Overview
Beginnings
Like many hotel executives, Chairman and Founder of Commonwealth Hotels Dan Fay has worked in the hospitality industry for most of his life. Dan started his career as a part-time hotel associate while still in high school and continued working while attending Ohio State University. After graduation, he entered a management training program with Stouffer Hotels. Within a few years, he had joined the hotel division of a midwestern restaurant company that owned two hotels and several specialty restaurants. A decade later, Dan formed his own hospitality management company and contracted to purchase a franchised hotel.
Partnerships
While still in the process of forming an equity partnership to complete the acquisition of an additional local hotel, Dan entered into alignment with construction and development veteran Bill Butler of Corporex Companies. The result of their initiative was the development and construction of the Hilton at the Greater Cincinnati Airport, as well as the formation of Commonwealth Hotels, LLC in 1986. Through this partnership, Fay and Butler have built a company of industry-leading assets that lead the markets in their respective segments. They have also become skilled at navigating the challenges of market segmentation, being as a number of their properties operate in the same marketplaces but cater to different demographics. The fact that Fay and Butler are owners, investors, and operators has been key to their success.
Growth
As Commonwealth Hotels has grown, we’ve also diversified. Today the company manages a wide variety of premium hotels in multiple segments and markets. While the company still owns and operates its own properties, we also take on outside management contracts, delivering the same success for venture partners and third-party owners. The success the company has achieved for its owners has established Commonwealth Hotels as a premier hotel management company, growing through performance-based third-party management contacts, as well as equity partnerships.
