Pete Sams Appointed President of HVMG: Large Portfolio Experience Transitions to a More Agile Hotel Management Platform

Hospitality Ventures Management Group has appointed experienced hotel manager Pete Sams as President.

According to Hospitality Net’s recent appointment record, Sams was most recently serving as president at Highgate Hotels. Previously, he held senior operational responsibilities at Peregrine Hospitality and Davidson Hospitality Group, both part of the KSL Capital portfolio. On HVMG’s current leadership page, Sams is listed as the president following CEO Robert S. Cole.

This appointment is notable not only as a career transition but also in terms of what leadership competencies hotel management companies need.

Because Sams’ background has been shaped by managing large and complex portfolios. HVMG, on the other hand, has a structure focused on smaller but turnaround, repositioning, and third-party management.

Transition from Highgate to HVMG

Sams was appointed to the newly created president role at Highgate in July 2025.

At that time, Highgate announced that Sams would be responsible for enterprise-wide performance, financial results, guest experience, and associate opportunities across a portfolio of 500 properties. In Highgate’s own announcement, Sams’ “people-first” approach and operational performance experience were highlighted.

HVMG’s current profile indicates that Sams had responsibility over a global portfolio of over 450 hotels at Highgate.

There is a slight methodological difference in these figures; Highgate’s 2025 announcement mentions 500 properties, while HVMG’s profile uses the term 450+ hotels. It is not accurate to equate them as the same metric.

However, both sources clearly show that Sams comes from a very large-scale portfolio.

HVMG’s scale is smaller, operational model more focused

According to Hospitality Net’s company profile, HVMG currently operates 52 hotels and one convention center across 17 states, totaling approximately 8,300 rooms. The company operates not only independent and boutique hotels but also full-service branded properties.

Services offered by HVMG on its own site include:

hotel management,
restaurants & bars,
revenue excellence,
acquisitions,
new development,
design & construction,
distressed hotel management

which creates a strong intersection with Sams’ background.

Because in his previous roles, not only daily operations but also portfolio optimization, commercial services, above-property sales, revenue management, and platform scaling were prominent.

Portfolio More Than Doubled During Davidson Era

HVMG’s Pete Sams profile states that during his time at Davidson Hospitality Group, the company grew to over 80 full-service hotels and resorts, managing over $2 billion in revenue.

Sams’ own previous statement also indicates that Davidson more than doubled in size during his tenure, reaching a scale of 80+ premium full-service hotels & resorts and over $2 billion in revenue.

This background could be significant for HVMG.

A portfolio of 52 hotels offers a different environment to implement standardized, commercial support, and above-property competencies developed in much larger platforms in a more controlled manner.

However, whether this will happen has yet to be measured.

HVMG’s Strength in Turnaround and Repositioning

Hospitality Net’s HVMG profile describes the company as a management and investment group specialized in turnaround and repositioning underperforming hotels.

This characteristic creates a different operational need compared to a classic branded management company.

Managing a stable operating hotel is different.

In a low-performing asset:

cost structure,
staffing,
commercial strategy,
F&B,
revenue management,
CAPEX,
service standard

are all areas that need to be redesigned simultaneously.

Therefore, in HVMG’s president role, not only growth but also improving asset performance will be critical.

Why is the President Role Important in Third-Party Management Companies?

Third-party hotel management companies may not own the hotel.

But they directly affect the daily performance of the owner’s asset.

Decisions made at the president level impact:

which brands to invest in,
which owner relationships to grow,
which systems to centralize,
which KPIs to standardize across the portfolio

and many other areas.

Therefore, in such an appointment, past experience should not be measured solely by “how many hotels did they manage?”.

The more important question is:

were they able to scale performance across different brand, owner, and asset profiles?

Sams’ history with Davidson, Peregrine, and Highgate provides strong references in this regard.

Smaller Platform May Create More Visible Impact

In a platform with 500 properties, the operational impact of a single manager may be more distributed.

In a structure of 52 hotels, however, central leadership decisions can be implemented more quickly and visibly.

This situation aligns particularly with HVMG’s self-description as “hands-on, responsive and agile.”

The advantage of a smaller platform is:

shorter decision chain,
more direct owner communication,
faster implementation of pilot programs

may be possible.

Conversely, as growth increases, maintaining this agility may become challenging.

Lessons to be Learned from Third-Party Hotel Management in Turkey

Models where hotel ownership is separated from daily operational management are becoming increasingly visible in Turkey.

This structure creates opportunities not only for international brand franchises but also for independent third-party management companies.

The HVMG example illustrates this point:

the value of a hotel management company comes not only from the brand but from the operational platform.

For the owner, the right third-party manager can provide:

better revenue management,
stronger procurement,
more efficient staffing,
better F&B performance,
faster turnaround

making the management fee economically meaningful.

That’s why leadership quality is a direct commercial element in the third-party management model.

Stafflink’s View

In our view, the real story behind Pete Sams’ transition to HVMG is not an executive appointment.

More importantly, the discipline of scaling learned in very large portfolios is being transferred to a smaller, turnaround-focused platform.

The risk for HVMG is overly replicating large company processes in a smaller structure.

The opportunity is the opposite:

to apply the commercial, revenue, and operating discipline that works in large portfolios in a more agile manner.

The true success of the appointment should be measured not by how many hotels HVMG reaches in a few years but by how much it improves owner returns and operational performance in existing assets.