| East West Resorts: Peak Business |
| Real Estate | |
| Friday, 30 November 2007 | |
 Peter Dann says this real estate and property management company generates repeat business with desirable properties and superior customer service.  Peter Dann, executive VP and Director of Operations “Our businesses support each other, and we never lose touch with our customers,” he said, adding that the management company also purchased a transportation company to shuttle guests back and forth to several local airports to complement the other guest services it offers. Diversified niche The folks at East West Resorts are experts in managing a variety of ownership structures, such as wholly-owned condominiums and homes, fractional time shares, hotel condominium projects, and spa facilities. It currently manages dozens of properties and associations throughout the Vail Valley, Beaver Creek, and Bachelor Gulch, Colo.; in the Lake Tahoe area at Northstar and Truckee, Calif.; and Big Sky area at Moonlight Basin, Mont. At these resort locations, association, rental, and homecare services are offered to assist primarily second-home owners. Dann estimates that most homeowners own a unit between five and 10 years, but many purchase a second property within a few years of selling their first. East West Partners developed 600 acres in Truckee, Calif. The plans call for 75 log-cabin homes, about 40 of which have been built to date, to be scattered throughout a Jack Nicklaus-signature golf course. Each home has a flat screen TV, granite counter tops, a loft area with a pool table, an outdoor hot tub—and 17 owners. The company also developed town homes with the same ownership structure and a recreational facility with a restaurant and retail shop on the property. According to Dann, East West Resorts, under the name Tahoe Mountain Resorts, manages the Truckee property under the direction of a fractional owners association. East West Resorts has partnered with Hyatt Vacation Clubs (HVC). East West Partners has currently developed three fractional timeshare properties for Hyatt and is in the process of developing a fourth in Northstar in Lake Tahoe, Calif. Under this partnership, East West Resorts takes care of everything from the front desk to housekeeping to facilities maintenance, said Dann. HVC has designed an ownership model in which 20 people share ownership in a single unit. They are guaranteed one week during the winter and 10 floating days during off-peak seasons. Owners can also take advantage of other Hyatt vacation destinations under their ownership agreements. One of East West Resorts’ most recent ventures is the Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa, a condominium hotel at the base of Beaver Creek Mountain. When complete, the resort will have 210 studio, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units, each of which will be owned by a single owner. Dann is anticipating 80% to 90% of the owners to designate their vacation time and put their units back into a rental pool for the remainder of the year. East West Resorts will be responsible for renting those units with all the amenities and services of a top-notch hotel (East West will split the rental fees 50/50 with the owners). “As a guest at the Westin Riverfront, it wouldn’t feel any different than a hotel,” he said. According to Dann, the Westin Riverfront is a wholly owned franchise, meaning East West Resorts will fly the Westin flag, operate under Westin standards, and its employees will wear Westin nametags. As the property is a condominium hotel, Dann hired the general manager from the JW Marriott in Denver to manage the hotel side of the project, while East West Resorts can easily handle a couple hundred condominium owners. “It changes the shape of our company a bit as we affiliate ourselves with another well-known brand. We’ve been focused on whole-ownership management, rental programs, and timeshares, and this expands our horizons,” said Dann. Cause to smile If vertical integration is the key to East West Resorts’ success, culture is the force that turns it. “You cannot be in this business if you can’t deliver great service, and you can’t deliver great service without first establishing the right culture,” he said, adding that he spends at least 50% of his time managing the company’s culture and employees. About five years ago, East West Resorts embraced the situational leadership model designed by Ken Blanchard, which supports different leadership styles in different situations and encourages leaders to adapt to their constantly changing surroundings. But on a basic level, Dann simply promotes a positive working environment. For instance, during the winter, many employees join the company’s snowshoeing team, and during the summer, they participate in company-sponsored mountain bike team. “Socialization outside of work promotes healthy relationships. Our people enjoy coming to work because they have friends here,” he said. Above all, East West Resorts promotes balance. Dann understands that sometimes personal life supercedes work, so he allows for flexible hours. “If our employees come in with all their ducks in a row, then I know they’ll be engaged 100%, and if they need to take two hours in the middle of the day to sort out an issue, I’m fine with that because I know I will get it back later.” Dann estimates that employee engagement on a daily basis is as high as 95%. “That is a strong statement to make, but it differentiates us from our competitors,” he said. “Our goal is to put a genuine smile on our employees’ faces. I strongly believe that people can tell if someone is smiling because they want to or because they have to—our folks smile because they want to.” |
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American Executive is a RedCoat Publishing publication.
American Executive is a RedCoat Publishing publication.
