ATLANTA, Georgia, and FARGO, North Dakota—Hotel Equities (HE) and National Hospitality Services (NHS) announced they have formed a strategic alliance. The NHS portfolio of 38 hotels will integrate into HE’s management platform creating growth opportunities for associates and systems to create an operations and sales engine. The alliance leverages efficiencies and resources to drive performance across the portfolio of approximately 300 hotels and resorts throughout the United States and Canada.
“Since opening our first hotel in 1996, we have lived our promise to maximize earnings and value for the ownership groups we represent. Our partnership with Hotel Equities allows us to take that commitment to the next level,” said founder and President of NHS, Norman Leslie. “The synergies and shared cultures of both companies ensure that our stakeholders will continue to see strong and growing returns for our ownership groups. This is an exciting time for our industry—but management must perform at a pinnacle level to deliver the returns that investors are seeking. That’s exactly what we will be able to do with this partnership.”
“This alliance has been forged from a shared vision for future growth and a commitment to foundational values,” said HE’s President and CEO, Brad Rahinsky. “NHS’s track record of success and its stellar associate-centric reputation are well established in our industry. This alliance enables them to stay independent while honoring their legacy and unlocking the added scale, support, and resources of HE’s collective platform.”
The alliance is focused on labor concerns, recruitment, and retention with the added training and development resources and benefits HE has available to all of its associates and partners. NHS’s nearly 1,200 associates will bring HE’s total to more than 9,000 with access to a sabbatical program, daily pay option, HE Marketplace, and peer management training programs.
“Not only will our team members have added growth opportunities by being part of an expansive portfolio but they also have the ability to tap into additional benefits and training programs to catapult their careers,” said Sarah Koustrup, chief strategy officer for NHS. “Partnering with a group that invests heavily into its people was a huge deciding factor in moving forward with an alliance; it’s what we are most proud of.”
“We continue to look for scale with the right groups where we both add value to the relationship in many ways,” said HE’s Chief Development Officer, Joe Reardon. “The alliance makes everyone better not only from cost savings to ownership groups but even more on the people side of the business. We are particularly excited about the growth opportunity this allows us in the Midwest.”
