My work often begins with a hotel that is not on the market.

There is no broker. There is no listing. There is no teaser deck. There is only a conversation—usually with a founder or family member—who is not quite ready to sell, but is beginning to consider what a transition might look like.

These are sub-100 key properties that are distinctive, privately held, and often owned by the same individual or family for decades. They were built with care, shaped by personal decisions, and operated according to a logic that rarely fits an institutional mold. However, the owners are thoughtful. They are weighing what comes next. They are looking for someone who understands what they have built.

When those conversations come to me, I don’t respond with pitch decks or valuation models. I start by asking how the place actually works—who returns year after year, what happens when it rains, why certain rooms are never assigned to first-time guests. That is where the real value lives, and it’s usually the part no one has written down.

At some point, a number may surface. It is not a listing price. It is a threshold—usually private, occasionally unconventional, and always based on more than the financials alone. That number reflects memory, identity, pride, and the weight of letting go. Whether or not it makes sense depends entirely on who is sitting across the table.

The right buyer understands that. The wrong buyer never gets a second call.

Too many buyers approach these properties as if they are interchangeable assets. They arrive with optimization plans, rollout strategies, or brand overlays that erase the qualities that made the hotel exceptional. The owners sense this immediately, and the conversation rarely continues.

When these transitions work, it is because something rare has aligned. The seller has confidence that the next chapter will preserve what matters. The buyer understands that what they are acquiring cannot be replicated.

I do not force these moments, because I don’t have to. But I do protect them. And when the timing is right, I know how to carry them forward with precision.

So no, these properties are not listed. But they are available—under the right terms, to the right people, at the right moment. If you’re waiting for an announcement, you’re already too late.