AAHOA Marketplace helps members save money on essential products and services
By Nick Fortuna
They say it pays to shop around, but every rule of thumb has exceptions, and besides, for hardworking hoteliers, time is money. That’s why a growing number of AAHOA Members are skipping the laborious search process and signing up for the new AAHOA Marketplace, a one-stop shop for all the products they need to run their hotels.
At AAHOACON in April, the association launched AAHOA Marketplace in collaboration with Avendra International, a Club Blue Industry Partner and a leading provider of procurement services for the hospitality industry. The members-only purchasing platform leverages AAHOA’s unmatched collective buying power to give hoteliers a centralized destination for high-quality products and services at reduced costs.
Vic Khokha, senior manager for customer success at Rockville, MDbased Avendra International, said AAHOA Members can expect discounts of 10 percent to 15 percent on most products. In addition, Avendra International’s network of more than 2,500 vendors has been vetted for quality and customer service, so members can buy with confidence.
“As a leading group purchasing organization, we bring tremendous value in terms of cost savings and direct access to high-quality, vetted suppliers,” Khokha said. “The marketplace was created to make the procurement process for AAHOA Members easier and more efficient. The major benefits include cost savings, streamlined purchasing, and simplified vendor management.”
Meghna Patel, general manager of the Quality Inn in Sarasota, FL, said she enrolled in the AAHOA Marketplace in May and has used it to order products for that property and a Days Inn in the same city. Her purchases have included food and beverage items, paper products, laundry and housekeeping supplies, appliances, and guest-room supplies.
In October, Patel was using the AAHOA Marketplace to obtain quotes for PTAC units and monthly services such as pest control, elevator maintenance, and swimming-pool upkeep. Cost savings were the main motivator for enrolling, but convenience ranked a close second, she said.
“Through negotiated pricing and vendor partnerships, it allows us to purchase quality, brand-approved products at lower costs than we could typically secure independently,” Patel said. “This helps reduce our overall operating expenses, especially for frequently used items like cleaning supplies, linens, and maintenance products.
“The marketplace also offers several other important benefits, including time efficiency, vendor reliability, and brand compliance,” she added. “Having a centralized platform with vetted suppliers simplifies procurement, minimizes administrative work, and ensures consistent quality across both our properties.”
Great Deals at Your Fingertips
Darshan Patel, chief executive of San Diego-based Hotel Investment Group, said he uses AAHOA Marketplace to order paper goods, cleaning supplies, uniforms, and other products for his company’s six properties.
Prior to signing up, his company was getting preferred pricing from another vendor, so he was surprised to find even lower prices for identical products on the AAHOA Marketplace.
Patel said an appealing feature of the platform is that he can set individualized budgets for each of his properties. Hotel managers can order supplies through the AAHOA Marketplace without his approval so long as they stay under budget, but once they cross that threshold, purchases require approval, making it easier to control expenses.
“That feature, combined with the low prices, makes using the AAHOA Marketplace a no-brainer,” he said. “The platform helps to keep more money in hoteliers’ pockets, which is important given that profit margins have been shrinking in recent years.”
To enroll in the AAHOA Marketplace, members pay a one-time fee of $99, so there are no annual membership dues or hidden costs, Khokha said. Once they have access to the platform, it doesn’t take long for members to reap the benefits.
Bradley Preston, managing partner with KPM Management Group, said his company enrolled Oct. 1 to order products for the SpringHill Suites By Marriott in Westfield, IN. He said the AAHOA Marketplace has been a “reliable one-stop source for essential hotel operational needs,” including guest-room amenities, food and beverage supplies, janitorial items, office products, and tech accessories.
“The AAHOA Marketplace has streamlined our purchasing process,” Preston said. “Having vetted, trusted vendors in one place saves time and reduces administrative effort. It ensures consistency across properties, simplifies reporting, and allows our managers to focus more on the guest experience rather than procurement. The visibility and control it provides over spending are also a major plus for ownership.
“Cost savings are definitely a motivator,” he added. “The negotiated pricing and volume-based discounts create measurable savings across categories. Beyond cost, the efficiency and reliability of ordering through vetted suppliers have been just as valuable, especially in minimizing stockouts and eliminating last-minute purchasing.”
Addressing Members’ Needs
Avendra International, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2026, has been an AAHOA partner for about a decade and worked closely with the association’s leadership to create the marketplace, Khokha said. The company’s clients include country clubs, entertainment venues, educational institutions, and multifamily housing properties, but hospitality is its bread and butter, with more than 16,500 customers in that space.
“Avendra International has a deep understanding of our audience – hoteliers who are often underserved but are driven to find ways to cut costs and optimize operations,” Khokha said. “Our partnership with AAHOA has grown stronger over the years, and by working with AAHOA’s Officers, we’ve continued to evolve our approach to serving this community, most recently through the launch of the AAHOA Marketplace.”
AAHOA Vice Chairman Rahul Patel said the marketplace is a reflection of the association’s mission to uplift and empower every hotelier on its membership roster.
“By coming together and harnessing our collective strength, we’re giving members access to the kind of buying power typically reserved for the largest hotel groups,” Patel said.
Likewise, AAHOA Chairman Kamalesh (KP) Patel called the AAHOA Marketplace “a game-changer for our members,” giving them the tools to operate more efficiently, boost their profit margins, and reinvest in their properties and workers.
Looking ahead, members can expect to save even more money after AAHOA launches its private-label line of products, offering members even deeper discounts. The initiative is aimed at helping hoteliers to succeed in a highly competitive environment and amid economic uncertainty.
“This is about power in numbers and value in every purchase,” said Laura Lee Blake, AAHOA President & CEO. “With AAHOA Marketplace and our new private-label line, we are unlocking exclusive deals, slashing costs, and putting profits back where they belong – in the hands of our hotel owners. It’s smart buying for a stronger bottom line.”
A Robust Selection of Vendors
On the AAHOA Marketplace, members can find multiple vendors offering just about any product or service they need to provide an excellent guest experience, including furniture, fixtures, and equipment. Since products and services are always discounted, hoteliers no longer have to wait for sales promotions to stock up on essentials, Khokha said.
Hoteliers can track their purchases over time to gain insights into spending patterns and trends. By comparing the purchasing habits and occupancy levels of multiple properties over different months and seasons, hoteliers may be able to identify wasteful practices, employee theft, and other factors that contribute to overspending.
In addition, Avendra International prides itself on providing exemplary customer service, so members who experience an issue with a particular vendor can reach out to the company’s quality assurance team to address that vendor’s performance, Khokha said.
That commitment to customer satisfaction enables hoteliers who are new to the industry or have only a single property to enjoy the same optimized purchasing experience as savvy industry veterans and hoteliers with large portfolios, he said.
“Every owner faces ongoing challenges such as maintaining healthy profit margins, managing supply-chain disruptions, and sourcing reliable suppliers, and the Marketplace helps them to overcome those challenges,” Khokha said. “It provides a centralized platform that simplifies purchasing across categories and offers visibility into spending and supplier performance. It also eliminates the need to juggle multiple supplier relationships because all that work is done for you.”
As more AAHOA Members sign up for the AAHOA Marketplace, Avendra International plans to use their feedback to improve the platform. New features and enhancements to the user-friendly interface likely will be rolled out over the next few years, Khokha said.
“We’re listening closely to feedback from AAHOA Members about their needs and pain points, and that’s driving every decision that we make,” he said. “We’ve already made several changes to the platform to improve the user experience.”
Meghna Patel, who manages the Quality Inn in Sarasota, said she encourages AAHOA Members to give the Marketplace a try.
“It’s easy to navigate, offers a strong product variety, and makes reordering simple,” she said. “For best results, start with your highest spend categories and expand from there. The system saves both time and money while improving purchasing consistency. Overall, the AAHOA Marketplace has proven to be a valuable resource for our hotels, both operationally and financially.” S
imilarly, Preston, with KPM Management Group, said the AAHOA Marketplace is “an exceptional resource” that gives hoteliers the ability to compare pricing, track spending, and manage orders in one place, which supports better budgeting and operational control.
“It not only helps us save money but improves efficiency and consistency in our hotel operations,” he said. “By offering exclusive, negotiated pricing with trusted hospitality suppliers, it enables hotel owners to achieve meaningful cost savings without compromising quality.”
Image: HD3SDH/stock.adobe.com
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