About Steve- Creator of the Hotel Valuation Methodology

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Steve Rushmore, MAI, CHA is the Founder of HVS- a global hotel consulting organization with more than 50 offices around the world. He has provided consultation services for more than 15,000 hotels during his 50-year career and specializes in complex issues involving hotel feasibility, valuation, and financing. He was one of the creators of the Microtel concept and was instrumental in its IPO. Steve is a partner in HEI Hospitality, LLC, a hotel investment fund.

As a leading authority and prolific author on the topic of hotel feasibility studies and appraisals, Steve has written all five textbooks and two seminars for the Appraisal Institute covering this subject. He has also authored three reference books on hotel investing and has published more than 300 articles. Steve developed Hotel Market Analysis & Valuation Software which is used by HVS and thousands of hotel consultants, owners, and lenders throughout the world.  Steve is truly the Creator of the Hotel Valuation Methodology.

Steve lectures extensively on hotel trends and has taught hundreds of classes and seminars to more than 20,000 industry professionals. He is also a frequent lecturer at major hotel schools and universities around the world including Cornell, Glion, Hong Kong Polytechnic, EHL, Florida International University, IMHI, Michigan State, Penn State, Houston, NYU and the Harvard Business School. 

Steve is the Chairman of the International Advisory Board at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and a Member of the International Advisory Board at EHL Hospitality Business School as well as a past trustee at the Culinary Institute of America. During his 50-year career, Steve has been on the Boards and provided guidance for many hotel schools including- Cornell, Michigan State, Penn State, NYU, University of Houston, Florida International University, and Johnson and Wales. 

Recently, Steve has started an online platform to train hotel industry professionals along with hotel school students. His most recent contribution to hotel valuation education is his online course- “How to Value a Hotel.”  Designed for experienced appraisers looking to specialize in valuing hotels or new valuers starting their careers, the course provides the knowledge and tools needed to evaluate hotel markets, forecast income and expense, and value all types of hotels.  For the final project, students value an actual hotel.  Upon successfully completing Steve’s course- students receive the Certified Hotel Appraiser (CHA) or Certified Hotel Valuer (CHV) certification recognizing their unique knowledge and skills used to value hotels.

Steve has a BS degree from the Cornell Hotel School, an MBA from the University of Buffalo, and he attended the OPM program at the Harvard Business School. He held the MAI and FRICS appraisal designations and is a CHA (certified hotel administrator). Previously, he was a member of the Counselors of Real Estate (CRE) and the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC). He is a member of numerous hotel industry boards and committees, including the Industry Real Estate Financing Advisory Council (IREFAC).

In his free time, Steve enjoys tennis, skiing, hiking, diving, sailing, and cooking with his wife (who is a trained Chef). He holds a commercial pilot's license with instrument, multi-engine, and seaplane ratings.

How Steve Started HVS

Originally known as Hospitality Valuation Services, the company was founded by Steve Rushmore in 1980 in a one-room office in Garden City, New York. Rushmore, a graduate of the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, drew upon his experience as head of the hospitality consulting division of Helmsley-Spear, a position he took on in 1971. At that time, there were valuation companies specializing in appraising real estate (but not hotel operations) and accounting firms knowledgeable in hotel operations (but not real estate). Recognizing the need for an appraisal company that specialized in the hospitality arena, Rushmore pursued membership in the Appraisal Institute (then known as the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers). When he received the MAI designation from the Institute in 1976, Rushmore enjoyed the distinction of being the Institute's only member with a degree in hotel administration.

Combining his Appraisal Institute membership with his hotel school degree from Cornell, Rushmore then wrote an appraisal textbook for the hospitality industry, The Valuation of Hotels and Motels, which the Institute published in 1978. Steve has updated the text numerous times, and the most recent publication is Hotel Market Analysis and Valuation: International Issues and Software Applications, which Steve co-authored with Stephen Rushmore Jr., HVS’s current CEO and President. This publication has been described as "the seminal text on the art and science of hotel appraisals". 

This, and other publications by Rushmore and HVS staff, established the methodology for appraising hotels that is today considered an industry standard.

Steve is now retired from HVS and spends time teaching and developing online education for the hotel industry.