Strategy and Service: Stonebridge Develops Its Luxury Portfolio

With the development of high-end and way of life hospitality comes more chances for third-party operators, especially those like Stonebridge who have a specialized because sector. “It’s a sector that mainly was run by the brand names, and the brand names are now permitting third-party supervisors to enter into it,” Rob Smith, CEO and president of Stonebridge, informed LODGING in an unique interview throughout this year’s The Lodging Conference. “So, it’s got a great deal of white area in it.”

To assist the business profit from that white area, Stonebridge selected Marco Selva as SVP of high-end and way of life in January of in 2015. Selva formerly functioned as EVP at Starwood Hotels, managing different high-end and way of life brand names. “He works out of a Miami workplace and is concentrated on assisting us grow that sector,” stated Smith, who himself ran high-end gambling establishments and medical spas in the Caribbean for 20 years and consequently manage the development of Aimbridge Hospitality’s Full Service, Luxury, and Resort Division as its president for 12 years.

Stonebridge presently handles 174 hotels, consisting of “perhaps 9 or 10 that are what I ‘d call ‘high-end light,'” stated Smith. A current turning point in the business’s development in the high-end section was the addition of the 237-room JW Marriott Atlanta Downtown to its handled portfolio, following a comprehensive restoration and rearranging from the previous W Atlanta Downtown. Stonebridge was granted the agreement for the W hotel in 2025 and “chosen from a company strategy to make it a JW. The PIP was just about $10,000 a secret more to a JW, so we did a $50 million remodelling and finished that in April [2026]and we raised the flag of the JW in May,” Smith associated. “We needed to get authorized by Marriott to high-end, and we’re one of just 4 third-party operators locally that remain in that area today.” Smith included that numerous aging W hotels in the United States provide a chance for the Stonebridge group to “reproduce the formula” of the Atlanta task.

High-Touch Service

In addition to its high-end and way of life focus, Stonebridge distinguishes itself in the extremely competitive third-party management area with what Smith called a “high touch” method. “Our operations folks about 8 to 10 hotels, where the market average is better to 20. Our earnings management individuals have 5 hotels, plus we work with experts for them, so they’re just doing method. Our accounting folks just have 5 hotels. The market average is 15. … And we have about 1.5 staff members per hotel at the business level, where the market average resembles 0.3,” he discussed. “So, we’re actually concentrated on belonging of the home group and being very hands-on, which’s throughout the board.” The business even opened a profits management workplace in Hawaii to be able to serve customers 20 hours each day throughout U.S. time zones.

Supporting GM Performance

In another example of going above and beyond to enhance service, Stonebridge worked with an EVP and chief technique officer who teams up with both business and on-property groups to guarantee positioning with brand name and owner concerns. Bringing a background with Aimbridge Hospitality along with Dine Brands, The Walt Disney Company, and Dell, Adam Snow “believes in a different way,” stated Smith. Investing about 50 percent of his time dealing with GMs in the field, “Adam purchases them from a tactical viewpoint. He takes a look at: what are your objectives, where do you invest your time? Are you investing your time where you wish to achieve success?” stated Smith, including that his own very first lesson in method as a GM was “you can do anything you wish to do, so as long as it makes good sense from a roi.”