The Modern Hotelier #211: How Hotels Can Be an Authentic Part of Local Communities | Trent Freeman of Valencia Hotel Group
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David Millili: Welcome to The Modern Hotelier. You're the most engaged podcast in hospitality. Don't forget to follow, like, and subscribe and let us know in the comments what you think about today's episode. Steve, who's on the program today.
Steve Carran: Yeah, David, today we have on Trent Freeman. Trent is the VP of Operations at Valencia Hotel Group. He oversees operational excellence across our portfolio of luxury boutique properties. With over 25 years of experience at hospitality, Trent brings a wealth of expertise to the role and to give you a background about Valencia, they are a hotel collection based in Houston and operators of independent boutique and luxury hotels. Thanks for joining us, Trent. How you doing today?
Trent Freeman: Doing wonderful, and you?
Steve Carran: Good. Good. Good.
David Millili: All right, Trent, so we're gonna get started. We're gonna go through a couple sections. We're gonna go through a lightning round, ask you some questions there, get to know you a little bit better, and then dive into some industry topics. Sound good?
Trent Freeman: Absolutely, absolutely.
David Millili: Alright, here we go. What's something that you wish you were better at?
Trent Freeman: Something I wish I was better at golf.
David Millili: All right. What's the most used emoji for you?
Trent Freeman: Probably the smiley face. 
David Millili: What's a luxury you can't live without?
Trent Freeman: Luxury I can't live without is probably that's a really good question. I like that question. A luxury I can't live without is probably chocolate.
David Millili: Hmm. That's a good answer. If you had a time machine, are you going into the future or the past? And what year are you gonna go to?
Trent Freeman: The past, absolutely the past and probably, uh, 1979.
David Millili: What's the best piece of advice you've received?
Trent Freeman: Best piece of advice I've received is, take a step back and have a little patience for mediocrity and, uh, there's a certain way to address it and, uh, think of all stakeholders involved. My
David Millili: That's good advice. What's your favorite city and why?
Trent Freeman: favorite city. That's a good question. I've gotta say Houston, that's where I'm from and it's home. So I've been to quite a few locations. It's nothing like home.
David Millili: Yeah.
Steve Carran: Well, that sounds great. That sounds great. Well done, Trent. So now we're gonna dive into your background a little bit. So like you just mentioned, you grew up in Houston and you also vacation vacationed in California. How did that shape you into who you are today?
Trent Freeman: I think it gave me a little bit more of a, like a broad perspective. you know, not just growing up in just one, uh, I guess location, but, uh, seeing different people getting to interact with different people. I've lived in various places, uh, Asia and so forth. And, uh, it kind of is what kind of sparked my interest in the hospitality industry just to get to see people and meet people of different backgrounds and so forth.
Steve Carran: That's great.
David Millili: And so you have a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas State University and a Master's of Hospitality Management from Conrad Hilton College, university of Houston. How did you know early on that you wanted to get into hospitality?
Trent Freeman: I've always, like I just said, I really enjoy working with people and I know it sounds kind of cliche, everybody says that when they get into the hospitality industry. I was graduating college when, you know, the movie, uh, office space came out and. I knew I didn't wanna be in a cubicle answering memos, you know, and responding to memos.
I wanted to be out and about. And, uh, you know, I talked to people, I knew some people in the industry. They said it was hard and it's not for everybody. And that kind of, I saw that as a challenge. and it takes a lot of energy. It's not for everybody, but, I always tell everybody, if it's not in your blood, it's a really difficult way to make a living.
David Millili: Yeah.
Steve Carran: That's great. And you didn't end up working. In the basement. Nice work. So, so one, you are a very hard person to find research on. You keep your online presence very clean. But one thing I was able to find out was you helped start a book club, after COVID while at Valencia, and it was part of a weekly call for general managers and your corporate directors. Can you tell us more about kind of how you got this started, and then I'm gonna ask for your favorite book as well.
Trent Freeman: Absolutely. I love that. So we came out of COVID, which, you know, I hate to say it, you know the word, but we came out and we had an opportunity because we were kind of rebuilding ourselves. So we, the first thing we did, we called it the culture club. So we got a few of the corporate directors and a few of our general managers together, and we were meeting monthly trying to figure out how we can kind of reshape ourselves.
And what came out of that was the book club. And, what we've been doing every since for the past four or five years is every week we meet with all of our leaders. We invite everybody regardless of position, to spend 30 minutes with us. Each Wednesday afternoon to read, books with us and share the, share what they've read, across the portfolio.
And we really focus on, leadership, content and hospitality content right now we're next week we'll be wrapping up part of Hospitality by Michael Solomon, which is a wonderful book. there's been a lot of very inspiring books that we've covered, will Adare is unreasonable Hospitality.
The first book we did in our book club was Hort Schulze's Excellence Wins, and he was so kind. Our, our corporate director of branding reached out to him and he actually spent about 15 to 20 minutes on the call with us.
Steve Carran: Wow.
Trent Freeman: It was just amazing because, you know, he's a legend in our industry and I've never had the honor of working directly with him, so I and a few others were just in awe the entire 15 to 20 minutes since he was just speaking to the team very casually and very happy to be on the call. That's great, and either what's your favorite book or what's your favorite book that you and the team have read so far?
I have this question with the team all the time, and I'm always asking them their favorite book and I, you know, they ask me my favorite book. I think the most, I guess the most inspiring is Will Good Daughter is Unreasonable Hospitality, because it's right. it really just explains what we can do, those wow factors that we're always looking for in the hospitality industry. So I really enjoyed that book.
Steve Carran: That's great. So now we're gonna dive into your career a little bit more, how you got to be the VP of operations. So you held various leadership positions with renowned brands such as Peabody Hotels and Resorts, Omni Hotels, four Seasons. What did those earlier days teach you that you still take with you today?
Trent Freeman: A lot and the leaders in those organizations as well. They had several small conversations with me, some of the big ones as well, and I'm grateful for the feedback that they've given me. I've gotta tell you, uh, the time and everybody knows us in the industry. Four Seasons really has a good idea of what they're doing, the culture that they have.
And I was at, you know, my first job was, the Sheraton North Houston. a front desk agent. and when I got to the Four Seasons, it really just opened my eye about what hospitality's really about and what a culture can be. And, uh, my time with Omni as well really taught me a lot about teamwork and, more about the, the business of running a hotel, the financials and so forth and Peabody was really a good experience as well. Kind of, uh, showed me what I could do with the tools that I've learned and how I could help further move the needle somewhere.
David Millili: And so you joined Valencia Hotel Group in 2011. You've held various positions, everything from director of food and beverage, director of operations, general manager, of the Hotel, Valencia Riverwalk. How does working in all those various positions help you in your role today?
Trent Freeman: it really gives me the confidence to, uh, you know, when I sit at a table, I kind of know what I'm talking about.
David Millili: Right.
Trent Freeman: So, really, I've always been one to, even when I started off as a front desk agent, you know, I've always been curious and I think that's what's led to my success thus far, because I'm, I'm curious about, you know, I, I get in somewhere and I see how it could be, first you have to learn how it is and how.
It works. And then you start to think, well, could we do this? Could we do this? And then you just get engaged and I'm actually doing the same thing, today. And you know, a lot of those times when you don't get that promotion that you want and you're in that position a little bit longer than you kind of wanted to be, you just get experienced.
Steve Carran: That's great. Did you have a favorite position kind of before you got here? Like did you really enjoy working on the food and beverage side specifically or anything like that?
Trent Freeman: I was just on our call yesterday with one of the properties. I actually had the opportunity to, uh, tell this story, but. My favorite position was when I was the pm assistant front office manager at Four Seasons in Houston, and I just felt like I owned that shift. I was, I felt like I was the Chief Energy Offer officer on the shift.
I really, it was my first real experience with leadership and, I learned very quickly if you just communicate to the team and you just, you know, you keep, you know, every team has opportunities. And, it really gave me the opportunity to really just, uh, see what I could do from a leadership standpoint.
You know, escorting VIPs, keeping the front desk engaged and having those small conversations. And, and some, you know, the cool thing about some properties is when, when the team is truly engaged. when they're truly engaged, then you'll have peer-to-peer accountability. I remember when I was at Four Seasons, one of the concierge came up to me and he, he kind of pulled me to the side.
I was the assistant manager. He reported to me, and this, this is true ownership. He said, Trent, I, I hate to tell you, but your jacket's unbuttoned. And I was, I was new on property and I'm like, my jacket's unbuttoned. And then I looked around. I didn't know that was a thing. So, so you know that, that, uh, just that culture and, I learned a lot in that position, but I was also able to learn what I could do as a leader, and that's really where I developed, I guess, my angle on leadership book, the books help. The books help now that we're doing the book club, because I had, I had been, every once in a while I'd read a leadership book and so forth, but, more or less over the last two and a half to three decades, I kind of learned these things on my own. But it was kind of comforting to know that other people are out there, are thinking the same things, and these, you know, the trust and inspire culture is really the only way to do it in our industry.
Steve Carran: That's great. That's great. What do you focus on more as the VP of operations?
Trent Freeman: I would say my role is to provide support to the properties, so it is to give them what they need and to help them see the vision. we have a really good team of talented people and they want to make something happen. They want to, matter. They want to be a part of something, and I'm just here to make sure that they get the tools that they need to make that happen.
David Millili: And for those who might not be familiar with, can you tell us more about Valencia as a whole?
Trent Freeman: Absolutely. We have seven properties right now. We have 200 development in Arlington. We are based in Houston our corporate office is in Houston. And, most of our properties. In Texas, we do have our first hotel is, this one I'm in right now is Valencia Riverwalk. Uh, little over 22 years.
you know, we're always about, taking our time, not doing anything too quickly and not making any rash decisions and, making, decisions that are really optimal for the company and for our investors. We are all about. Our uniqueness, we, you know, I wouldn't say independent at this point, but we're really trying to make sure we fill a unique niche in each property that we're in.
We are not going to go and just, go in cookie cutter and put a property in a location without having it mean something for that location, for the community.
Steve Carran: That's great. And I love that you just brought up community because we're gonna move to the next section, which we focus more on thought leadership. and one thing that I really want to talk about today is kind of Valencia and philanthropy and how they've gotten involved in the community. So Valencia has, it's, it's called Valencia Helps Week.
And it's an annual initiative where Valencia gives back to the hotel's surrounding communities. Can you tell us a little bit how this program got started and some of the impacts that it's had on its communities?
Trent Freeman: So Valencia Hope helps. Week was kind of the product of our stellar meetings and our stellar meetings are meetings. They're continuous improvement meetings that each one of our properties have monthly. They each they involve our front desk agents, housekeepers, engineers, food and beverage servers, cooks, and so forth, all of our line level associates.
And they're encouraged to kind of think of how we can do things better in every asset, in every facet of what we do from the guest experience to. The culture in the hotel and the community, and we had, we've had, personal philanthropic days. each of our associates get, get 40 hours a year and we've, we were encouraging people to do it and, and use those hours, but we weren't getting a lot of people to participate in it.
So the stellar committee, came up with the idea of just having a focus. One week a year to where we get everybody focused and they get comfortable doing it. So they're encouraged during that week. It's the first full week of June, uh, which is typically slow in our industry. It gives us the opportunity to get more associates involved and, uh, so the idea there is to get everybody as a team giving back to the committee and then throughout the rest of the years, they can burn the rest of their PPDO hours.
Steve Carran: So that's aside. Just, sorry, David. So this week is aside from the 40 hours that's paid
Trent Freeman: It includes those hours. So as many, but not every associate can get the full 40 hours. They can't use their full 40 hours that week. So, but we, we really, it's not one of those things that we just say, we do this and hey, this is a benefit and we. But we really want people to use, we want our team members to use those hours. And if they don't have the opportunity to use all those hours during, Valencia helps week, then we encourage them to use the rest throughout the rest of the year.
Steve Carran: That's fantastic.
David Millili: And it's great to hear that. And so how do you feel that those type of initiatives, they help influence. Employee morale, retention, and then ultimately that kind of trickles down to the the guest and their experience.
Trent Freeman: Absolutely, it gets the associates engaged. Uh, everybody wants, everybody wants to matter and they wanna feel like they're doing something. And when, when you get them engaged in a cause. A purpose, a purpose of being a part of the community. I kind of, you know, it's what hospitality is all about. It's that gift of giving.
It's that feeling of actually feeling important because you made somebody else feel important. And so if we can get our associates to really see that as part of giving back to the community, then they'll kind of understand what we're actually looking for when they, when they. Deal with our guests, both internal and external, both, you know, amongst each other and then they start to feel that and they, they become engaged. And then, it obviously has a positive impact on the guest experience.
Steve Carran: Absolutely one thing we talk about a lot on this podcast since David and I both come from the independent space is really hotels becoming part of the community. And it's not just a hotel, but really having a place where, you know, hyperlocal experience is all the way, but like. Where people from the community can come hang out at the restaurant, the bar kind of, you know, kind of being that hub. Do you have any advice for other independent hotels on how to almost become this hub for the community?
Trent Freeman: Absolutely. The big word in our industry right, now is being authentic we hear that a lot. Authentic. Well, what does that mean? I, think it's beyond thread count and, Really just local art, you know, you know people, you know, they think they can put a local piece of art on the wall and they're authentic. But authentic. You know, people, when you're in a community, you take care of each other and you are a part of that community. So to not just put up a brick and mortar building and throw some local art in it, it's about being engaged in the community and actually having the community appreciate you being there.
I would say that that is essential now as everybody is trying to be authentic and giving people a reason to travel. And they wanna feel like, you know, people when they, when they stay with us, our guests actually feel like they, they wanna, they wanna stay somewhere where it's, truly authentic piece of the community. So I would say it's essential moving forward as people are developing hotels.
Steve Carran: Absolute.
David Millili: That makes sense. So what advice or what kind of guidance would you give to other independent hotels and then maybe some specifics on how you guys have done it to implement these philanthropy type of, you know, incorporation into the business model for these hotels?
Trent Freeman: I would say it's really just the right thing to do,
David Millili: Right.
Trent Freeman: you know? And, and, and like I said, it's uh. you really wanna have a team that's engaged and is doing, you know, you can't go around, uh, you know, this, the, uh, carrot and stick thing doesn't work anymore. You've gotta, you gotta focus on the trust and inspire and actually kind of, people inspire them to actually want to be a part of something and feel like they're a part of something. And a truly engaged team just makes, when you're running a hotel, it just. Makes the leadership's lives so much easier and, uh, so much more rewarding as well.
Steve Carran: Absolutely. And so Valencia is about to be over 20 years old. You know, you guys are. Obviously growing, expanding. It seems like you have the right idea down with giving back to the community and being authentic. What's next for Valencia?
Trent Freeman: So what's next is we're going to continue to take our time and make the right decisions. We're gonna properly, properly vet, and, you know, make, make sure that we're not jumping any, anything too quickly before we've thought it out. Uh, so we are growing, and we'll continue to grow, but we're not gonna, we're not gonna get ever get too big for our britches We're gonna focus on. Building a culture from within, making sure that our team members have the resources they need to honestly grow and self-actualize. And, uh, you know, I'm very proud to say that of all of our general managers, I believe our annual, our average tenure of our general managers is about 20 years with the newest being 13 years with us.
So we really focus on. our culture and, developing that, and that's what we're gonna continue to focus on and we'll grow naturally as we should.
Steve Carran: That's great. That's great.
David Millili: So I'm gonna add a question in here. So as you were talking about the position you liked the most, it kind of. Threw me back to my days in college and when I worked the front desk and eventually they gave me the ability to kind of unofficially be the manager on Friday nights because the one woman worked, you know, six days a week.
That's when I kind of felt like I belonged and I, I knew this was for me, hospitality. Was there a moment where you were, a position you had where you were like, yep, I know this is what I'm gonna be doing, you know, for the rest of my life?
Trent Freeman: I think, uh, that was it When I, when I talked about, the pm a om at the, uh, at the Four Seasons, I just felt it. I felt that energy and it was really, that ability, I knew, like I said, you know, that spirit of hospitality, that feeling, the gift of giving as a front desk agent. But then in my first true leadership position, I realized that, you know, if I can provide that same experience, to my fellow associates.
I can really do something big. I can actually, I have the power to change people's lives, just by being a leader and giving those the support and the confidence they need to, to help move on with their life and treat them like individuals, not just cogs on a wheel.
David Millili: I will said.
Steve Carran: Great. Very well said. So Trent, we've been asking you the questions this whole time. This is where we turn the tables and let you ask David and I a question.
Trent Freeman: Absolutely. So, real quick, David, you said, uh, your job, so, uh, your, uh, career in the hospitality industry, I presume,
David Millili: Correct. Yeah.
Trent Freeman: What was your favorite position?
David Millili: I would say if you said what was my favorite position, it would probably have to be my first, because I didn't know how much I was gonna like hotels. My first job, I was a union busboy at the downtown Hyatt in Pittsburgh, and I didn't know what to expect. And um, I wouldn't say it was my best job, obviously, but it was probably the one that I just kind of.
I felt like this is just really cool. I love the energy of the hotel and kind of just the movement of just the, the, the kitchen and the, the restaurant. Um, so for me, my first was kind of, I think my, my favorite 'cause I just felt like this is what, where I'm gonna be.
Trent Freeman: Nice. And Steve, I guess I'll ask you the same question.
Steve Carran: I think what I'm doing right now is my favorite job. Ever had to be honest with you, I think we honestly have one of the coolest jobs in hospitality right now. We get to talk to so many different types of people on this podcast, folks like yourself, who are leaders in the industry and really shaping what hospitality is not only has become, but is becoming in the future.
So for me. Being a podcaster and part of a media company is by far my favorite job I've ever had. But that was great. Great question, Trent. I don't think we've had that one before. So kudos to you. our producer John, has been sitting in and listening this whole time, so we're gonna pass it over to him for one final question before we get you outta here.
Trent Freeman: Absolutely.
Jon Bumhoffer: It's been awesome. Listen to your conversation. Uh, today. One thing that we got to do is we got to speak to John Keeling at ILC Chicago just a few months back. It was a very short amount of time, but one of the things that stuck out is he said that one of Valencia's advantages is that you don't really follow the trends or the rules.
You kind of like. You know the rules, but you, and you mentioned that too, you, you're focused on the uniqueness. So I'm curious, what does that mean for you guys? Like, for you specifically in your role for operations? Does that make it harder for you, knowing that you guys are unique in a lot of the things that you do? Or what does that just mean generally for, uh, you at Valencia?
Trent Freeman: I think we don't really have a lot of side rails keeping us, uh, moving in a particular direction, and we have the ability to think on our feet and, and move how we, you know, we're kind of agile in that respect. So, we do have a long-term strategy. However, we're not bound by, stockholders or.
Somebody, people that we don't know, we're a very tight knit team and everybody knows everybody's name and it allows us to, move in the direction we need to when we need to move in that direction.
Jon Bumhoffer: Just one follow up. What is one? Property that you guys have that you think really exemplifies that, uh, uniqueness or maybe rule breaking mentality.
Trent Freeman: Wow. That's is a good question. Because they all do. I do think that, I wanna go with Lone Star Court, uh, because it was our first court concept and, Dole Graham had the vision of the court concept, which his. urban kind of oasis. Uh, when, when you're inside the lone star Court, uh, the trees are all growing and now you feel like you're in the middle of the countryside.
You forget that you're in the middle of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country, and it just gives this sense of space and really, it broke the rules. And, and we do see several other developers kind of, moving in the same direction, but that property really broke the rules when we, when we built it.
David Millili: Well, that does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier Trent. This is where you get to let people know how they can get in touch with you and how they can find out more about Valencia.
Trent Freeman: Absolutely, Valencia Freeman of valenciahotelgroup.com And happy to help wherever I can.
David Millili: That's great. Thank you. So that does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier, the most engaged podcast in hospitality. So whether you're watching or listening, we appreciate you and hope to be with you again soon. Thank you for joining us, Trent.