Hotel Learning Online

By Sebastian Villa, MBA — Hotel Asset Manager, hotelAVE

Three years ago, I was the general manager of a Hampton Inn. I worked long hours for modest pay and spent most of my days putting out operational fires. I knew the work, I was good at it, and I could see exactly where it led: a path up the operations ladder to a full-service property and eventually a corporate role. It was a respectable career. Even though I enjoyed the work, I realized it wasn't what I wanted.

What I wanted was hotel asset management the discipline of standing on the owner's side of the table, working with iconic, complex hotel assets, and being challenged every day. The problem was getting in. Asset management is a specialized field, and the entry-level door is narrow.

I started where most people start: looking for credentials. eCornell offered a Hotel Real Estate and Asset Management course, so I enrolled. It was expensive, and it gave me a useful overview, but it wasn't enough. The course had been developed by Professor Jan deRoos, who had since retired, and moderated by different facilitators, sometimes not directly experienced in the field. I needed depth. I also needed someone who had actually done this work to help me navigate the path.

That is when I found Steve Rushmore.

I came across several of Steve's online courses while researching further training. He is the founder of HVS, the global hotel consulting firm, and he has spent his entire career in hotel valuation, investment analysis, and the disciplines asset managers rely on every day. I reached out to him on LinkedIn, and to my surprise, he responded immediately. We set up a Zoom call and spent close to an hour discussing my goal of becoming an asset manager, the qualifications I would need, and the network I would need to be visible to.

Steve suggested I begin with his Hotel Market Analysis and Valuation course. His reasoning was direct: the entire purpose of asset management is to enhance a hotel's value, and you cannot manage what you cannot value. The course teaches the full valuation process the way hotel owners and consultants actually do it, and it is taught inside Steve's Hotel Valuation Software, the industry standard for hotel market analysis, financial projection, and valuation.

I enrolled. It took me more than thirty-five hours to complete, and it covered every step of the valuation process: market analysis, demand forecasting, segment-based ADR build-up, mortgage-equity valuation, and the final value conclusion. The final project required me to value an actual hotel from a blank page, which was a real test of everything I had learned. When I passed, I earned the Certified Hotel Appraiser designation. That certification turned out to be the key that opened my first asset management door.

What made the course exceptional was not only the content. Steve himself was available throughout, on Zoom, by email, whenever I needed him. His knowledge of the industry and his willingness to share it put the course on a different level from anything else I had taken.

When I finished the course, the real work began. Steve became my mentor.

He had me build a ten- and fifteen-year career plan. He had me read his favorite book on goal setting and watch his seminar on the same topic. Over a series of Zoom calls, we mapped the asset management landscape, third-party firms, in-house owner teams, lenders working through distressed hotels, and hotel management companies, and identified where I could get the broadest exposure earliest in my career. We decided a third-party asset management firm was the right first move, and we narrowed it to a short list: hotelAVE, HVS, and CHMWarnick. The CEO of hotelAVE happened to be one of Steve's HVS alumni and a recognized leader in the field. Steve helped me build a resume and a cover letter, wrote a personal letter of recommendation, and made an introduction. After several interviews, hotelAVE offered me the role.

I am now in my third year at hotelAVE, and I have learned more about hotel asset management, ownership, and the broader industry than I could have imagined when I started. Steve and I still talk regularly about how to build a public profile in the field, how to write for the industry, how to keep moving toward bigger goals. I have since taken Steve's Hotel Management Contracts and Hotel Franchise Negotiations courses as well; they have deepened my asset management expertise.

A few months ago, I wrote my first industry article, "Hotel GOP Is Under Pressure. Here's How Owners Can Push Back in 2026," and I owe Steve credit for the encouragement to put my own work into the world.

To anyone in hotel operations who has ever thought about moving into asset management: the door is real, and you can open it. The right training matters. The right mentor matters more.

Thank you, Steve, for everything you have done. Your courses, your guidance, and your generosity with your time have changed the trajectory of my career.

If you are exploring the same path, let's connect on LinkedIn, and please take a look at my article. I would welcome your feedback.

Sebastian Villa, MBA, 

Hotel Asset Manager, hotelAVE,

linkedin.com/in/sebastian-villa-mba