BOSTON Pyramid Hotel Group is launching a new resort division, Pyramid Resort Group.
“We see a meaningful and timely opportunity,” says Pyramid CEO Richard Kelleher. “There are many resort owners who need a new management solution with better returns and cannot rely on the rising tide to solve their problems. Resorts are inherently a complex collection of businesses. It takes a very focused skill set and deep knowledge base to create value through management.”
Branded and independent resorts under management and asset management already constitute a significant percentage of Pyramid’s current portfolio. The new division will have access to all of Pyramid’s infrastructure, including sales and marketing, revenue management and e-commerce, accounting and financial analysis, purchasing, human resources, talent acquisition, risk management, insurance and project management.
Pyramid has nearly 5,000 guestrooms in its resort portfolio and is seeking additional resort management and asset management assignments. The Boston-based company is also considering co-investing where appropriate.
Richard Holtzman has joined the company to lead the new initiative as senior vice president of resort operations. Holtzman was most recently vice president of DMB, an Arizona-based real estate company, where he had both management and asset management responsibilities. This included serving as president of the Kukui’ula Development Company, a new resort residential community on the Island of Kauai. He previously was president of Grand Bay Hotels and Resorts, which evolved from Carefree Resorts as the luxury division of Wyndham International.
“Pyramid has evolved its approach to resorts with a ‘differentiate or die’ philosophy,” Holtzman says. “This approach can include developing high-profile entertainment programming, creating a cutting-edge restaurant or introducing uncommon features that make the resort stand apart to engage guests and increase profitability.
“Pyramid’s culture reflects our unshakable belief that our interests and the owners’ interests are totally aligned and uncompromised. Our single-minded commitment is to profitability and value enhancement. At the top line we do that by focusing on ‘RevPG,’ or revenue per guest. This concentration is a very deep dive into the yield management process which allows us to create the most profitable business mix.”