Hank Holliday

As CEO of The Holliday Companies, Inc., an Atlanta, GA based investment firm with hospitality properties located throughout the Southeastern United States, Hank Holliday has a knack for recognizing unappreciated and under-valued assets, diamonds in the rough that he transforms into gemstones by reinventing them through structural, decorative and service enhancements.  For instance, in 1994 Holliday purchased Charleston, SC's Planters Inn out of Federal Bankruptcy Court, because he recognized the value of the hotel's prime location at the intersection of Meeting and Market Streets in the heart of Charleston's Historic District. "I consider it the most valuable corner in the state of South Carolina." Built as a dry goods emporium in 1844, the building on that precious corner had become a hostelry in 1983. Recognizing the historic building's bones were almost as good as its location, Holliday began to chart its course to profitability and international acclaim with an ambitious refurbishment, which was capped off with the 1997 installation of one of the most celebrated dining destinations in the Southeast, Peninsula Grill. That same year saw a $4 million expansion, which generated 21 new rooms, enhanced the inn's captivating courtyard and added a ballroom. By 1999, the Planters Inn was ready for membership in Relais & Châteaux, the prestigious, worldwide association of small, exclusive hotels and restaurants, and the boutique hotel became the flagship of his company.

After earning his M.B.A from the University of South Carolina, Holliday began his professional career as an investment banker. During a decade with Equitable and Bank of America in New York, San Francisco and Atlanta, he honed an aptitude for recognizing the potential of undervalued real estate and successfully investing in it. His hospitality career began in earnest when he formed his own company to acquire the Wild Dunes resort on South Carolina's Isle of Palms.

To do so, he raised $50 million from investors for the purchase and then another $50 million to complete it. "I had gone from being vice president of Bank of America in charge of real estate to $100 million in debt in 30 days," he chuckles. Combining his financial acumen with hospitality lessons gleaned working in hotels and restaurants during college breaks, Holliday overcame that burden, engineering the acquisition, development and sale of more than $250 million in marina, golf course, clubhouse, reception center, restaurant and residential properties.

After selling his interest in the resort, Holliday began to concentrate on hotels with the purchase of the Planters Inn. A year later in 1995, he acquired the Townhouse Hotel in Columbia, SC. It was a classic Holliday purchase at a cost he figured was approximately one-tenth that of replacing the building.

By 1998 he began to focus on expanding The Holliday Companies' role in the restoration of Charleston historic CityMarket area that his renovation of the Planters Inn had helped spur. Holliday took over the Hawthorne Suites, which anchored the east end of the city block which boasts Planters at its western perimeter, and began upgrading it for conversion to the Doubletree flag. He also undertook the restoration of an abandoned warehouse across the street from the future Doubletree Suites, at the corner of Hayne and Church Streets, which became the wildly popular Hank's Seafood Restaurant in 1999. Holliday's next CityMarket project was the 30-room Hayne Street Inn, which opened next to the Doubletree in June 2002. With the $7 million building's completion, Holliday's City Market holdings - the Doubletree, Planters Inn, Peninsula Grill, Hank's Seafood Restaurant and the Holliday's Companies' corporate office building at 14 Hayne Street - will encompass 275 hotel rooms, 15,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space, 30,000 of retail, office and restaurant space and 155 on-site parking spaces. Having completed overseeing the construction of the Hayne Street Inn, Holliday turned his attention to other projects in Florida and Georgia, while fulfilling his duties as a member of the North American Board of Relais & Châteaux. His March 2001 election to the board is testimony to Holliday's commitment to the standards of excellence Relais & Châteaux represents. Planters Inn has been a member since 1998 and Holliday has been an energetic advocate of the organization and of the potential for its growth in the U.S.However, in late 2005 another piece of City Market area real estate caught his keen eye - one contiguous to the Planters Inn. With its purchase, Holliday was primed to once again make a significant contribution to Charleston's culinary landscape, while adding to his City Market holdings. In partnership with long-time friends and business associates Steve and Kat Varn, he opened Mercato in July of 2006 as Charleston's newest Italian restaurant.  Holliday credits much of his success to the management philosophy he applies to his properties, "Do your job with integrity, have fun, and above all else, remember the customer is king. We do our best to be sure no one leaves our hotels and restaurants unsatisfied."