Intensive Asset Management

By Gabriella de la Torre, MBA in Hospitality Management, Mexico & USA, 2012-2014 2nd Year

On the first day of the week-long March break, instead of going on much-needed vacations, 33 students arrived at ESSEC to begin a five-day course in Hotel Asset Management. This class is one of the many intensive courses that IMHI students can take over holiday breaks throughout the year. From Negotiation Workshop to Leading and Motivating Others, they offer an opportunity to earn additional credits while deepening one’s knowledge in a wide range of subjects.

In the Hotel Asset Management course with Professor Daniel Lebret, we were able to learn about the ins and outs of managing multiple investments and further explored the complexity of this field particularly in regards to the hotel industry. Explanations of quantitative theory, Excel calculations and real-life case studies were just a few of the tools used by Professor Lebret in order to transmit the knowledge and understanding required not only for the course assignments, but also for life after graduation. These five days of learning culminated in a group case presentation centered on providing recommendations to a real estate investment fund on whether or not to bid for an investment opportunity in Santa Monica, California.

Days were spent in class, while evenings were spent gathering market research, running financial simulations and preparing PowerPoint slides for the final presentation. After many hours of discussion, planning and preparation, the groups were ready to present their findings to Professor Lebret, who provided pertinent and critical feedback regarding each group’s differing strategies and recommendations. This course was incredibly exhausting, but incredibly valuable as well. It allowed many of us the opportunity to put into practices the theories we had learned in class and to push ourselves to perform in such a short time span.