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From eastern seaboard to Pittsburgh: Travis Breen’s journey to Piatt Hotel Group

4 min read
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Courtesy of Travis Breen

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Courtesy of Travis Breen

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Courtesy of Travis Breen

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Courtesy of Travis Breen

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Travis Breen has been working for a long time. Breen, now 40 and vice president of sales for Piatt Hotel Group based at Southpointe in Washington County, remembers always having a job from a very young age. “I grew up primarily in Martinsville, N.J., just outside of New York City and went to college in Gettysburg,” says Breen. He credits his parents for instilling his very strong work ethic. “I think that’s what resonates so much with Washington County and the Pittsburgh culture is it’s a hard-working culture. The people are no strangers to rolling up their sleeves and getting the work done, and that’s kind of the background I came from, so I appreciate that.” Breen started his new position with Piatt in February with 21 years of experience in the hotel industry under his belt. “I’ve lived in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Charleston, South Carolina – pretty much the entire eastern seaboard at this point,” he chuckles. Now, he’s happy to call Peters Township home and looks forward to his wife and three children joining him. “That’s when I’m going to be totally settled. They’re finishing school in Virginia right now, and then they’ll move up here.”

Breen met his wife, Kelly, back in college at Gettysburg. She’s a biology teacher now, with sons Sean and Brian and daughter Caroline ranging from ages 5 to 10. After years of traveling for work, he says the family-oriented nature of this particular company is part of what drew him to the Piatt Hotel Group. “I’ve spent so many years with big commutes or traveling domestically and internationally,” says Breen. “I really am looking forward to quality time and being accessible. A decent work-life balance … that’s a big part of this as well. It’s really tough. We got to a difficult place where I was traveling. I was working for a company that was based out of London, England. I think every family grapples with it, and you have to readjust, change your priorities and really get focused.”

The other draw for Breen coming to Piatt was the duality of its hospitality and real estate development interests. “Piatt is really a real estate development company that is getting better at growing their hotel portfolio, but they have the overall diversification and the real estate side of the business, which is exciting,” he says. “Not all companies do. I was looking for something that was very niche-oriented, and I was able to find it with them.” In hospitality, the company currently owns and operates seven hotel properties along with some restaurants across Southwestern Pennsylvania. Among them is the Hilton Garden Inn at Southpointe, home to Jackson’s Restaurant and Bar.

Breen studied political science in college but started working at a hotel there during his first year. “I just started learning every department – front desk, housekeeping engineering, sales accounting, night audit, food and beverage,” he recalls. He graduated with four years of work experience and already knew the business from the ground up by then. “I just loved it,” he says. “I really enjoyed the people and getting excited about the destination they’re visiting, the inner workings of a hotel … it’s like a mini city. Every department is doing their thing to make sure that they’re providing a great experience for the guests.” He believes his team now appreciates that he worked his way up from the bottom. “I think it goes a long way with your team because you’re giving them insight and valuable knowledge,” he adds. “Not only from a strategic perspective, which a lot of leaders do, but you’re giving it to him from a granular, practical perspective, which only people who have come up with the business can actually do.”

Breen says he’s looking forward to building a family life in Washington County and building even more opportunities for some growth of Piatt Hotel Group. “Throughout my career, I’ve always enjoyed the smaller companies because you get the opportunity to still be very much involved in the hotel industry, the day-to-day and then the individual property performance.” He cites his immediate goal as developing and growing the team of sales professionals at Piatt and then looking at new growth opportunities for the company’s portfolio. “Geographically, we want to look at this immediate backyard of Western Pennsylvania but then look towards the Indianapolis area, Kentucky and the Mid-Atlantic states,” says Breen. “We’d love to be in Philadelphia as well.”

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