National institutional desk
When. Buyer depth on trophies and portfolios
You give. Attention you may not get on a 90-key limited-service
Owner / assetThis deal
Job brief
Choose a hotel broker without buying a brochure
How and who for the hotel job—verified when attested.
When I sell or buy a hotel, I want a desk that matches the comparable set — not a compliment that cannot name a public tape.
Usable on this screen
Scoped brief
Match the desk to the species of hotel. A trophy and a Hampton do not share a banker. Ask for public comps, conflicts, and what they will not put in the CIM.
- Outcome
- A hired desk with a written comparable set, a buyer or seller map, a conflict sentence, and a fee you can explain.
- Catalog budget band
- Success fee 1–3% is common — read the engagement. A worksheet range, not a quote.
- Catalog timeline
- 2–4 weeks to hire; the sale is longer. Not a promise.
Step 1
Name the comparable set first
Segment, keys, region, affiliation. If a broker cannot show how they would score comps — including which tapes have public prices — they are selling atmosphere.
Step 2
Ask the conflict sentence
Who else do they represent on this asset or this buyer? Dual agency is not illegal in every room. Undisclosed dual agency is how you pay twice.
Step 3
Read the engagement as a contract
Tail, protection list, co-broker, marketing spend, and whether they can be the buyer. A handshake is not a hire.
Step 4
Score a desk that cannot cite a tape, not 'they knew the market'
A compliment is not a comparable set. Harbor will not invent the consideration.
Provider shortlist
- People
Sable Underwriting Desk
Boutique acquisition underwriting
Catalog score 8.9. A post-job shape, not a verification. Stable id sable-desk.
- People
Ashcroft Asset Advisors
Owner asset management
Catalog score 8.8. A post-job shape, not a verification. Stable id ashcroft.
- Software
Desk Signal
Review recovery & front-desk alerts
Catalog score 8.2. A post-job shape, not a verification. Stable id desk-signal.
Leave a record
The next hotel starts from what you leave
Harbor by Signalry stays hotels only. A description, a claim, and a reported result each leave a stable id behind. Nothing here is a price, a customer, or a verification.
Buyer
Describe your job
No account. Harbor by Signalry opens the closest catalog brief, when not to buy, and a shortlist. A weak sentence stays on the catalog.
Open a briefSupplier
Join as a supplier
Company, jobs served, regions, and a hotel reference. The packet is queued as unverified pending. The form cannot mark it verified.
Start a claimHotel
Record a result
A metric, before and after, and the dates. It is shown as reported until a person checks the evidence. Verified Outcome is not insurance.
Record a result
AdviceIf they cannot cite a tape, they are selling a brochure.
VerifiedKestrel Motor Lodge: 3 brokers interviewed against public comp tapes before mandate.
Situation
What is actually on fire
Three books arrived. None named a public tape in your segment. Someone wants to hire the nicest brochure.
Approaches
Two or three paths — with the give
Specialist limited-service shop
When. A comparable set that is honest
You give. Less trophy theater
Who to involve
- · Owner
- · Counsel
- · GM (the walk will be theirs)
First 7 days
YAML-shaped: day / theme / tasks / owner / risk / exit. Advice until a case is verified.
day: 1
Write the fail in one sentence
- · Write the fail in one sentence. Job: Choose a hotel broker without buying a brochure.
- owner:
- Owner / asset manager
- risk:
- The exit is not written down
- exit:
- A note the next shift can open
day: 2
Pull the last 7 days of the live number
- · Pull the last 7 days of the live number. If it is missing, that absence is the finding.
- owner:
- Owner / asset manager
- risk:
- The exit is not written down
- exit:
- A note the next shift can open
day: 3
Name who owns the workaround today (desk,
- · Name who owns the workaround today (desk, HK, night audit, owner).
- owner:
- Owner / asset manager
- risk:
- The exit is not written down
- exit:
- A note the next shift can open
day: 4
Walk one peak hour
- · Walk one peak hour. Write what the system claims vs what the floor did.
- owner:
- Owner / asset manager
- risk:
- The exit is not written down
- exit:
- A note the next shift can open
day: 5
Ask vendors the worksheet questions
- · Ask vendors the worksheet questions. Discard anyone who cannot answer with a caveat.
- owner:
- Owner / asset manager
- risk:
- The exit is not written down
- exit:
- A note the next shift can open
day: 6
Pick one approach
- · Pick one approach. Write when-not-to-buy on the same page.
- owner:
- Owner / asset manager
- risk:
- The exit is not written down
- exit:
- A note the next shift can open
day: 7
Run the smallest test that would change Mo
- · Run the smallest test that would change Monday. No annual contract yet.
- owner:
- Owner / asset manager
- risk:
- The exit is not written down
- exit:
- A note the next shift can open
Decision worksheet
Questions, red flags, bands
Take this to a vendor call. Budget bands are Advice — a Harbor shape, not a quote.
Ask the vendor
- 1. Who types the status / number — a person, or your product?
- 2. What would have happened anyway in 90 days without you?
- 3. Show a property of this size and stack. Demo-labeled categories do not count as proof.
- 4. What can your agent never do (folio post, mark clean, change a rate)?
- 5. What is the kill-switch if guest comments move?
Red flags
- · Hiring the nicest book.
- · A desk that also has the buy-side on the same asset.
- · A CIM that a night audit will embarrass.
When not to buy. Do not hire a book that cannot name a public tape. A compliment is not a comparable set. Harbor will not invent the consideration.
Do it in-house
Time and a named owner. No vendor. Use the 7-day plan first.
Success fee 1–3% is common — read the engagement
Typical Harbor band for this job — advice, not a quote.
Full program
People + system + 90-day proof. Only if the 7-day plan already failed.
Vendor checklist
Score the call. Keep it on this browser.
Weighted questions — yes/no, scale, or text. Must-pass ids persist on this browser. Pass threshold 70. A no on a must-pass is a walk-away — not a maybe.
property context · weight 2 · must pass
Can they name your key count and whether you are independent, soft-brand, or major — without a discovery theater?
property context · weight 2 · must pass
Do they treat your PMS as a shape (Opera-class / Mews-class / Cloudbeds-class) — not a fake partnership slide?
control · weight 3 · must pass
Who types the status / number — a person, or your product?
vendor · weight 2
What would have happened anyway in 90 days without you?
vendor · weight 2
Show a property of this size and stack. Demo-labeled categories do not count as proof.
vendor · weight 2
What can your agent never do (folio post, mark clean, change a rate)?
vendor · weight 2
What is the kill-switch if guest comments move?
Does not clear
0 / 100
must_pass: choose-broker-ctx-rooms, choose-broker-ctx-stack, choose-broker-q1
A must-pass failed. Walk away.
How
The brief
Match the desk to the species of hotel. A trophy and a Hampton do not share a banker. Ask for public comps, conflicts, and what they will not put in the CIM.
Step 1
Name the comparable set first
Segment, keys, region, affiliation. If a broker cannot show how they would score comps — including which tapes have public prices — they are selling atmosphere.
Step 2
Ask the conflict sentence
Who else do they represent on this asset or this buyer? Dual agency is not illegal in every room. Undisclosed dual agency is how you pay twice.
Step 3
Read the engagement as a contract
Tail, protection list, co-broker, marketing spend, and whether they can be the buyer. A handshake is not a hire.
Step 4
Score a desk that cannot cite a tape, not 'they knew the market'
A compliment is not a comparable set. Harbor will not invent the consideration.
Tradeoffs
National institutional desk
You get. Buyer depth on trophies and portfolios
You give. Attention you may not get on a 90-key limited-service
Specialist limited-service shop
You get. A comparable set that is honest
You give. Less trophy theater
Pitfalls
- · Hiring the nicest book.
- · A desk that also has the buy-side on the same asset.
- · A CIM that a night audit will embarrass.
Success criteria
- · Written comparable set with public versus unknown prices labeled.
- · Conflict sentence in the engagement.
- · A fee and tail you can explain to an IC.
Who
Ranked for this job
Rank is post-job score, then listed order. Not for sale. Software marked demo is an archetype.
Agencies & contractors
#1People
Sable Underwriting DeskBuy-side hotel underwriting for 40–200 key independents — ops reality, not just a trailing twelve.
$35–75k buy-side memo
8.9
Post-job
11 reviews
#2People
Ashcroft Asset AdvisorsIndependent owner advisors for GOP, management agreements, and capex sequencing — not a brand desk.
$25–60k engagement or $8k/month retainer
8.8
Post-job
22 reviews
Systems
#1Software
Desk SignalSame-day review alerts with a recovery script the desk can run before the guest leaves the parking lot.
$290–$540 / month
8.2
Post-job
19 reviews
AI agents
None ranked in AI agents yet. Harbor will not invent a provider.
Loading the compare table…
Compare
When to pick whom
People do the work beside the desk. Software is a system — demo-labeled when it is a category shape. Agents draft; they do not post money or mark a room clean.
| Provider | Kind | Score | Fee | Pick when | Walk away when |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sable Underwriting Desk | People | 8.9 | $35–75k buy-side memo | First-time or small-fund buyers of a single boutique. | Institutional portfolios with an in-house desk. |
| Ashcroft Asset Advisors | People | 8.8 | $25–60k engagement or $8k/month retainer | Owners who want a second set of books that is not the manager's. | Branded flags looking for a PIP vendor. |
| Desk Signal | Software | 8.2 | $290–$540 / month | GMs who want same-day recovery, not a weekly reputation PDF. | Brand hotels already on a mandated reputation suite. |
Open graph
Hotels on this job
This job is not pinned to a house yet. Open the graph to place it on a building, or the investment desk if the work is a sale file. Harbor will not invent a house.
Evidence