Expotel Hospitality Services L.L.C. is a hospitality management company committed to service excellence resulting in maximized profitablitly and asset value for our customers. Our success is the result of innovative system, strategies and the quality of our relationships with our guests, employees, franchisers and owners. We are committed to the success of the properties we manage.

The Expotel corporate structure is deliberately compact and hands-on, without being disruptive or distracting to the operations of our hotels. Each executive is a hotel industry veteran able to cut through excuses and provide actionable direction.

Expotel works by:

• Increasing sales
• Practicing costs efficiencies
• Not being too global or too limiting
• Being agile and retaining maneuverability

Hotel Management and Operations
Delivering results depends on understanding all areas of hotel operations. Expotel works by:

• Daily hands-on involvement in Hotel issues, be they People, Product or Profit.
• Monthly in-depth property financial and performance reviews during which he, Expotel Executives and the hotel GM and hotel Executive Committee develop specific actions to ensure short- and long-term property results.
• Weekly detailed forecasting sessions based on Expotel systems that ensure accuracy and effective forecasting.
• Total involvement in asset management/improvement decisions.
• Frequent and effective communication with ownership groups.
• Being an effective Brand Steward.
• Effective management of Expotel expenditures on behalf of ownership groups and hotel profitability.

Example: Expotel developed the "Lafitte’s New Orleans Food and All That Jazz" F&B concept. Lafitte’s is a profitable hotel restaurant, even when normally excluded operating expenses such as lease, taxes, HVAC and other utilities are included. The concept depends on product, price and people: a superior, authentic New Orleans product; cost-effectiveness in food selection, inventory and portion control; reduced operating expenses and payroll ($15,000 in cost savings, per unit, from replacing an Executive Chef with a Kitchen Manager) and the skills of Corporate F&B Director Nick Agostinelli.

Hotel revenues are built by leading market share. Expotel produces these results by exercising thorough market segment account coverage, strategic rate management and smart marketing. Jeff Iavarone, Corporate Director of Sales & Marketing brings years of dedicated sales performance to his role as head coach. The way he works is by:

• Daily involvement in all initiatives and all channels for revenue production
• Weekly analysis of sales, occupancy, ADR and REVPAR, by market and by segment, to forecast, to property history and as compared to competitive set
• Strong relationships, active involvement and constant feedback with Brand marketing teams and initiatives for the flags Expotel properties fly.
• Aggressive pursuit of competitive analysis and market knowledge.
• Advocating cross-marketing and communication among the hotel sales teams to enhance lead generation networking and account/market intelligence.
• Ensuring that hotel sales teams understand and use technology, including SalesPro - a cost effective and technologically sound automated Sales and Catering management system.
• Managing all advertising, public relations and direct sales expenditures to ensure maximum return on investment.

Example: The vast majority of Expotel’s properties have realized RevPar Index growth during what is arguably difficult times; ten of twelve are in excess of 100% yield.

The aggressive pursuit of room sales is not enough to be successful in today’s lodging environment. A thorough understanding of channel and yield management is critical for maximizing not just revenues, but results: market share, contributions from key accounts, trend forecasting, e-commerce, and price integrity. The Corporate Director of Revenue Management works by:

• Supporting a dedicated Director of Revenue Management at each hotel, who has been thoroughly trained in executing the Brand revenue management program applicable to the property
• Daily involvement with Revenue Management teams.
• Conducting weekly in-depth reviews of the hotels’ rate positioning and pattern management using STAR, Hotelligence reports, and competitive rate analyses reports.
• Maintaining personal and in-depth knowledge of industry e-commerce opportunities, applied in the effective use and management of e-commerce strategy for all Expotel properties.
• Active analysis of Expotel property websites and their effectiveness in delivering marketing and e-commerce objectives.

Expotel Hospitality Services is a tight-knit organization built on enthusiasm and passion. The corporate culture thrives on its masterful blend of field knowledge and the flexibility that supports the capacity to ‘do something’ and have it be okay if it doesn’t work. Angela Williams, Expotel’s dedicated Corporate Human Resources Director, is driven by the ambition to see people become what they want to be. She works by:

• Driving innovative search for the best candidates at all levels
• Motivating Team Members to deliver results under the best operating conditions for themselves, their properties, their owners and Expotel.
• Effecting Standard Operating Procedures that are guidelines to empower team members and motivate them to treat the organization as their own company.
• Orchestrating a collaborative team of property HR directors.
• Making it her business to understand the P&L and motivating the property HR directors to do so, too.
• Understanding and implementing the Brand policies under which Expotel’s flagged hotels operate.
• Directing conflict resolution to limit exposure and ensure legal adherences.
• Selecting and servicing the most effective benefit packages available for Team Members.
• Ensuring Team Members have the tools and resources to perform efficiently and effectively.

Example: Employee satisfaction and promotion?
"We’re a growing company with the smartest executives in the field. If you’re ambitious, this is the place to be."

"We can put ourselves in the shoes of owners because we’re owners ourselves."
— Chris Schott, CFO

Expotel Hospitality Services, L.L.C. was created by the owners of the Doubletree Hotel New Orleans, for 15 years the most successful Doubletree Hotel in the brand. The company knows from experience over the years how it works to finance and operate profitable hotels and applies that knowledge to the selection and management of additions to the portfolio. Chris Schott, CFO, manages finance for both Expotel and the Burrus Investment Group that owns seven of Expotel’s properties. He works by:

• Understanding hotel financing and providing answers to banks who are "more involved and asking more questions".
• Paying attention to the details, a position afforded by not allowing Expotel to become so large "one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing".
• Investing equity into strategic property opportunities, where other management companies have neither the financial wherewithal or willingness to do so.
• Incorporating performance clauses in Expotel management contracts that are based on putting Expotel’s equity — not just time — at risk.

Example: Proactive Property Tax reviews at all hotels resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings and successfully renegotiating loan interest expense saving millions.

• Assessing every aspect of Expotel’s physical facilities and engineering staff effectiveness, property maintenance and preventative maintenance programs.
• Evaluating every capital expenditure and setting priorities based on "looking at the project and looking at our wallet".
• Ensuring compliance with governing authorities and flag/brand standards.
• Recognizing that it is hard to find service-oriented technical people and hiring ‘people’ persons who can be trained as technicians.
• Supporting Engineering Department staff with the necessary tools, resources and Standard Operating Procedures that enable them to "do it the way you’d do it if it were your own building".
• Providing the environment that enables hotel engineering staff to accept responsibility and then fix problems by "doing it right, the first time".
• Effecting procedures that will realize energy savings.
• Implementing telecommunications, call accounting, point of sale and property management systems that have proven efficient and effective.
• Evaluating third party service providers, e.g. Maintenance Contracts, In Room Movies, High Speed Internet.

Example: After 16 years in operation, the ground floor of the Holiday Inn, Brentwood TN started to rise. The concrete slab beneath the central core had risen 2-4" and caused cracks in the walls. After initial review, it was determined that the problem was expansive soil in the affected area (gypsum crystals growing between layers of fractured rock), and the solution was executed: drilling out three feet of earth and re-pouring the slab — while keeping the hotel open. While they were at it, the hotel underwent a complete refurbishment. This required rerouting guest traffic through the restaurant entrance, removing a wall to access the service elevator and storing all of the new furniture and carpet for the eight floors of guestrooms in place on the respective floors since the reconstruction process involved total removal of the ground floor. Entire project completed on time and on budget.

"When we are faced with an expenditure on behalf of an owner, we ask ourselves a very basic question - is this how we would spend OUR money?"
— Richard Ganucheau, Director of Technology and Risk Management.

Expotel is constantly evaluating technology advances. Although the rapid pace of change in technology is very challenging, when considering new projects, they are very careful to take flexibility and growth into account. As all businesses know, the insurance markets have been very difficult over the past few years. Expotel has been able to take advantage of strategic partnerships to minimize the impact of premium increases for their owners. Richard Ganucheau provides 16 years of experience to both Expotel and Burrus Investment Group, the owner of seven of the Expotel managed properties.

He works by:

• Assessing how much technology should cost. It’s easy for a large company to just accept "that’s just how much it costs" as an answer from a long time vendor. A vendor must be prepared to defend their solution and its cost.
• Bidding technology projects aggressively leaving nothing to chance.
• Choosing from a pool of multiple vendors to produce the right fit for an individual property while being careful not to discount the advantages of multiple location discounts.
• Minimizing telecommunications costs. Recognizing that the telecommunications revenues have been dwindling, it’s important to keep these department costs as low as possible without sacrificing reliability.
• Reviewing diligently all contract language to provide the best protection for the owner.
• Managing workers compensation claims vigorously to get employees back to work as soon as possible to retain good team members and minimizing our experience when it comes time to get renewal quotes.
• Ensuring the implementation through Human Resources of diligent safety programs to better prevent both employee and guest injuries.
• Working property and casualty claims aggressively to ensure fair remuneration for losses experienced on the property.