Maki Nakamura Bara, 36, is managing partner of San Francisco-based The Chartres Lodging Group LLC (formerly Oxford Lodging Advisory & Investment Group LLC), which she co-founded five years ago with Rob Kline. Chartres Lodging is now the fifth largest hotel ownership company in the United States with a 15,600-room portfolio in North America and Japan valued at US$5 billion. Its holdings include Jumeirah Essex House in New York, The Allerton Hotel in Chicago and Hotel Nikko Narita in Japan.

HOTELS: Why the name change to Chartres?

Bara: When we first started, we were known as The Chartres Lodging Group, and as we got into our business plan, we wanted to accommodate our partner at the time, Oxford Capital Partners. It was an easy transition for us at the time. Since then, we think there has been a lot of market confusion between the two companies, and we noticed that several other companies in other industries use the name Oxford. We wanted to go back to a name that had some history for us, we had recently recapitalized the company, and it's our fifth anniversary, so the stars were all aligned.

HOTELS: How has your view of the industry changed in the five years since Chartres' founding?

Bara: I don't know if my view of the hotel industry has changed. It is very cyclical, but one thing that remains the same is that we are not very good at timing the market. We have been successful at the very worst times, and everybody is successful when you buy at the right time. If the fundamentals are there, you should be able to ride the wave of the cyclicality. That's definitely something that has been reinforced after buying some assets at the very worst time.

I've also learned about the importance of people. To create an environment where people are motivated and passionate about what they do is so important. That's at the corporate level, but also at the property level. We consider all of our employees part of our family.

HOTELS: Chartres has done a lot of high-profile projects over the years. Of which are you proudest?

Bara: The Pan Pacific San Francisco is near and dear to our hearts, because it was the first hotel we purchased solely as Oxford Lodging. We bought it in 2003, which was still a dismal year in San Francisco, and we were really a mom-and-pop shop at that point—[we] didn't have all the talented personnel we have now. It was our first asset, in a market that wasn't fully borne out yet, so it took a lot of guts.

HOTELS: What is the key to recognizing and turning around undervalued properties?

Bara: There are things about a property that you can't change, like the market it is in, and you have to make sure that those fundamentals are there. Then you have to identify if there is something that is broken about the property that you can fix. We select assets that are in need of a major physical overhaul but are well located, so that once it is improved, the property can really shine.

The second thing is operational. When we go into an asset opportunity, there are often management challenges. Sometimes that means changing out the entire management, or sometimes it means going in and rolling up our sleeves and working with the management already there.

Finally, it is finding the right branding. We're not married to any one brand. The key is to put in the brand identity that makes the most sense for that particular market and that particular hotel.

HOTELS: Do you feel that being a woman in a male-dominated industry is a blessing or a curse?

Bara: I never really viewed myself as a woman or as a minority in the industry. I never thought of that as a hindrance. In a way, it's a blessing, because I'm Japanese and I speak Japanese, so I can leverage that a little when I'm working on a project in Japan. And as a woman, I can look at things from a different perspective than the men.

HOTELS: You give your employees the opportunity to invest in your hotel acquisitions. Why?

Bara: We set out to create a place where people who had as much of a passion as we did could invest in these properties, and we did attract people that were a lot like us. We attracted more talent because of this particular perk. I see in them more passion and drive because these are their assets and they are the owners.

HOTELS: With the credit markets in disarray, does that alter your investment strategy?

Bara: It doesn't change our strategy. There may be a slowdown. Right now there isn't for us, but I guess we never structured ourselves to have a lot of pressure to put out money. It was very intentional. A lot of people advised us to form a fund, and we really resisted that. We believe that good investments will attract the money; we'll continue on that path.

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