When it comes to rapid portfolio growth, the stars seem to have “aligned” for at least one third-party management firm. Aligned Hospitality Management—a family-run company that was created in 2021—recently added its 26th property, the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Globe in Globe, Arizona, and is showing no signs of slowing down.
Family is at the core of the Tucson, Arizona-based company, led by Founder/CEO Bryan Tubaugh and President Helinda Lizarraga, who also happens to be Bryan’s mom. Tubaugh acknowledged that the company is well ahead of schedule when it comes to expansion.
“The growth has just been amazing. … I wish I could say that I had this massive strategy to grow to 25 hotel or 30 hotels in three years, but this really was our 10-year plan and we’ve accomplished it within three years,” he said.
With a mix of full-service and limited-service properties previously located strictly in Colorado and Arizona, the company recently added the M Solvang Gardens, a boutique hotel which represents its first property in California.
Tubaugh insisted that the company’s accelerated growth has in large part been the result of “word of mouth” as opposed to actively pursuing opportunities. He further pointed out that the company’s first two properties in Tucson—The Tuxon and Doubletree Suites by Hilton Hotel Tucson Airport—were managed for “very influential owners,” which ultimately led to more opportunities.
“Obviously they liked what we were doing and really everything that we’ve brought on, for the most part, has been word of mouth through either brands, brokers, or banks,” he said.
Tubaugh, for his part, noted that because of the influence of his parents and their hospitality backgrounds “naturally I kind of fell into the hospitality world.” Starting in housekeeping at a young age, Tubaugh eventually worked his way up to the front desk. He added, “My mom and father were both in operations.”
His experience includes sales positions with brand companies such as Starwood Hotels, Loews Hotels, and Hilton, as well as working for a smaller management company with his mom prior to the outbreak of COVID.
Tubaugh acknowledged that the pandemic represented something of a “reset,” and the idea for Aligned Hospitality Management came to fruition.
“You’re sitting at home and you say, ‘Wait a minute, I can do this.’ So my mom and I chatted and she said, ‘If you can get it off the ground, I will absolutely join you,’ and that’s how Aligned started in 2021,” he said.
Stressing that its core values are “faith, family, and love,” Tubaugh credited his wife for coming up with the company’s name and he explained it: “Everything has to align. We have to align with our owners’ vision, we have to be able to execute it, and the partnership has to be in alignment. So it’s just everything that we’re about.”
Such alignment is critical particularly because managing hotels is more challenging than ever as operating expenses continue to creep up and margins are squeezed. According to Tubaugh, one management requirement is that everyone has to have experience working in a line-level position. As such, he credited the team’s hands-on approach and “staying on top of things” at the property level as keys to operations.
“It’s really training and getting our hands dirty, being on property and working with our teams and evaluating. There’s so much data out there now that it can almost be paralyzing. So it’s really learning what numbers to watch and just ensuring that we’re doing everything we can while still providing that guest service,” he said.
Tubaugh added, “Our team is incredible, we truly bring the boots-to-the-ground approach to everything, and it works.”
He pointed out the portfolio is “pretty diverse” in terms of types of assets. Tubaugh described the 204-key DoubleTree as the company’s “trophy [property] as far as revenues go” and suggested that the portfolio will continue to evolve.
“We truly embrace the boutique properties because we get to be creative with our owners, and really I enjoy bringing those visions to life. So, I think more of our growth will be focused on midscale, upper midscale, and boutique-type properties,” he said.
Tubaugh also suggested the company could be involved in larger deals going forward, noting, “We do have a couple of portfolio owners that we manage now.”
He concluded, “We definitely are going to try to slim down the one-offs and start going after more portfolios. Eventually, in the next five years, we’ll be looking at acquiring properties ourselves,” he said.
