Carolina M
- Research Program Mentor
Industry expert at Cornell University
Expertise
Hotel/Restaurant Operations, Real Estate, Finance, Spanish Language
Bio
I am from Miami, Florida with my heritage coming from Colombia. I graduated from Cornell University in the School of Hotel Administration with a concentration in Real Estate and Finance and a minor in Portuguese. I chose the Hotel School because it allowed me to taste all aspects of business with a hospitality twist. I have shadowed a Human Resource Director in a luxury hotel and have interned at Starwood Property Trust as an Investment Management Analyst. I have always had a passion for teaching, which I did for 2 years at Cornell University working as a Teaching Assistant for Business Writing and Quantitative Analysis. Apart from business, I studied abroad in Lisbon, Portugal and completed Portuguese I-III courses, additionally, I am a native Spanish speaker.Project ideas
Hotel Operations
Understanding how a hotel was positioned, in terms of location, chain scale, brand and property/service type is essential to master the operations of a hotel. After a hotel has been established, we can look into how franchises work. The class can easily be tailored to the student’s knowledge and interests. We will cover: -Chain scales, hotel brands, important calculation terms (ADR, RevPAR Occupancy%), market segmentation, franchise fees, historical development Project: Create a PowerPoint presentation about a hotel of your choosing and come up with its own characteristics based on the market its located in.
Real Estate
Location is the prime factor when establishing any commercial real estate property (industrial, retail, multi-family, office, hotel). With a shift in the economy, many rent regulations and terms of loans have changed, while underwriting on properties has improved. We will cover: -Why many loans on properties default (can’t make a payment) -How underwriting before and after the stock market crash in 2008 has changed and developed Project: The student will pick a real estate property to invest in, given the circumstances of the market, and justify their choices in a paper or presentation.
Finance
To ensure the operations of a hotel are, and will be, running effectively, the costs and revenues of a hotel must be analyzed. We will cover, and can vary on knowledge: -Balance sheet, Income Statement and Cash Flow on how to interpret them -How a hotel can reduce its costs and increase its revenues without jeopardizing its brand standards or guest satisfaction Project: The student will come up with 3-5 ways the hotel of the choosing can maximize the revenues and improve their cash flows and present the finding.