Shaping the Future: Michelle Russo and Isenberg’s Commitment to a Real Estate Revolution

In 2003, Michelle Russo found herself looking for a new challenge. With more than thirty years of experience in hospitality operations, real estate, and finance, she had left a job that no longer felt fulfilling, and she was considering the best path for striking out on her own.

“I found my passion only when I looked back in the rearview mirror,” Russo said. She reminisced about her early career as a hotel asset manager in the 1990s, which she described as “so much fun.” Monetizing operations and renovations excited her.

The result of her career reset was the hotel real estate asset management and consulting agency Hotel Asset Value Enhancement, or HotelAVE, which has grown into a team of 48 people who have advised owners on more than a thousand hotels. The group performs deep-dive operational reviews that can span areas including rooms, food and beverage service, and property operations, and creates plans of action including strategies to optimize labor deployment, improve efficiency, and reduce operating costs.

Russo, who will receive the Isenberg HTM Distinguished Industry Leader Award at the department’s Annual Awards Dinner on April 7, 2025, at the Omni Boston at the Seaport, continues to break barriers in a male-dominated industry, leaving a lasting impact on the hospitality and real estate fields.

 “Michelle Russo is a pioneer in the HTM industry and is a trailblazer in hospitality real estate,” said HTM Department Chair Melissa Baker. “We are thrilled to honor her and highlight how massive the world of hospitality real estate is. We love that she always pushes the boundaries of being better, something HotelAVE and the Isenberg HTM Department have in common.”

Russo’s significant contributions and passion align with these values.

Challenging the status quo is HotelAVE’s core foundation, Russo said, as well as her leadership style and persistent pursuit of solutions. “High-end hotels offer a linen fabric on the floor next to the bed at turndown,” she said. “Historically, stone castle floors were cold, which is why this tradition came to be. Do guests still value it the same today?”

Her firm’s process begins with an extensive audit, which is followed by a forward-focused plan that includes steps meant to maximize asset returns. “We think differently at HotelAVE,” Russo said. “We ask, ‘why have we always done it this way?’ instead of saying, ‘we have always done it this way, so we must continue to do it this way.’ Our goal is to offer guests the best value while creating the most value for our owners.”

The Importance of Real Estate in Hospitality Education

Real estate is a crucial component of hospitality education—students with this niche knowledge benefit as they grow as hospitality professionals and in the industry as a whole. That is why Jon Crellin ’87, managing director of Hilton Boston Park Plaza, connected Russo with the Isenberg HTM Department.

“I’ve known Michelle since the sixth grade,” said Crellin, an Isenberg HTM alumnus and member of Isenberg’s HTM Leadership Board. “I’ve been able to go from watching her grow in the field to working directly with her after forty years. She has an amazing reputation and grasp of the industry—when you mention her name, everyone knows the value she brings. I am proud of her as a friend and excited for the future of our working relationship.”

The collaboration between HotelAVE and Isenberg’s HTM Department will bring experiential learning opportunities to Isenberg students and expose them to real estate programs. Crellin noted how prepared and impressed with Isenberg HTM students his team was at the recent HTM Career Day recruiting fair. “We had strong, qualified student candidates and were impressed with their professionalism, background, presentation, and the experience the students had,” he said—adding that Russo’s team agreed.

“We are excited,” Russo said. “We have ambassadors to engage with students at Isenberg for internships and jobs. We are looking forward to working with Isenberg to give students more exposure.”

Collaborations like the one with HotelAVE highlight the strengths and successes of the Isenberg HTM program. “We want to showcase how diverse and impactful the hospitality and tourism industry is,” says Baker. “Look at inspirations like Michelle Russo. This is not the same industry it was 25 years ago. We are now in the ‘hospitality economy’ and this is what separates businesses from good to exceptional and exist across so many areas such as real estate, finance, marketing, and data analytics.”  

If you are interested in a sponsorship for the event, donating a charity auction item, individual tickets, or how your firm could be more involved with Isenberg HTM, please contact Melissa Baker at mbaker@isenberg.umass.edu.

Click here to register to attend and/or sponsor the HTM Annual Awards Dinner.