When LODGING spoke with two Concord Hospitality executives at the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference in Atlanta, they described how their company, which is both a developer and third-party manager, is embracing technology and partnerships to maximize the value of the properties in their portfolio, backed by a culture in which business and team members thrive.
From Development to Management
Helene Okabe, senior vice president of business development, and Melinda Griffith, senior vice president of business development, explained how their company, which was founded by its current Chief Executive Officer Mark LaPort in 1985, transitioned from being a developer and owner to a third-party manager. “He started as a hotel developer,” said Griffith, “then sold properties but retained management.”
Concord today, Griffith stated, maintains a separate development division that handles “all avenues and streams of hotel development”—that is, everything from ground-up building and adaptive reuse to renovation. It is due to their achievements, said Okabe, that they received Marriott’s Developer of the Year Award for 2026.
Move into Upscale Soft Brands
While the company started with Hampton Hotels, Okabe maintained that Concord has had a significant amount of success with upscale soft brands whose food and beverage outlets stand in stark contrast to hotel restaurants created strictly for the convenience of hotel guests. “We really have a great niche in this space, with F&B outlets that are their own independent entities that attract local business as well as hotel guests,” said Griffith. Decisions about whether and how to implement these concepts, she said, are made by the company’s food and beverage division.
Among these distinctive outlets are The Ben in West Palm Beach, The Hotel Fraye in Nashville, and The Dorian in Calgary, which earned the company’s first Michelin star. They also noted that the Pork and Crust in Pittsburgh’s Autograph Collection Oaklander Hotel has a James Beard award-winning chef.
Concord diversifies its portfolio, Okabe explained, through partnerships with medical centers, the latest of which is the Hilton at the Jacksonville Mayo Clinic. Due to their location, she said, these properties offer year-round demand and are consistently high performers. However, she explained, “It’s important to provide that great customer experience to people during times when they need the most.”
A “Small-Company” Culture that Supports Team Members
Okabe mentioned the pride that Concord takes “in the stability of our company”, which, as noted, is still headed by its founder. While she has been with the company for 18 years, she mentioned Concord’s low turnover and pointed out that the chief human resources and chief technology officers have been with the company for decades.
Griffith expounded on the importance of having the kind of company culture that can attract and retain employees, including herself. After joining five years ago from larger organizations, she said, Concord maintains what she called a “small company” culture. “I’ve seen it grow, but we also grew our base of associates to manage the assets as they came on. But what makes the difference is that they care for their associates in a far different way than the larger businesses I came from.”
The company, both said, prioritizes employee development through structured programs and internal advancement opportunities, such as the Emerging Leaders initiative that pairs rising talent with senior executives for mentorship and training. “We’re very big on promoting from within,” said Okabe, who started at the property level and was periodically offered advancement opportunities. “We also seek to offer the most competitive pay and benefits,” she added.
Considering the Owners
Griffith said that it is paramount to sell the company as a good operator and to have the agility to implement practices to improve the bottom line by reducing costs and increasing the top line with effective revenue growth strategies.
Okabe explained, “We are always looking for pockets of opportunity to shift share and drive RevPAR, even in the markets that aren’t as high as we’d like. We therefore take a very strategic approach, investing heavily in our commercial team, revenue management, digital marketing, and proactive sales. We also have great referral programs.”
One effort that promises to “save owners a lot of money”, said Griffith, is its new partnership with the procurement provider Aventra. To further enhance efficiency and decision-making, Okabe said Concord is actively integrating artificial intelligence into its operations, including the use of Copilot by GMs and directors of sales and “leaning heavily” into their brand revenue management systems with AI components. However, she added, “We always take care to put the right data in the systems.”
Okabe also mentioned that the company introduced an AI Innovator Award to encourage adoption and experimentation; she said, “The GM that won that award implemented it in every department, from purchasing to menu planning to marketing and promotions.” Still, she said, “People don’t have to be very tech savvy. What’s most important is getting people comfortable with it.”
