TORONTO-Take one of a handful of U.S. hotel management companies approved to run Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, IHG and Starwood Hotels. Add Tony Cohen, of Toronto-based Global Edge Investments, which has holdings in Le Germain and the newly-opened Toronto Thompson hotel.  Join them together and you get Crescent Hotels' Canadian operations, with a full-service office based in Toronto.

Although it's been operating here for only a year, Crescent has a portfolio of hotel management properties that is 14 strong, and they are looking to add six to 10 more properties in the coming year.

The current portfolio includes Hilton London, Holiday Inn Oakville, Travelodge on Dixon Road in Toronto, the Elora Mill Inn, the Benmiller Inn, a Best Western in Calgary, and a hotel in Yellowknife, NWT.

Cohen, who is Crescent Hotels' senior vice president development for Canada, describes Crescent as "one of the most multi-dimensional third party property managers out there."

"We have the ability to manage any type of hotel," he adds. "That's because Crescent is a management company built by hotel managers," as opposed to other companies that have been built by financial people, investors and realtors.

He points to founder Michael George, who has run many hotels and hotel management companies.
"We are operations people. We understand the other sides of the business, but we are hotel operators in the truth," he said.

He pointed to the fact that Crescent is one of the few hotel management firms in North America approved by the big five chain companies as another differentiator. While other management companies might tend to push owners to one or two brands, Crescent has the flexibility to work both with those brands, and with independents.  "We're looking at what's best for the owner, for ROI and we set them up for success."

While Crescent does own some properties in the U.S., in Canada it operates strictly as a property manager.

"That gives us the objectivity, the ability to look at it as an employee of the ownership group.  We're there to deliver for the owners.  Sometimes when the managers are owners, the lines get blurred," Cohen noted.

Crescent sees growth opportunities for six to 10 more hotel management contracts in the coming year. "There's a lot of potential out there," said Cohen. "Not only do we have the ability to operate hotels, but we also drive revenue, implement efficiencies and economies of scale.  Ownership groups out there could benefit from our services.

"We have a good base right now in Ontario, and we'd like to go both east and west.  I'd really love to tackle the west -Alberta and BC.  We have one hotel in Calgary, and there are a lot of opportunities in the West. That's our first real goal."

Cohen's background includes a start in the business as a hotel-based tennis pro. He transferred to the restaurant business, opening 40 Canadian restaurants for companies including Prime Restaurants. Then he decided to get back into the hotel business, partnering with the Germain family in Quebec and the recently opened Toronto Thompson Hotel (see "Signature eateries and stylish design define Thompson Toronto"), in addition to his role at Crescent.