10-23-2025
White Lodging is one of the country’s largest privately held hospitality companies. Its portfolio consists of about 60 premium hotels, a private collection of luxury ranches, 50 award-winning restaurants and 10 market-leading rooftop bars. Conner White, White Lodging’s vice chairman and chief investment officer, explained to students in the Daniels School’s Executive Forum why the company favors urban and lifestyle properties.
“We believe it allows us to build density in markets, with multiple properties within the same area. It excites us to build a top-five restaurant that will not just attract hotel guests, but one that the locals will love,” he said, pointing to the 8Eleven Bistro in the Purdue Memorial Union and the Boilerhouse Prime on campus as examples.
“We also believe in the demand generators that a city offers. We try to find areas with a strong convention center or a big leisure draw. Our biggest market, Austin, has live music to attract audiences as well as being a tech center in the United States.”
White is carrying on a family tradition in the organization. His late father founded White Lodging in 1985, developing, owning and managing more than 225 new hotels, and is the namesake of the Bruce White Undergraduate Institute in the Daniels School. The Dean V. White Real Estate Finance Program carries the name of his grandfather, one of Indiana’s most prominent philanthropists and successful business leaders.
One thing that has remained constant in the company is the need for every location to be clean, friendly and competent. “It doesn’t matter about the design of the hotel, how delicious the food is or how comfy the bed is. If you don’t have those three fundamentals covered, then nothing else matters,” he said.
White answered questions from Executive Forum instructor Dave Randich, a strategic management lecturer at the Daniels School, as well as students. Guest speakers come to campus each week to share their career insights and experiences with the class.
View and listen to White’s Executive Forum class:
The Daniels School’s Executive Forum is held in person on the West Lafayette campus and is open to the public, as seating permits. Follow the business school on LinkedIn to learn about upcoming Forum speakers and more.
