Destination Resorts and Hotels has always been about each and every one of its 30-plus properties first and foremost, but during the past year, the management company has added interdependence to its independent thinking. The evolution of the company is certainly a response to the economy in many ways, but also about better leveraging the resources it has to strengthen its properties’ performance.

The management company based outside Denver has 34 mostly independent luxury hotels, resorts and golf clubs. Only about 10 percent are third-party managed; the rest are owned by parent company Lowe Enterprises. The properties are primarily located in metropolitan and resort areas and the focus has always started and ended with the individual property. That’s still the case, but now there’s more support and help from DH&R with company-wide initiatives and programs.

“You want most of the strength in the hotel,” says Andy Anderson, senior vice president of sales and marketing for DH&R. “The hotel is hardware and we’re software. We build the brand in the property, not the company. If it’s positioned well and marketed right, it becomes its own brand.”

The Inverness Hotel and Conference Center in Denver, L’Auberge Del Mar in San Diego, Vail Cascade in Colorado or Stowe Mountain Lodge in Vermont are prime examples of that.

“One of the advantages of a company like ours is we look at ourselves as 34 different brands,” says Mark Hickey, senior vice president, hotel operations. “We need to continue to be nimble and quick and responsive to local markets rather than the model where everyone moves at the exact same time to the exact same point.”

That being said, Hickey points out, DH&R supports those 34 brands with foundational programs in operations, sales and marketing, human resources and training, engineering and information technology. “We have a platform of programs that all properties utilize based on their individual marketing positions, where they are able to take those elements and customize them to better meet the needs of the market they compete in,” he says.

DH&R last year introduced Destination Earth, a corporate environmental sustainability program that creates a baseline standard of practices for the company’s portfolio. Since the introduction last year, more than 60 eco-friendly measures have been introduced. “We really want to be stewards of our environment,” Hickey says. “Plus from an overall expense standpoint, it makes great sense to be responsible with natural resources and finding ways to use less. It’s win-win.”

This year, DH&R launched Destination Delivers, a customer loyalty program giving guests customized information and offers. The company also recently added the new position of vice president of corporate food and beverage to take advantage of best practices, leverage regional efforts and identify purchasing opportunities.

The focus is still on the individual properties and their independence, but Destination Hotel & Resorts is now leveraging the resources of its 34 properties with more interdependence.