When managers at two Washington hotels needed fresh ideas to streamline their operations, improve guest experience, and boost revenue, they turned to Washington State University business students.
Through a partnership developed with The Hotel Group, Carson College of Business students in Assistant Professor Asa Brown’s senior entrepreneurship capstone course spent the spring 2026 semester analyzing hotel operations, reviewing customer data, and conducting on-site visits. For their final project, students participated in a pitch competition, with the top teams presenting recommendations to executives at hotels managed by The Hotel Group. Carson alumnus Doug Dreher, (’87), CEO and principal at The Hotel Group, facilitated the learning opportunity.
Several of the students’ ideas are now being considered for implementation, including staffing changes at the Hilton Garden Inn Redmond and new guest-engagement strategies at TownePlace Suites by Marriott Ellensburg.
Students help shape operations at Hilton Garden Inn Redmond
Hilton Garden Inn Redmond executives Angie Martinez and Crystal Pia said they plan to increase dinner service staff at the hotel’s restaurant, a change recommended by Aryanna Duquist and teammates Tom Holmberg, Adi Lahr, Clara Sandell, and Charles Weber. The students also suggested upgrading the restaurant’s website function, expanding digital marketing efforts, lowering customer wait times, and adding a host during peak service hours.
“We were already considering increasing staff for dinner service but hadn’t yet moved forward,” Martinez said. “Because of the students’ cost analysis, service impact, and projected ROI for our restaurant’s staffing model, we now plan to implement this change.”
Ryan Johnson (’26), who also worked on the Hilton Garden Inn Redmond project, said he loved how relevant the class felt for future business situations and will use the communication skills he learned in his future law career.
“What stood out was how grounded their recommendations were in real-world perspective,” Martinez said. “Students drew from their experiences and personal insights to help structure their data, which assured me they truly put effort into providing practical and real solutions.”
Student innovation impresses TownePlace Suites general manager
Grant Shinohara and team members Kade Kaip, Colson King, Eh Hser Taw, and Alexia Taylor outlined several proactive initiatives for TownePlace Suites by Marriott Ellensburg, including expanded cross-training, updated signage and visual displays, and installation of ventilation silencers and strategic landscaping improvements to reduce noise. The team also recommended strategies targeting guest loyalty engagement, including refined Bonvoy enrollment scripting for front desk associates and appointing an internal leadership board to help strengthen Bonvoy conversion performance.
Joseph Nagy, the hotel’s general manager, gave Shinohara’s team the highest score during the pitch competition. Nagy said he’ll consider implementing several of their ideas, especially those focused on strengthening guest engagement and experience, local partnerships, and targeted marketing opportunities.
“Students’ ideas were thoughtful, practical, and in many cases very relevant to challenges we think about regularly in the hospitality industry,” he said. “I would welcome the opportunity to continue partnering with the Carson College in the future.”
Shinohara said what interested him most was the opportunity to work on a real consulting project for a real business, rather than just analyzing a case study in class.
“Working with Joseph Nagy and TownePlace Suites by Marriott Ellensburg made the project feel practical and impactful because our recommendations had the potential to influence actual business decisions,” he said.
Applying classroom concepts to real-world challenges builds professional skills
The Carson College of Business has a long history of successfully pairing student teams with small businesses and nonprofits to help them improve and grow. Businesses gain hours of free consulting services, and students gain critical hands-on experience.
Brown said when he wants his students to really understand the importance of thinking critically, creatively, and strategically when working with business clients, he often cites poet Robert Frost’s philosophy of “hanging around ‘til something sticks.”
For Frost, it meant lingering in a moment or place until its deeper beauty or meaning became apparent.
For Brown, it means teaching students the skills to see something through, both professionally and personally, when answers aren’t immediately clear.
