"Conversations with Alumni" - Zabada Abouelhana ’17

Zabada Abouelhana ’17

Senior Director

HVS

Interviewed by Mark Mollov '26

Zabada Abouelhana ’17 is the Senior Director and Leader for the Phoenix and Salt Lake City Offices at HVS, a global hospitality consulting and valuation firm that focuses exclusively on hotels and related real estate. As a current Cornell hospitality student with interests in real estate, consulting, and computer science, talking with someone who has built a career at the intersection of those worlds was incredibly inspiring.

Learning What HVS Really Does

Much of our conversation was focused on what HVS does in the industry and what it means to build a career there. HVS is known for its specialization in hotel and hospitality assets. They do everything from appraisals and feasibility studies to broader advisory work helping owners, developers, and lenders make investment decisions.

Zabada described how her team’s work sits at the intersection of operations, real estate, and finance. A single assignment might involve analyzing a proposed hotel or mixed-use development, modeling projected performance, and translating that into a value or recommendation that investors can act on. The company may be relatively small in headcount compared with the biggest consulting firms, but it handles thousands of engagements each year across the globe, which gives its people outsized exposure and impact.

I did not realize how small HVS truly was given it’s impact on the hospitality industry. Her Phoenix office only has two people living in the state while the broader western team has 20 people living west of Denver. This broader team covers a vast territory across the Southwest, Mountain West, PNW, and Coast. On any given week, they might be working on projects in different states, different chain scales, and very different market conditions. The small team structure means every consultant, even relatively early in their career, holds significant responsibility: manipulating models, visiting properties, and interacting directly with clients.

Importance of Operational Experience

One of the most meaningful parts of our conversation was seeing how much of an impact The Hotel School had on her. She graduated from the Hotel School and spent time working in operations, including overseeing multiple F+B outlets before moving into consulting.

Many of my coworkers talk about how important operational experience is when working in Real Estate. Hearing how she used that foundation to rise to Senior Director, overseeing the Mountain West region and completing hundreds of valuation and consulting assignments across numerous states and international markets, reinforced how powerful that Hotelie training can be. I am glad to have worked at many hotels and restaurants before stepping into the Hospitality Real Estate industry.

Traveling Abroad

The part of our conversation that felt most personal was when we talked about Dubai and her time working abroad. HVS maintains a major presence internationally, and working in markets like the Middle East exposes consultants to rapidly changing and adapting hospitality environments.

Zabada talked about what it meant to live and work in an international hub like Dubai: how quickly the city evolves, how many major hospitality projects move through the region, and how that environment exposed her to culturally diverse teams, and very different guest expectations than in U.S. markets.

That naturally led us into a broader discussion about travel, something we both care about deeply. I loved hearing about her time in the Middle East. She talked about how different day to day life there was, as well as being able to experience places so different from ours. She also remarked about how different the hospitality is in that region compared to America.

Key Takeaways and Lasting Impressions

By the end of our conversation, three themes stood out:

• Small Teams, Large Impact
  HVS may not be a massive consulting firm by size, but within the hospitality world it carries significant influence, advising owners, lenders, brands, and governments on billions of dollars of hotel assets each year. Hearing how a smaller office can support such a wide geography and handle complex assignments made the idea of joining a specialized firm even more appealing.
• Global Mindset as a Career Asset
  Zabada’s time working internationally highlighted how hospitality is inherently global. Being willing to relocate, learn from new cultures, and understand markets far beyond your home city isn’t just exciting personally, it’s a professional advantage.
• The Power of the Cornell Network
  Finally, talking to a fellow Hotelie who has already navigated the transition from Statler classrooms to leading a regional consulting team was incredibly reassuring. It reminded me that the combination of hospitality knowledge, analytical skills, and curiosity that Cornell encourages can genuinely translate into real-world leadership roles.

Overall, my conversation with Zabada Abouelhana left me excited about the possibilities ahead. It gave me a concrete example of how I might someday combine my passions for hospitality, real estate, travel, and technology into a career that is both rigorous and hospitality focused.