Wyndham’s New CDO David Wilner: Why New Construction Still Wins

Glenn: [00:00:00] Hey, everybody. It’s your hospitality friend Glenn here at the Hunter conference with my friend David Willner. It’s exciting to see chief development officer of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. Congratulations. What’s going on? It’s great to see you again. I know it’s like my 50th. Congratulations to you, but I’m so excited for you. I think I’ve known you. I don’t even know probably our entire careers here in hospitality for a while. For a long time.

David: [00:00:22] So when the press release came out, I said, you know, 30 year veteran said, oh my God, am I that old or did I start that young?

Glenn: [00:00:28] I don’t know, bro. I’m both. I’m like, there you go. Also 30 years here this year and ten years celebrating no vacancy. Please like, share and subscribe all of that kind of stuff. But it’s so much fun watching all the people I grew up in the industry with now be the ones that are creating the destiny and the future of our industry out there. So how are you feeling at adjusted to your role? And then let’s talk a little bit about what you plan to do in your role.

David: [00:00:51] So it totally exciting times. You know, it was I shouldn’t say it was a surprise, but a great opportunity, a phenomenal opportunity with a great company and all the people that I’ve known throughout my 30 year career, you know, each one of them have helped me get here in one way or another.

Glenn: [00:01:07] So it’s been it’s been a true humbling experience. So one of the things I’d like to share with younger people is like, I know you’re prepared for the job, but how nervous is it to take on something that you haven’t done before and had so much responsibility? I’m trying to help the younger folks, like, get out of your own way. Don’t worry about fear.

David: [00:01:26] You can’t. You can’t do something when you’re prepared. You just got to jump right in there. So you’re a father, right? Yeah. I don’t think anyone is ever prepared to be a father. But you bring that baby home and you step up to the occasion. Just prepare for every little step to get there. And, you know, listen, right? Chips fall where they may and just be positioned to succeed. That’s a good that’s a good point. My kids are now twins. 22. So I think I and I’ve heard I hear you’re a hell of a father, so. Well, that’s only because I travel so much. I swoop in on weekends. Everybody loves me and I leave before I have to worry about anything. I think my wife and your wife would probably agree, I’m sure. All right, so you got this new role. You’re all ready to go and move forward.

Glenn: [00:02:03] What are the first things that you’re thinking about and how do you bring it all in and then help create Wyndham’s vision moving forward? So take a step back. You look at really what franchise development is, what the franchising model is. It’s actually pretty simplistic, right? It’s driving the best opportunities, the best returns for the franchisee. So what can you do day in and day out in order to position your franchisees, unlock the value of the brands for them so that they could, they get the best returns, they get the best returns, they’re going to come back and do more business with us. And we’re fortunate because we have a lot of brands that are positioned throughout the marketplace, right, that are in demand. And, you know, listen, our number one focus is driving the best margins, the best value to our franchisees. If we do that, everything else takes care of itself. But you sure you didn’t just start this job? That’s pretty awesome. Okay. Thanks. Good. No, no, definitely. You definitely have been in this game for a long time and understand where things are going now. You were saying before we hit record and this microphone you’re pretty optimistic. You’ve been watching my reporting. I’ve been pretty pessimistic. And I’m on a goal to be optimistic G again because I like that place more.

Glenn: [00:03:07] So why are you feeling good right now? So listen, you know, even when there’s no secrets, there’s been some, you know, Red Park impressions, especially starting last year, even during owners finding some challenges with their business on the conversion side, for us, that gives us an opportunity, right? That I get where you’re coming from. Yeah, I agree. So 100%. And let me just tell you, if you’ve been following, I’ve been telling you ad nauseum, it’s conversion market, not a new build market. So yeah, you’re right. Well, yes and no. I’ll come back to that. All right. Well, yeah, I’m understanding finances coming through more now, blah, blah blah. You know, you know when people are seeing the tightening of the industry, right. Maybe the rev par is down. They’re looking for ways to increase their margins or they’re looking at their brands to see what their brands are really providing for them. Yeah. And now it gives us an opportunity to go and meet with these owners and show them what the true advantage is. You know, sometimes that might just be, you know, the accessibility to our distribution system, right? Sometimes it could actually be just positioning them a little bit higher than where they were by rebranding from what they are. Right? But, you know, going back to what you were saying about new construction never count new construction out.

Glenn: [00:04:14] No, never count it out. But I would say historically, we’re looking at lower levels now. Now in the past. So now that I’ve trained properly, how do you how are you feeling about that? It’s going to break through. So, you know listen, true developers are always going to develop. Correct. Right. True developers are always going to develop. And let me just add in there that you always hear that people aren’t going to develop. But if you’re a developer, what else are you going to do? You’re going to find a means to an end. Before the Great Recession, interest rates were, I don’t know, 18, 20% deals got done. So deals will get done under no matter what the circumstance. Exactly. Right. But we also have the benefit that there has been limited supply that’s entered this marketplace, right? So if you are looking to do a new construction today, you’re not going to be opening up 24, 36 months ago, right? Right. So where’s the market going to be 36 months from now? You can’t look at what the existing environment is when you’re making that decision, right? David we’ve been in this business 30 years and that is very logical, very well, but people react emotionally and I feel like they miss out on opportunities because of that. During the big giant C word days that started six years ago.

Glenn: [00:05:19] I saw some hoteliers making big, bold moves while everyone was sitting on the sidelines scared. They are much more successful today because of that. So I would urge people to get out of your own way and realize that just because you start today, 36 months is a completely different universe. Yeah, it was interesting. I was talking to a developer just yesterday. He said, you know, David, I just opened up my hotel and I never and I’ve opened up many hotels. I’ve never, ever opened up a hotel and said, you know what? Gee, I should have I should have waited a year to open it up. Right. So, and what’s actually kind of interesting, not many people understand this or actually realize this. We’ve actually seen construction prices come down from the highs. That’s interesting. Yeah. It’s also a consequence of what you’re seeing with the multifamily, right? So there’s more. So when general contractors are getting more subs, bidding on projects, bringing down the cost, right. Still higher than what they were pre-pandemic, but lower than what they were at the peak. So the lumber has come down since then, for example. Yeah. So you’re really you’re really making sense with what you’re, you’re saying here. But remember, you got to make those bold moves sooner than later last year.

Glenn: [00:06:25] Oh, I was speaking to one particular developer and I’m like, you know, people aren’t going to develop anymore. No, we are going to continue to develop now because even though prices have come down a little bit, things are just always going to get more expensive in the future. Grading is a waste of time because it’s only going to hurt you in the end. You’ve spent more and you make less. Agreed. Couldn’t agree more. Good. I’m glad you think of that. I’m glad we figured that out. So hopefully you’re now a little bit more optimistic because your energy is so optimistic. Hopefully internally I mean it’s still optimistic. We’ll see. Well, tune in for future broadcasts and see if we got optimistic G or a sad Glen that you don’t want to ever hang out. Optimism. With this guy being CTO, things are gonna go well. Anything you want to wrap up on? No, it’s just a pleasure to be here at the Hunter conference. Great new venue. We’re having a great time. Weather didn’t cooperate, but people still found a way to get here. And while Glenn might not be as optimistic. Even though he exerts it, there is a lot of optimism in here. So looking forward to meeting everyone. All right. Like share, subscribe, listen to him ignore my my negativity out there. See you all later. Bye.