Hospitality
Barbell Hospitality: Capital Allocation in a Bifurcating Market
2:50 AM - 3:40 AM | Cedar Grove | Breakout Session
Panel Directors: Imran Hasan MBA ‘27, Peggy Wu MRE ‘26
In the post-pandemic recovery, hospitality performance has increasingly diverged across segments. Luxury and experiential assets continue to command pricing power and global capital flows, while select-service and economy hotels demonstrate operational resilience and durable margins. Meanwhile, traditional “core” upper-upscale and midscale assets face margin compression, brand saturation, and shifting consumer expectations. Is the industry structurally bifurcating and what does this mean for long-term portfolio construction?
Moderator
Nikole Naloy
MBA ‘26 | Harvard Business School
Nikole Naloy is an MBA candidate at Harvard Business School (Class of 2026) with experience at the intersection of investing, culture, and tech. She currently serves as Co-President of the Hospitality and Travel Club, where she has led efforts to bring industry leaders to campus. Concurrently, she works with Happier Management — the team behind WSA, SAA, Palm Heights, and Happier Grocery — on their commercial and hospitality assets in New York.
Previously, she was a founding operator at TikTok Shop US, scaling the platform from launch to $10B in GMV, and an M&A analyst at The Sage Group covering consumer and lifestyle brands. Nikole studied Art History and Economics as an undergraduate at Harvard University, where she founded the school’s fashion publication, FIG. Magazine. She is a first-gen student from Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, and brings a community-rootedperspective to all of her work. Beyond her professional pursuits, she is also a writer and a photographer.
Panelists
Carrie & Alex Vik
Founders | Vik Retreats
Vik Retreats, a premier collection of properties redefining luxury travel, introduces guests to groundbreaking wine and hospitality experiences. Vik Retreats breaks the traditional hotel mold and offers new destinations for travelers seeking an unrivaled experience. Vik Retreats focuses on the best and unique locations, architecture, design, art and the environment.
Vik Retreats debuted in Uruguay with the opening of Estancia Vik José Ignacio in 2009, Playa Vik José Ignacio in 2010, Bahia Vik José Ignacio in 2015, and the beach restaurant La Susana in 2013. Then in 2018 Pavilion Vik and the Shack Wellness at Vik were added. Together, these six properties form the Vik Retreats destination in José Ignacio, blending sophisticated design with the relaxed spirit of Uruguay’s mostcelebrated coastal enclave. In 2006, VIK vineyard was inaugurated, followed by the VIK winery opening in 2013 and the retreat, Vik Chile, in 2014. The VIK winery was designed by Pritzker Prize–winning Chilean architect Smiljan Radić, awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2026, whose visionary and sculptural design is seamlessly integrated into the Millahue Valley landscape. The latest addition to the portfolio is Galleria Vik Milano, which opened in Milan in 2019, an extraordinary hotel located within the historic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II where each suite is conceived as a unique artistic experience overlooking one of Milan’s most iconic landmarks. Vik Retreats is working on developing several new properties around the world.
In 2023, Travel + Leisure's World's Best Awards named Playa Vik the Best Resort in South America and Fourth in the World, while Vik Chile and Bahia Vik were ranked as the Second and Fourth Best Resorts in South America, respectively. They are singularly remarkable celebrations of their individual locations and are recognized worldwide for showcasing cutting-edge art, design, and architecture, with every room an art installation. In 2004, Alex and Carrie Vik assembled a team of scientific experts with the mandate to find one of the world's best terroirs for making the best red wines in the world. After two years of study, the team recommended a new valley in Chile, the Millahue Valley. Located in Chile’s Cachapoal region, Millahue—meaning “Place of Gold” in the indigenous Mapuche language—offered the extraordinary conditions the Viks were seeking.
Following another year of analysis, the property was purchased, and work started to clear the land and begin planting vines. From its inception, the goal at VIK has been to create wines that would enter the pantheon of the great wines of the world and build the best vineyard in the world. In 2020, VIK was voted by Wine Enthusiast as the best wine experience in the world. In 2025, VIK was voted Best Vineyard in the world by The World’s 50 Best Vineyards. The wines have received innumerable accolades; most recently, VIK 2021 has received two 100-point scores, and Milla Cala 2021 was #36 on Wine Spectator's Top 100. VIK continues to push boundaries, implementing innovative practices to create world-class wines. The wines include VIK, Milla Cala, La Piu Belle, La Piu Belle Rosé, La Piu Belle Champagne (made in Ay, Champagne), and the recently released STONEVIK, a natural wine that is unique and singular in the world. The ultimate natural wine, STONEVIK, is aged in half buried amphoras handmade with clay from the Vik vineyard, in an energy field in a mountain top oak forest. STONEVIK reflects the Viks’ commitment to excellence, innovation and nature.
Ken Zuckerman
President and Founder | Zinc Developments
Ken Zuckerman is President and Founder of Zinc Developments, a Toronto-based real estate firm he established in 1989. During this time he has delivered award-winningresidential, retail, and mixed-use projects recognized for innovative design, urbanintegration, and long-term value creation.
A signature achievement is Ace Toronto, Canada’s first Ace Hotel. Designed by Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, the hotel has earned Condé Nast Traveler Hot List 2023, Travel +Leisure It List 2023, Esquire Best New Hotels 2023, the Dezeen Award for Architecture –Hotel Public Interiors, and the Toronto Urban Design Award 2023. Its Alder Restaurant, led by Michelin-starred chef Patrick Kriss, has been recognized by Toronto Life Best New Restaurants 2023, Condé Nast Traveler Toronto’s 24 Best Restaurants 2023, and the
Michelin Guide, One Michelin Key 2023, 2024 and 2025. Ace Toronto reflects Zuckerman’s philosophy that hospitality can serve as both a real estate asset and social infrastructure. Building on this approach, Zinc is expanding into lifestyle-focused, purpose-built rental developments. Additionally in 2027 Zinc will launch its first luxury vacation shared homeownership project in Lake Como, Italy applying its boutique-hotel ethos to international holiday homes.
Dan Thorman
Senior Vice President – Development | Aimbridge
Dan Thorman is Senior Vice President, Development, responsible for sourcing new hotel management opportunities in the Eastern U.S., Canada, and Caribbean assets owned by a wide spectrum of hotel owners, developers, and investors. He is a highly experienced investment and development leader in the hospitality space with a successful track record of expanding hotel portfolios through both new development and repositioning of existing assets.
Prior to joining Aimbridge, Dan was Vice President, Development with MCR Hotels based in New York City. Before MCR, Dan held senior-level business development positions with Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants as Vice President, Development-Americas East in addition to Marriott International as Vice President, Full Service and Luxury Development. His early career includes positions with Starwood Hotels & Resorts from an analyst in global development operations to ultimately as Director, North America Development.
Dan has also served as an adjunct instructor at the NYU School of Professional Studies – Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality. Dan graduated from Lehigh University with a degree in Business Information Systems.
Michael Bisordi
Founder | Tungsten Partners,
Michael Bisordi founded Tungsten Partners, a Soho, New York–based holdings company in 2004, which holds equity in more than 40 creative ventures spanning hospitality, food and beverage, art, consumer products, and real estate.
Additionally, Tungsten advises clients globally on placemaking strategies—a subject on which Michael has spoken twice at the Harvard Real Estate Symposium. Tungsten was the longest-standing owner in the Ace Hotel group prior to its divestment and is currently developing a 100-room alpine luxury hotel within the national forest outside Lake Tahoe. Before founding Tungsten, Michael spent seven years between the Global Real Estate Finance Group at Lehman Brothers and the Acquisitions team at Starwood Capital Group. He earned his degree from Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences.