Denver called Elway's. Steve Carran [00:14:00]: Yes. Being outside of Denver, it's a pretty popular one. I haven't been there yet. Might have to go check it out and let you know how it goes. What was one of the low what was the lowest one on that list? Well, so Jon Bumhoffer [00:14:09]: it's the top 20, so I guess I'd I would assume they're all pretty good. But number 20 Right. Let's see, is 812 MVP bar and grill. David Millili [00:14:20]: Let me Steve Carran [00:14:23]: check that. Look at that. Jon Bumhoffer [00:14:23]: Yeah. Let me check the date of this. Steve Carran [00:14:25]: I was just gonna say Jon Bumhoffer [00:14:26]: that This is from 2,013, so I could've I could've found maybe more up to date information, but that was the first thing that I popped up when I Googled it. So this might be a little out to date out of date, but Steve Carran [00:14:37]: It's only a decade now. Yeah. But that's a Jon Bumhoffer [00:14:40]: Only only a decade. Steve Carran [00:14:42]: Only a decade. David Millili [00:14:43]: We're changing up. Jon Bumhoffer [00:14:43]: Here's my last hot topics. Historic hot topics. Here's my last question for you. Are there any because I don't I'm not aware of any. Are there athlete owned hotels that you're aware of? Steve Carran [00:14:56]: None that I can think of. I know there's a few actors. David Millili [00:14:59]: Yeah. I was gonna say it seems like entertainers. It it the hotel side, for whatever reason, there's more of a draw to that. And maybe it's, not that it's too big, but, I mean, like, the difference between, you know, being an investor or having your own hotel versus having a restaurant, maybe that's just a little too much for them. I don't know. And you think about it. The sports players probably just love to eat. Well well, Jon Bumhoffer [00:15:21]: that's Yeah. There's probably I mean, the Steve Carran [00:15:22]: The other thing as well is they're traveling so much. Think about, like, baseball players, how much time they spend in Hotelier. And then they see how, not only maybe they, but their friends treat the hotels they stay in, and they are like, there is no way I am dealing with my friends staying in my hotel. Jon Bumhoffer [00:15:40]: Yeah. Well, and the other thing too is may likely, you would assume people with that amount of wealth because they, you know, they get paid very well, that it would probably be part of their portfolio, but it wouldn't be as flashier say to say, I own you know, as opposed to saying Travis and Kelsey are partnering for this restaurant that they can put their name on as opposed to like, oh, I own, you know, a couple of whatever, you know, branded hotels. Steve Carran [00:16:02]: I totally agree. I totally agree. Well, thank you for tuning in to our first episode of hospitality hot topics. If you have any recommendations or anything you see throughout the month that you want us to talk about, feel free to send us an email at hello at the modern hotelier dot com or shoot us a message on LinkedIn, and we will talk to you then. But thank you for tuning in and have a great week. You made it to the end of the Modern Hotelier. Thanks for listening. The Modern Hotelier is produced by Make More Media. Steve Carran [00:16:35]: Make sure to like and subscribe if you're listening on YouTube or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. If you know a guest or sponsor that would be a good fit, feel free to email us at hello at the modern hotelier.com. If you'd like to get some Modern Hotelier merch, click the merch button on Modern Hotelier or click the link below. Thanks and have a great day.