NEW YORK — Investing in boutique and lifestyle hotels can be a smart move, but working with lenders and underwriting deals in today’s environment requires some adjustment, according to speakers at this week’s 2022 Boutique Hotel Investment Conference by the Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association.
Atit Jariwala, CEO and founder of New York City-based boutique hotel development, investment and management company Bridgeton, said in the past analysts would do the underwriting, but the company realized the analysts were “completely off.”
Now, Bridgeton’s operations team is “very much involved in the underwriting of any property that we purchase,” he said.
Clark Hanrattie, partner at HEI Hotels & Resorts, a Connecticut-based privately held hotel investment and third-party management company for branded and lifestyle/independent properties, said lenders are becoming more accustomed to underwriting deals in the independent space.
That doesn’t mean it’s less work for…