Presenting Hotelie Hall of Fame Story - Leland C. “Lee” Pillsbury ’69
An excerpt from Lee's story...
"After graduating Lee spent 19 years at Marriott, rising to become an Executive Vice President and Corporate Officer. Lee and his team introduced many innovations at Marriott including the first revenue management system for hotels, the first large scale guest loyalty program in the industry, developing Marriott’s multi-brand strategy and leading Marriott’s entry into the time share industry.
Lee left Marriott in 1988 to launch Thayer Lodging Group, a hotel real estate private equity fund for institutional investors. Thayer Lodging Group sponsored six large equity funds, investing in hotels branded by Marriott, Hilton, Weston, Sheraton, Wyndham, and DoubleTree. During its 25+ years, Thayer Lodging’s funds achieved a 26.2% IRR, ranking it one of the most successful real estate funds. Its properties included the development of the Grand Lakes Resort in Orlando, renovation of the Ritz Carlton San Francisco, the renovation and conversion of Marriott Wardman Park in Washington DC and the renovation and conversion the Diplomat Hotel by Curio in Hollywood Florida as well as over 3 dozen other properties. The company was sold to Brookfield Asset Management in 2015."