Modus is designed to compete and deliver outsized returns. The catalyst that drives the Modus Management Methodology is our 4 components of success. Together, these principles generate the organizational dynamism for which we are well-known.
Adam joined Modus (at that time, part of Cafritz Interests) in 2010 as Chief Financial Officer. He oversaw the development and sale of two apartment buildings (450 units total, sold at 17% IRR), led the acquisition of 3 hotels, and developed two micro hotels from the ground up.
In 2020, Adam became President and CEO of Modus and has stewarded the organization through the pandemic, resulting in not only financial stability but superior RevPAR index for each property. During that time, Adam worked with Hilton Hotels to establish their first micro hotel brand, Motto by Hilton, by leveraging the Modus-managed POD hotels in Washington DC and Philadelphia.
Adam’s financial leadership skills were honed during his 10 years at Marriott International, where he rose to become Vice President of International Finance. During his tenure at Marriott, he was responsible for developing business plans, financial strategies, hotel profit optimization initiatives, asset management, owner relations, and plans for mitigation of business and financial risks.
Adam began his career in commercial real estate at Cushman & Wakefield after earning a BA from the University of Michigan. He holds a MBA from the University of Maryland.
Marco has a proven track record of developing high performing teams that deliver superior service, while improving the bottom line.
He began his hotel career in Switzerland where he was F&B Director at the luxury Park Hotel Vitznau. As Resident Manager of the Eden Roc, he achieved back-to-back “Best 5-Star Resort Hotel in Switzerland” awards. Marco held roles at Jumeirah Hotels in Dubai and New York. At Jumeirah Essex House, he oversaw the $14 MM, Toni Chi designed, South Gate Restaurant & Bar transformation. At the Doyle Collection’s Dupont Circle Hotel he oversaw the hotel’s post-renovation repositioning.
Marco joined Modus in 2013 and quickly oversaw operations, marketing, human resources, and asset management for all hotels. He successfully reduced employee turnover and improved QA scores resulting in steady growth in GOP and RevPAR. Marco designed the Modus Micro-hotel service model which led to Hotel Hive being ranked #1 in all DC hotels on TripAdvisor shortly after opening. He was instrumental in the development and success of Pod DC and Pod Philadelphia and their later conversion to Motto by Hilton.
Marco earned multiple Hospitality Management degrees in his native Switzerland, and went on to earn Certificates in Hotel Real Estate Investment and Asset Management from Cornell University.
Kelli Martin has joined Modus by PM Hotel Group as the Vice President of Sales and Revenue. In her new role, Kelli will be responsible for leading these efforts as the company continues to grow its lifestyle footprint. Kelli brings an extensive background in the lifestyle hotel space.
She spent 15 years with Denihan Hospitality Group, who has owned and operated boutique lifestyle hotels in New York City, Washington DC, Chicago, Miami, and Los Angeles. Through her tenure at Denihan, she gained extensive experience renovating, repositioning and opening independent boutique properties. The Denihan portfolio has included The James and Affinia Hotel brands, as well as independent luxury boutique hotels, The Benjamin, and The Surrey. The Surrey has received numerous awards and accolades including #1 hotel in New York City in Travel + Leisure’s ‘World’s Best Awards’ for 2016 and 2017.
Kelli began her career with Hyatt Hotels and continued on to sales roles with the New York Palace, The Regent Wall Street and, most recently, the InterContinental NY Barclay where she led the sales and marketing effort to relaunch and reposition the 700 room, historic hotel after a $180M renovation.
After 5 years at digital agency TIG Global (acquired by Oracle/Micros), Josh joined Modus in 2015 to build the digital marketing practice from scratch. He had an immediate impact on topline revenue: direct website bookings skyrocketed from $4.4M in 2015 to $11.1M in 2019. In that same period, website traffic increased by 30%, conversion increased by 36% and paid marketing ROI more than doubled to 17:1, after being brought in-house.
Over the past 4 years Josh has pivoted into a People + Culture role, re-building the department and scaling up the organization in the later stages of the pandemic. Josh’s passion for training and development is evident through Modus University, the internal training and development program for the organization that is central to Modus’ excellence in service quality, team development, and employee retention.
Valerie oversees Modus’ holistic revenue management practice. Through her leadership, Modus has generated market leading RevPAR Index before and during the pandemic.
In 2012, Valerie joined Modus to oversee revenue management for two DC hotels. After surpassing goals for GOP and topline revenue, she was given responsibility for 6 more hotels resulting in consistent share growth.
Prior to Modus, Valerie built a strong operational foundation in managerial roles with Sheraton and Denihan Hospitality Group before holding several revenue management positions at Hersha Hospitality. She holds a BA in Tourism from the Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Jacqui is responsible for the vision and execution of the guest and colleague experience at Modus. In her role, Jacqui works directly with hotel and front office leaders across all properties to create exceptional guest experiences while driving Trip Advisor rankings.
She strengthens the company culture through recruitment, onboarding, training, and retention. She has led company-wide initiatives like our “City Walks” program, training teams on authentic local experiences and driving the Modus Ethos execution.
She is passionate about building positive teams and focused on developing female leaders through Modus’ “Take the Lead” mentorship program.
Jonathan oversees a portfolio of hotels, but his impact on the organization extends beyond those properties. His passion for developing operational leaders and challenging his teams to be strategic elevates and enhances the colleague and guest experiences.
Jonathan joined Modus in 2016 and was quickly tapped to open the Pod Hotel in Washington, DC. After achieving consistently strong results, his role has expanded to include additional hotels and new builds.
Jonathan built his foundation in upscale 4-diamond hotels and resorts located in Texas. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Management from Monmouth University and a Master’s of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management from The University of Houston.
John Paul oversees a portfolio of hotels in the DC market. His passion for delivering genuine hospitality, while focusing on leadership development, enhances the guest and colleague experience.
JP started with Modus in 2015 and has grown throughout the organization, taking on leadership roles in several DC hotels. His success with driving team engagement and elevating the guest experience, and enabled him to ascend into an Area GM role, including the newest addition to the Modus Portfolio, The Normandy Hotel.
JP got his start in luxury hotels in Chicago and Seattle, before moving into lifestyle hotels in Washington DC.
Namit joined Modus in 2014 as Hotel Controller for three properties in Washington DC. He has been an integral part to the development of micro hotels and the sale multiple assets. As Regional Director | Finance, Namit leads the Modus Finance team and is responsible for financial results of the Modus portfolio, serving as liaison between property level controllers and corporate accounting. He develops and enforce accounting policies and procedures, performs ROI analysis to facilitate business decisions + processes, and ensures GAAP and local, state, federal compliances are met for reporting and operations. He has also successfully incorporated new tools and technology to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the finance organization.
Namit sharpened his financial skills at Hilton Worldwide where he worked for 8 years with multiple Hilton brands gaining valuable experience in both centralized and decentralized working environments. He holds’ a Bachelor’s in Science in Business Administration-Finance from Coastal Carolina University, a Master’s in International Hospitality and Tourism Management from University of South Carolina, and an Executive MBA from Amity University in India.
“Covid-19 devastated many hotel companies, but not Modus. Why? We are nimble. We enhanced our revenue model to include student housing, extended stay apartments, and workspaces, resulting in outsized RGI growth for our owners.”
Marco Burlimann
SVP OPERATIONS & ASSETS
Guests pay a premium rate to stay in well-run lifestyle hotels. This is particularly attractive to investors in independent hotels. To sustain performance, you must have:
Our hotels are consistently among the market leaders on TripAdvisor.
Strong RevPAR index reflects our understanding of segmentation in the management of lifestyle hotels.
Modus pioneered the financially innovative micro hotel model.
Here’s how it works:
