HOTEL BUSINESS REVIEW
SEPTEMBER FOCUS: Hotel Group Meetings

Helix Hospitality: A Profile on Humble Beginnings and Responsible Growth

By Shreyas "JR" Patel President & Chief Operating Officer, Helix Hospitality | September 2019

It's a word that no one wants to hear: recession. However, in the hotel industry, recession is an imminent reality. What goes up must come down. And though few want (or are willing, despite what they inherently know) to agree, we are leaning into a recession-if it hasn't started already. The signs are there: inverted yield curve, labor shortages, tariffs on foreign goods, heavy inflation, and so on.

Hospitality Is In Our DNA

The forecast is gloomy, but it's not a setting sun-at least not for Helix. In fact, there's an undercurrent of excitement about our future. In biochemistry, the word "helix" refers to the structure of DNA. When I first embarked on the hospitality business, my industry colleagues continuously remarked that I'd been "bitten by hospitality" or that the industry was "in my blood." These words resonated with me, and I began thinking about the power of DNA-the representative core of every living organism.

When I decided to jump into the hospitality business headfirst by starting my own company, I knew it could live by only one name: Helix Hospitality. And I made a crucial decision right then-that in an industry that went down as much as up, that representative "core" of the brand needed to capture a sense of optimism, forward-growth, and belief in the future. For the inevitable rocky times, I had to establish a central force of gravity that both myself and my eventual team could always reach out and hold onto.

^{The newly renovated Comfort Suites gives you easy access to all the best things to do in Bentonville and nearby Rogers, AR. It's proximity to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, the Airport and Wal-Mart Corporate Headquarters make it a well-traveled property within the Helix portfolio.}

My beginnings were unexpected. After I graduated from DePaul University with a dual degree in Finance and Management, I worked for my family's printing company. Like many college graduates, I wasn't sure how I intended to use my degree. The printing industry gave me a testing ground, in a sense, to apply what I'd learned thus far and determine what felt like a fit and what didn't. The real-world experience was invaluable-I quickly found myself managing fast-moving pieces from employees to equipment to customers. And while I enjoyed the printing industry, I felt a tug elsewhere-to continue expanding my experience by exploring new avenues.

An opportunity arose for me to operate and manage a single hotel in Montgomery, Alabama. Like many new opportunities, the prospect equally terrified and thrilled me. I took it, and applied the same agility, focused strategy, and work ethic that I acquired in the fast-paced printing industry. There was a naturalness in this newfound role that I hadn't felt prior-all I knew was that I had to keep journeying down this path to see what other doors might open.

In keeping my faith, one hotel led to another, and I felt more alive than ever-a contradictory juxtaposition to the crumbling economy around me. We were on the heels of the 2008 economic crash, and this industry I'd discovered a passion for was in a serious struggle. Despite the dreary outlook, I felt an urge to legitimize the piece of the business at which I felt most adept: buying and adding values to hotels. I bit the bullet and founded Helix Hospitality in 2012, eager to innovate an industry landscape ripe with properties under high-risk.

Hope and commitment-mixed with blood, sweat, and tears-drove me to make Helix successful. A company is only as strong as the sum of its parts, so I first worked to build an incredible team of dedicated individuals. Together, we harbor a shared vision, work ethic, and passion to accomplish our goals-one hotel at a time. Our company strives on agility-we primarily revive troubled properties through large-scale renovation versus rebuilds, which has become a distinct differentiator in comparison to our competitors (a gap I spotted and saw a serious need to fill after the economic crash). This intentional focus has stop-gapped an unnecessary trend for wasteful new construction and offered Helix the competitive edge to exclusive, existing properties familiar to loyal consumers.

^{The Fairfield Inn & Suites in Southaven, MS underwent a complete exterior scope per Marriott design in Summer 2018 which included resurfaced exterior in a brighter, more contemporary color scheme, landscape upgrades all around the building and replacing the original entry portico with a new curved roof porte-cochere, with stacked stone column and contemporary signage.}

Driven to Succeed

Today, Helix Hospitality has grown to a multi-faceted hospitality company with a nationwide reach. In addition to large-scale renovations of existing properties, our platform includes hotel investment, ownership, and management. We also represent many of the top hotel brands in the country-Hilton and Marriott take up the bulk of our portfolio (and have taught us much about success in hospitality due to both brand's long-respected tenures). Our current portfolio consists of 11 total properties and over 300 employees. We've seen impressive growth over the last 10 years that includes four new properties valued at $35.5M in the last 18 months, doubling in size over the last two years, and growing our investment portfolio from under $1M to over $100M in value.

I attribute this growth to key areas like acquisition and construction/renovation. When watered down to its core, our strategy is simple: find opportunity, determine how Helix can add value, and execute. Innovation is crucial in an industry prone to volatility, so we remain a step ahead through careful thinking that's both out-of-the-box and progressive. We also lean heavily on the support of brand partners who play essential roles in our growth-this is an industry best navigated by way of inclusivity and community, and we always open our arms to others in the business.

Committed to Responsible Growth

So how do we continue to drive this important momentum? It's all about responsible growth. We always look forward at least 24+ months and commit to a thoughtful, calculated approach in every decision. Diligence is necessary to stay abreast of our industry's changing dynamics. My colleagues like to ask what the future holds for Helix-would we take on a 20-property portfolio? It's possible (I like to think anything is possible). But while the essence of our strategy is simple, we still evaluate every opportunity with razor-sharp deliberation. Forget not what I mentioned about the rising recession. As we move into this next cycle, we must arm ourselves through careful and calculated preparation to withstand every extreme.

Our concept of large-scale renovation versus new builds is a continued and critical growth focus. A 20-year old building is not obsolete. Often, these are the properties built with strong architectural bones. We pride ourselves in taking on non-cool, less-than-sexy projects and transforming them into properties that are notable and relevant.

^{The Hampton Inn by Hilton located in Wausau, Wisconsin was acquired by Helix Hospitality in March 2019. The 87-room property was built in 1997, underwent a complete renovation in 2017, and marks the third Wisconsin property to join the Helix portfolio.}

Our Director of Construction and Renovations, Earl Levin, is crucial to this process. He has an intuitive ability to identify ongoing or potential issues at critical moments, and construct a plan to reposition declining properties efficiently by keeping a meticulous eye on cost, time, and overall guest impact. Between his experience, expertise, and talent for execution, he's invaluable to our company-and our growth.

We would be remiss not to mention the communities we care for-a constant and important driver for us. We see communities decline much too often due to a decrease in neighboring property value. We hold a commitment to ourselves to show up, assess that property, and do what we can to save both the building and the community as a whole. There's nothing more powerful than the spirit of a revived community that's found it's way back on its feet.

We also will continue to deepen the relationships with our brand partners to provide best-in-class experiences for our guests. Each partner's unique ability to provide support and guidance, not to mention individual perspectives, insights, and strengths, help to push our innovation in the industry to new heights. Due to many partners' established reputations, their property experiences are consistent and their patrons are accustomed to a certain level of service and quality of product. Additionally, the more progressive brands like Hilton and Marriott show impressive brand recognition and have built strong loyalty programs with our guests. It's our goal to lean on the significant groundwork these partners have provided us to continue to elevate and iterate our business, all for the positive impact these initiatives have on every guest.

We will not shy away from risks. We'll move forward with renovation versus rebuilds because we believe in its positive impact, not only in terms of community resurrection but also sustainability. Choosing renovation over a new construction is a sustainable practice in itself, but beyond, we remain hyper-aware of the materials we install in each property to ensure they live up to eco-friendly standards. In our work, we have the opportunity to touch the environment in a hugely influential way, and hold that responsibility in every practice with high regard.

We also plan to keep building upon our culture and values as we forge ahead with extensive plans to expand our acquisitions. We rely solely on individual earnings to self-fund our growth, for which we remain ever grateful. This fall, we are relocating our headquarters to a larger, more modern facility to set us up on a high-functioning runway for optimal and continued growth.

One of the key things I've learned in my leadership role at Helix is the importance of building and maintaining close networks. Hospitality by nature is a human industry. Creating and fostering relationships with others who work and value this world is crucial. It sets us up for success when the economy starts to shake. Together, we'll battle the inevitable falls-and celebrate its eventual rise. Always offer a hand to those around you. You never know when you'll need one back-especially in such a niche and special industry like ours.

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Hotel Newswire is a newswire service that distributes press releases on behalf of our users. If you decide to submit a press release for distribution through our system we will transmit your entire press release including any personal information therein contained to our media contacts and online distribution points including search engines. This is the only redistribution of your information that we engage in. Your submission of press releases through our system indicates consent with this policy. The information we collect during your registration process is used to notify users about updates to our service and inform users of any special events hosted by Hotel Newswire. This information is not shared with other organizations for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

Cookies: Our system requires the use of cookies to enable the user to log back into our website to access information from the newswire, without having to log in each time using the required username and password.

If you do not want to receive email from us in the future, please let us know by following instructions included in our communication with you. Users who supply us with telephone numbers online may receive telephone contact from us regarding their account, or informing them of new products and services available on the HotelExecutive website. If you do not wish to receive such telephone calls, please edit your account and remove your phone number from your account profile. This can be done from your user account menu.

Ad Servers: We do not partner with or have any relationship with any ad server companies. From time to time, we may use customer information for new uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice. If our information practices change at any time, we will post the policy changes to our website to notify you of these changes and provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses. If you are concerned about how your information is used, you should check back at our website periodically.

Upon request we provide site visitors with access to all information (including proprietary information) that we maintain about them. Users can access this information by logging in to their account.

Security: We always use industry-standard encryption technologies while transferring and receiving user data exchanged with our site. We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information that we have collected from you on our site. We do not store credit card information in our systems.

If you feel that this site is not following its stated information policy, you may contact us.

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How to Hire the Best Hospitality Leaders: A Four Step Process

By Frank Speranza, President, Hospitality Talent Scouts Executive Search

When Benedict Cummins, Publisher of HotelExecutive asked me if I would be interested in writing a quarterly column in 2024, I asked myself what I could write that I had not written or spoken about before that could be useful and meaningful to hospitality professionals? Something that would make a difference in both their professional and personal lives that could allow them to have an impact on our industry. Sounds like a tall order, right? Yes, it is, but when you are passionate about something, what seems impossible is possible, and I’m sure many who will be reading this know...

The Changing Influences on New Product Development in Hospitality

By Andrew Cohan, Managing Director - Miami, Majestic Hospitality

It seems like generations ago when “Globalization” with a capital “G”, was the watchword of corporate America, and of the largest companies and consumer brands in the world. Enabling technologies such as laptop computers, the internet, and the privatization of communications infrastructure in the 1980s made it feasible to move production and delivery of goods and services closer to their end user consumers. The expansion of free trade encouraged optimizing production cost by locating each stage of a product’s value chain wherever competitive advantage dictated.From Industrial to Information AgeBusiness schools at the time were equipping today’s industry leaders with...

How Resorts Can Better Showcase and Safeguard Historical Heritage

By Paul Sawford, Associate Director of Master Planning & Tourism Development, RLA Global

Integrating modern architecture and tapping into new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) or virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) for creating community resorts at historical sites can not only safeguard local cultural heritage but also elevate overall communal experiences, boost appeal to new generations and transform these complexes into hubs of cultural and social engagement. In this article, we look at examples of how innovative architectural features and cutting-edge AI and VR tools can help breathe fresh air into community resort concepts at locations of historic significance. We also delve into the significance of flexible spaces in...

Hoteliers, Stop Fearing AI - You're Missing the Real Opportunity

By Sanovnik Destang, CHTA President, CHTA

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly moving from buzzword to business reality. It is reshaping industries from finance to healthcare. In hospitality, though, many hotel operators remain cautious, and with good reason. Hospitality has always been a people-driven business. From check-in to farewell, it is the human moments that define a great stay. So, when AI enters the conversation, it is natural to ask: Will it replace the warmth, personality, and intuition that guests value most? That question is not only fair, it is essential. In my role as President of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, and as Executive Director...

Strategies for Hiring and Retaining Top Talent in the Changing Hospitality Landscape

By Cynthia Schuler, Principal, IntegriStar HR Consulting

It is crucial to attract and retain top talent in the hospitality industry. In an article in Forbes Advisor entitled, "Key HR Statistics and Trends in 2023" by Kristy Snyder, Cassie Bottorff, and Brette Sember, J.D. it is stated that the leisure and hospitality industry has a separation rate of 79% "when it comes to annual average employment." That means that companies in the hospitality industry must audit their current recruitment process, review their salary structure and benefit offerings, and commit to identifying and offering learning opportunities for current and future employees. Recruitment The first...

The Future of Hospitality: Emerging Trends for 2025

By Adoniram Sides, SVP, Hospitality, Lightspeed Commerce

As the hospitality industry continues to evolve, 2025 promises a wave of fresh innovations and shifting consumer demands. Guests today seek more than just great food—they crave memorable experiences that transcend traditional dining. Through technology and human connection, restaurants are finding new ways to meet these expectations. Here are 10 key trends that are expected to shape the future of hospitality in 2025, drawing from Lightspeed’s State of Hospitality Report 2024, which surveyed over 7,500 consumers globally, along with additional insights from Canadian and U.S. dining trends to highlight evolving behaviors across key markets in North America:1. Experiential...

Hotel Design: Global and Cultural Connectivity

By Sergio Saenz, Arq., Intl. Assoc. AIA, HKS

The year 2024 is shaping up to be a record-breaker for international tourism, with visitor levels fully recovered and surpassing those of 2019. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, international tourist arrivals are set to rise 15 percent from last year’s total and to exceed figures for 2019 by 2 percent, suggesting that lingering doubts regarding the safety of travel in the post-Covid era have waned. By way of illustration, The Mainichi, Japan’s national daily newspaper, recently announced critical aviation fuel shortages as a surge in demand for flights due to increasing inbound tourism has outpaced...

HOTEL BUSINESS REVIEW SEPTEMBER FOCUS: Hotel Group Meetings

Helix Hospitality: A Profile on Humble Beginnings and Responsible Growth

By Shreyas "JR" Patel President & Chief Operating Officer, Helix Hospitality | September 2019

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HOTEL BUSINESS REVIEW
SEPTEMBER FOCUS: Hotel Group Meetings